Welcome to our first Kings of War, 3rd Edition, Army Review, covering the first KoW army I played, and my all around favorite force in the game, the Undead!
I have yet to play a game with these rules changes, but having played Undead for the entirety of 2nd edition, I am going to fall back on that experience and try to make some observations about major changes that I caught my eye. The intention of these reviews is not to cover all the changes, but to hit some of the big ones.
I really liked Brinton’s overall review of 3rd edition found here, and one thing that caught my eye was his specification that he doesn’t like the term “fluff” as it doesn’t give quite the due respect for the background of our game, he instead called it Lore, which I really liked and will also do! So without further waiting, lets jump on in!
The Lore
The lore for undead in the fantasy genre is very over saturated making it exceedingly hard to separate one game’s lore from other prominent games, books, or stories. Even in 3rd, Mantic doesn’t really pull itself away from the generic undead fantasy lore, but it does drop some nice seeds, which could rise up into a uniquely Pannithor undead force. Here are my two favorite parts.
There is better explanation about the process and revulsion of Necromancy. Generally, in fantasy, gamers are just to assume that Necromancy isn’t cool, because it’s icky, it is dead bodies and loved ones remains after all, fair enough.
However, Mantic takes it a step further in 3rd edition explaining that even once the vessel of the undead construct is destroyed, the imprisoned spirit within cannot return to the after life, but instead “will wander Pannithor in agony until laid to rest by a priest or paladin…” While some of the more powerful undead, like Wights, Revenants, and Wraiths purposefully flock to the Necromantic spells. This is creepy, and a bit chilling, which makes me even more excited to lord over my legions of zombies and skeletons, mwhahahaha!
The most unique aspect for Mantic’s undead lore, mentioned in both 2nd and 3rd edition, is the nation of Ophidia. This is a country which allows Necromancy and even has it established as a school of magic, encouraging its study. Ophidian armies are a combination of living and undead soldiers marching side by side.
This is my favorite aspect of Mantic’s Undead lore, it presents a fresh never offered opportunity for exploring what a civilization using both the living and the dead looks like. How does the military use its living soldiers, when hordes of zombies or skeletons are present to be tar pits? Does this give undead some shooting? Are the undead or the living the elite of the army? How does this nation recruit its forces? 3rd edition’s initial release only gives kernels of information on this nation, but, I hope that the release of the Armies of Pannithor will contain a themed list for the Ophidians, and if it does, you can be assured I will be playing it!
Unit Changes
Many undead units (like most units in the game) have received both subtle, and some major changes. I don’t want to discuss all these changes, so I am going to pick the four that have jumped out at me the most, 3 of which are positive for the army, and 1 of which I am sure is going to disappoint undead generals.
The Bad
Lets start with the bad news, Soul Reaver Cavalry has been hit pretty hard with the nerf bat. I don’t necessarily think this was unwarranted, they were taken in every undead army I saw, being both survivable and extremely hard hitting, many lists, especially towards the end of 2nd, started to gravitate towards two units!
So how are they changed? Well, they drop a point in Defense and they lose 1 point of Thunderous Charge, they do go up to Unit Strength 3, as all cavalry regiments did, and these changes come with a 50 point deduction from their old cost. So, they are no longer an auto-include, which I think in general is best for the game. They can still hit incredibly hard with 20 attacks, hitting on 3s, and 1 point of crushing and 1 point of thunderous, and if you get them charging off a hill, boom back to the old magic. However, the hardest nerf to flex around will be the loss in point of defense, they are now even more vulnerable to missile fire or counter attacks, and so will have to be used more carefully.
Overall, I don’t think we will see these vampires rule the roosters of undead players everywhere anymore, as other units fill similar roles; however, when they are taken, I imagine they will be taken in pairs to support each other, and try for double charges.
The Good
Right, onto positive changes, first up, Wraiths. This unit was a favorite of mine in 2nd, I frequently used 3 troops, flying them around as chaff, threat projection, and to hit flanks. However, as any experienced undead general will tell you, these bastards whiffed nearly every time it truly mattered, their Melee 4+ meant if they were hindered, which they frequently were, they couldn’t fight out of a wet paper bag. The fabled rear surge was tasty, but almost never happened.
In 3rd edition, Wraiths drop to speed 7, but gain Nimble, and more importantly Strider! Strider is a huge change for the army, as there is no native Pathfinder or Strider in the list up to this point. Because of this, terrain frequently became the bane of the undead existence. This is also a fun way to reflect them being ghosts, as why would trees slow them down?
