Kings of War 3rd Edition: Forces of Basilea Army Review

Welcome to the Dash28 army review for the Forces of Basilea!

Before we begin, let’s take a quick look at the Dash28 tier ranking system.

Tier Rankings:

Trying to rank units in Kings of War is not a perfect science. By pure design, many units are meant to work in combination with other choices in the army and can be hard to judge on their own. For this exercise, it’s assumed the unit is being used to its utmost potential within the army. This is not just a math problem to determine the most cost-effective unit but to also see how they compare in scope, role, and impact across not just a single army but all Kings of War armies.

S Tier: Reserved for units that are widely acknowledged as either being significantly undercosted or having a combination of rules that perform well above units in similar roles. These units are often called “auto includes” as any list stands to be made better with their inclusion. Expect these units to be addressed in future CoK book updates.

A Tier: These units are some of the best the army has to offer. They excel in their specific roles and commonly help form the core of most competitive lists. While not auto include, they are great in almost any army they are taken in and will be seen frequently.

B Tier: The unit choice has a mix of strengths and weaknesses that makes it very playable, but balanced. These units work great with specific roles in mind; however, their weaknesses mean they do not help every list. In a perfect world, all units would fit into this category.

C Tier: C Tier units may still shine in niche lists and roles; however, they will feel

underpowered when compared to similar units in other armies. Decidedly suboptimal, you could make them work but frequently will see other things that are just better. You will rarely see many lists take these units.

D Tier: Units that need some considerable love and attention. You will struggle to find any role for this unit that another unit couldn’t do better. Very often you will see these units labeled as “unplayable”.

Forces of Basilea

S Tier

• High Paladin on Dragon – Dragon-class units in general keeping Nimble/Fly and Crushing Strength (3) is a head-scratcher to me in an edition wanting to decrease the number of units with both of those attributes. But what puts the High Paladin on Dragon into the S Tier is that it is also Fearless, which ensures it won’t fall prey to a lucky Waver like other dragons do. Fearless also means that the unit’s Iron Resolve rule will always trigger; along with the Aegis Fragment you are definitely taking plus another wound recovery item like Hann’s Sanguinary Scripture or Aegis of the Elohi, the High Paladin on Dragon will often end up with a nerve equivalent to -/22 or higher by the end of the game. I think downgrading Fearless to Headstrong would bring the High Paladin on Dragon back down out of the S Tier.

A Tier

• Ogre Palace Guard – Ogre Palace Guard is the unit that allows the Basilean army to be competitive in Third Edition now that the flyer/cavalry alpha strike army of Second Edition has died due to the Elohi nerf and the Phalanx buff. The Ogre Palace Guard fit in perfectly with the new heal/grind focused Basilean style—their Crushing Strength 2, Defense 5, and ability to counter-deploy enemy Phalanx units are all invaluable attributes. The standard 15/17 Large Infantry nerve is an issue but can be mitigated by taking the Waver items. Gaining the regular tag means they can and should be the core of your army—two hordes with the Headstrong/Fury items is near auto-include and a third horde with Staying Stone just might be the best center for a Basilean army in Third Edition.
• Paladin Foot Guard – Paladin Foot Guard have not changed statwise from Second Edition, but the game has moved favorably in their direction, making this unit easily A Tier. Incredibly tough to kill, highly efficient in generating Unit Strength, and a great support unit for your Ogre Palace Guard mainstays means this unit is going to see a lot of table time, often in threes to take advantage of the very good Paladin Defenders upgrade. Paladin Foot Guard are a good counter to a lot of the MSU/trash armies that are seeing more play in Third Edition.
• Elohi regiments – The Elohi regiment has risen from a rarely seen unit in Second Edition to one of the best units in the army now. The big reason why is the huge drop in points Large Infantry/Large Cavalry units received across the board in Third Edition, which makes the Elohi regiment an amazingly points-efficient unit. The Elohi regiment is not hurt as much from the loss of punch that the horde size suffers. Run them like Abyssals players ran the Second Edition Tortured Souls regiment—a speed 10 spoiler unit that can still do decent damage if it finds a flank. The loss of Nimble hurts but isn’t enough to knock this unit out of A Tier.

• Gur Panthers – The Gur Panthers finally have a role in the army list after their complete re-working in Third Edition. Having a true fast chaff unit is huge for an army that still relies on Paladin Knights for a lot of its damage output. Even beyond the pure chaff role, the Gur Panthers are an important scenario unit, able to use their Speed 10 and Pathfinder to grab a last turn objective or zone almost anywhere on the board. It’s difficult to argue against taking two troops in any list.
• Priest – The Priest is an amazing support caster now that it gained the general Inspiring rule. You are almost always going to run 1 or 2 of them with Heal/Bane Chant. Don’t sleep on its Cleanse ability either now that more armies are running Weakness.
• Samacris, Mother of Phoenixes – The dirty secret of Third Edition is that almost every army has a Living Legend character that is pretty much auto-include. Samacris is that character for Basilea. She fits in incredibly well in the heal/grind game that Basilea wants to play, supporting your Paladin Foot Guard and Ogre Palace Guard with her Heal and Radiance of Life. She is a great tool in the new bluff token scenarios as well. You need a good explanation if you aren’t taking her in your list.
• Jullius, Dragon of Heaven – I prefer the High Paladin on Dragon with an Aegis Fragment for the exact same points over Jullius, but it wouldn’t be honest of me to put the only surviving Defense 6 flyer in the game in anything other than the A Tier. The lowish nerve compared to his points cost is the most concerning aspect of the unit, but skillful use will avoid that outcome and make Jullius an absolute nightmare to deal with for most armies.