Having Wraiths with Strider doesn’t completely solve this, but it at least gives the army a tool to help. In addition, now when an enemy bunkers up in a forest or by a fence, my Wraiths can still hit those flanks unimpeded, causing reliable damage!
Now many of you are probably saying, but Jake, they are reduced to Speed 7, isn’t this cumulatively a nerf, even with Strider? My answer, yes and no.
Wraiths’ use in the army has changed, they no longer are going to be great choices as chaff as they only do it slightly better then Ghouls of Death Packs, for double the cost. They can’t threaten and lock down flyers the same way they used to, because they are out speeded. And rear surge charges with Wraiths are almost certainly a thing of the past, except in rare circumstances.
But, with access to lots of Surge, this speed decrease isn’t nearly as hampering as it may initially seem. Undead, most then almost any faction, will already be taking the surge to make up for those points of lost movement, and now. Overall, I look forward to using Wraiths more offensively as less as chaff in the future!
The next unit I will be discussing are the mighty Wights! I loved how much of a can opener these were in 2nd, and I almost always used them with Brew of Sharpness to let them hit incredibly hard.
Well, for all you Wight lovers out there, I have some good news, they were buffed a lot! These changes are one of the reasons I think the Soul Reaver Cav. changes will eventually be accepted, as alternative hammers have been given in the army.
First, they jump up to Speed 7, they now hit on 3s (YES), and they Fly! They did lose one point of Crushing Strength, they are irregular, and had a small points increase, but overall these changes are massive improvements. Undead having access to another unit hitting on 3s is huge for reliability, and them gaining fly, even if it doesn’t come with Nimble any more, lets the Wights project some major threat.
This is honestly what I always wanted my Wights to be, and I am excited to see these changes. I think they will become a very popular unit in 3rd edition, and Undead’s go to hammer of choice. Fly lets them lurk behind the shorter hordes or skeletons or legions of zombies, and leap over if an opponent comes in their charge range.
Next up, the humble Necromancer, this was a unit that saw very little use in 2nd, with many people gravitating to the better casting and inspiring Liche Kings, or survivable Cursed Pharaohs, or punchy Vampires. However, the Necromancer has now been given a definitive place in the army, and has some really nice lore rich rules to back it up.
First, and most importantly, their points have been pretty significantly reduced, down to a mere 50 points! That does come with 2 less surge, but the reduction is totally worth it. They truly are now a option for cheap surge.
They can take a variety of spells, most notably Bane Chant (2) for 20 points, but the thing that gets me most excited is their new Aura. Necromancers now for 20 points, can take a Vicious Aura for Zombies only, which will currently effect Zombies, Zombie Trolls, and the Gore Blight (which I will discuss next). This means for 90 points you can have Surge (6), Bane Chant (2), and a Vicious Aura for your line of zombies. While maybe not destined to be an optimum build, I think this lends itself to very cool and thematic army groups, and gives zombies just a bit extra bite, allowing a shambling horde of undead to be playable. This is probably the change that has me most excited, and has me looking at my two boxes of Mantic Zombies wondering how fast I could get them painted!
And finally….
We have a new unit, the Goreblight! The Goreblight is pretty comparable to the 2nd edition Giant, it is a Monster, gets D6+6 Attacks, has D5 and Melee 4+, its Speed is 6, Nerve -/17, and it Comes with Shambling, Crushing Strength 2, and the Cloak of Death Pules, all for an affordable 175 points.
I have long been jealous of the Empire of Dust, with their multiple Monster choices. Both because they present awesome modeling opportunities, but also because these small footprint beasts are ideal to surge into flanks and wreak havoc! Now, Undead has a monster too!
I think the Goreblight will shine alongside infantry focused armies, as it can pop up flanks and surge into engaged enemies. Its keyword Zombie also means it synergies well with Necromancers, giving it a small damage buff with vicious. When used in tandem with a main line of grindy undead, I think this grotesque beat will really shine, and it definitely has me contemplating a zombie themed Undead force! The model itself is pretty cool, and also opens up the door for many awesome conversions and ideas.
Overall, I think the undead have dialed back some of their emphasis on alpha strike lists, and put more into the potential behind grind and horde builds. Alpha strike is still possible, but I do not think it will automatically be peoples’ go to. Honorable mention should go to the Zombie Troll, a unit that I have long struggled with. They were some of my favorite Mantic models, but consistently let me down on the tabletop. In 3rd they jump up to Defense 5, which I think is enough of a buff to give them a chance out in the sun again!
Well, that is it for my initial 3rd Edition Undead Army Review. I look forward to testing and trying to new changes, seeing what really grabs me, and perhaps reporting on it in the future. .