B Tier

• Men-at-Arms Swordsmen – Even outside of serving as the redshirts for the six-flyer Basilean uberlist, the Men-at-Arms Swordsmen are a solid choice. Taking a couple regiments as unlocks/objective grabbers got more interesting in Third Edition now that the unit clocks in at 105 points without the Veteran Command upgrade, which is approaching competitiveness with other armies’ cheap unlock units.
• Men-at-Arms Spearmen – They aren’t the superstar standout Phalanx units like Longax, Ceremonial Guard, or Kingdoms of Men Pikemen are, but the Men-at-Arms Spearmen are a competitive choice once again thanks to the Phalanx buff (they were hurting at the end of Second Edition after the Golden Horn formation nerf). A serious contender for your infantry component if you aren’t going for the triple Paladin Foot Guard style.
• Paladin Knights – Along with the Ogre Palace Guard, Paladin Knights are the workhorses of a Third Edition Basilean army. The inclusion of a couple hordes of Ogres leaves you free to bring a regiment or two of Paladin Knights without worry that Phalanx will ruin your day. This unit is a beneficiary of many Third Edition changes, including the new tiered item system and the hill charge rule. Brew of Strength, Elite/Vicious, Sharpness, and the Strider item are all great choices for the Regiment size. A horde of Paladin Knights is a viable choice with Brew of Strength and the removal of most annoying blocking individuals, but at 395 points it takes a lot of skill to get its points back. The only reason Paladin Knights aren’t A Tier is because even after all the buffs over the years, Thunderous Charge (2) cav units still have a lot of natural counters that leave them vulnerable.
• Sisterhood Scouts – If Lightning Bolt wasn’t so popular right now, this unit would likely be in the A Tier. 24-inch range shooting hitting on 4s with Steady Aim and Vicious can be a game changer if the opponent doesn’t have the tools to effectively respond. Unfortunately, you can’t swing a stick without hitting a Mind Screech these days, which makes the troop size (which is what you really want to take for the offensive efficiency) a risky proposition at Defense 3 and keeps this unit in the B Tier.
• Ur-Elohi – The Ur-Elohi dropped a tier from Second Edition as it increased in cost by 20 points and got worse (swapping Heal (3) and Thunderous Charge (1) for Dread). I preferred the raw points efficiency of its old cost. Still, a flyer on a 40×40 base with great melee stats is a very useful unit that will cause your opponent fits as it’s basically impossible to keep an Ur-Elohi from flanking you. The loss of Nimble on the Elohi also gives the Ur-Elohi added importance as the Nimble/Fly combination always makes for an effective scenario unit.
• Abbess on Panther – A speed 10 combat individual with six Melee 3+ Crushing Strength (1) attacks with Vicious is going to solve a lot of problems for your army. The lack of Mighty isn’t that big of a deal when you will always get at least one Wound through barring horrible dice. There is a good deal of competition for your hero slots but 1-2 Abbesses is always a good choice.

• War-Wizard – The ability to swap freely from Fireball to Lightning Bolt has shot this unit up the tier rankings. Finally giving Basilea a legitimate long-range magic option is a huge deal for an army that can struggle with enemy chaff. Two War-Wizards with Conjuring Staff and The Boomstick give Basilea a serious amount of firepower that just wasn’t available before. War-Wizards aren’t an auto-include but should be given serious consideration when building your list.
• Gnaeus Sallustis – Still as solid as he ever was, Gnaeus now has the distinction of being the only non-Dragon in the list that is taller than Height 3. Occasionally a negative versus heavy War Engine lists, more often that Height is a positive to prevent opponents from using Hill shenanigans against you, and it also means he is a great support unit for the two regiments of Paladin Knights you are likely running. The ability to leave the Heal at home is welcome as well when you need to squeeze points.
• Danor the Wizard – Any unit that ignores the normal rules of the game like Danor does can be powerful. He gets more competition in Third Edition from buffed War-Wizards, but keeping Bane-Chant (2) as one of the five spells he can cast a turn means this very unique unit has a place in the higher tiers.
• High Paladin – The High Paladin when mounted is a tanky combat individual that can easily end the game at nerve 15/17 or more from a combination of Iron Resolve and the Aegis Fragment. The unit is also the only Basilean (mounted) combat individual that has Mighty, which has its advantages.
• Sisterhood Panther Lancers – The oft-ignored Panther Lancers move up a tier from Second Edition for two reasons: (1) the decrease in bow fire that has occurred, which too often took advantage of the Panther Lancers’ low defense; and (2) the Elohi’s loss of nimble, which puts a premium on nimble flanking units like the Panther Lancers. In addition, the new tiered item system means your Paladin Knights are probably opting for the Elite/Vicious, Strength, or Sharpness items instead of the Pathfinder item, leaving it for this unit which fits perfectly what it wants to be doing. The troop size is likely C Tier now that Basilea has true chaff in the Gur Panthers.

C Tier

• Elohi hordes – The loss of Thunderous Charge (1) means the formerly iconic Elohi horde is no longer a hammer without item support. Even without items, its cost is still significant enough that you really need it to put in serious work to get its points back, which it often cannot do. The game itself has worked against the Elohi horde as the unit doesn’t benefit from the new hill charge rule but is affected by the newly buffed Phalanx rule. One horde with the Brew of Strength is a B Tier unit, but outside of that one horde you are better off investing points elsewhere.
• Ogre Palace Guard Captain – A solid choice, the Ogre Palace Guard Captain is relegated to C Tier by the presence of superior support choices in the Basilean list. Taking multiple units and playing the Ogre hero game is interesting but ultimately best left to the Ogre list itself.
• Sisterhood Infantry – This is the Basilean “berserker-style” unit, but unlike the Fanatics unit in the Kingdoms of Men list upon which it is based, the Sisterhood Infantry falls short. Wild Charge on Speed 5 units is not that interesting compared to other, faster units for which it can be a game changer, but what really hurts the Sisterhood Infantry (other than its baffling 25! points increase from Second Edition) is the loss of Headstrong, leaving this “berserker” unit inexplicably without a Waver-ignoring mechanic. Currently, these girls are basically just more expensive Zombies… which isn’t that great. The Troop size is a points-efficient offensive unit but everyone’s love affair with Lightning Bolt makes me too nervous to seriously consider running them.
• Men-at-Arms Crossbowmen – Crossbowmen certainly aren’t bad but a Reload unit has always been an awkward fit for the high-mobility Basileans. Piercing shooting is relatively more valuable now and the Pot Shot rule doesn’t hurt, but neither is enough for me to seriously consider this unit in my lists. Furthermore, the Crossbowmen have real competition for the long-range shooting role now in the Sisterhood Scouts and War Wizards, both of which I would recommend over this unit.
• Heavy Arbalest – The improvement to Range 4+ makes this war engine unit a real competitive choice in Third Edition. Most lists won’t be hurt by including a couple in their lists, but the best Basilean lists are leaving the Heavy Arbalest at home in favor of other options.

• Phoenix – Radiance of Life is great and the new 75×75 base size helps spread that Aura farther, but the unit increased a whopping 30(!) points from Second Edition for a limited increase in effectiveness: gaining +2 attacks and Radiance of Life while losing Inspiring is not worth 30 points to me. The increased cost and loss of Inspiring plus the emergence of a huge competitor in a buffed Samacris (clocking in at the same 195 price point for a better stat profile) means you are only taking the Phoenix if you want multiple Radiance healers or just love the new Mantic model (which is totally valid).
• Paladin Chaplain – The Paladin Chaplain is essentially the Kingdoms of Men Hero unit with Iron Resolve and the ability to take Heal. This unit is good for all the reasons the Hero is good. The Chaplain is in the C Tier because: (1) the Gur Panthers have proven themselves the superior chaff option and an otherwise incredible unit; and (2) I am down in general on the three attack heroes without the Mighty rule after playing a lot of Third Edition games. Flubbing the three attacks was only really a concern when attempting to ground fliers in Second Edition, but since you can’t charge block with non-Mighty individuals, that flubbing (which happens all too often) has drastic consequences when attempting to chaff any unit type now.
• Bearer of the Holy Icon – The plethora of Inspiring units in Basilea means that taking the Bearer of the Holy Icon, the Basilean army standard bearer unit, is a failure of list-building imagination. This is especially true now that the Priest has general Inspiring. A cheap bane-chanter with Inspiring always has some value, however, which is enough to keep this unit out of the D Tier.
• Sisterhood Panther Chariots – Panther Chariots were a staple of many Second Edition armies, but losing Height and one Speed and becoming Irregular is too much for them to be seriously considered anymore. They are still a solid unit and the Troop size has unexplored potential, but most players will and should just be slotting in more Paladin Knight regiments to take advantage of all the great discounted items for Regiment-sized units.
• Abbess on Panther Chariot – A Speed 8 scoring unit with decent combat stats for under 150 points has its merits, but its Sisterhood-only inspiring means you are probably looking at other units for your hero slots since you likely aren’t taking many Sisterhood units for the Abbess on Panther Chariot to inspire.

D Tier

• Dictator – The only truly bad unit in the list. The Dictator has no mount option, leaving his Duelist rule situationally useful at best, and is hurt by the presence of other more specialized units in the list. If you want a cheap combat hero, take the Paladin Chaplain. If you want a fighty Inspiring hero, take the High Paladin on Horse. Mantic’s model for this unit is great, which makes it even more sad to rate this unit as currently pointless. The Dictator really needs some kind of Aura effect to give players a reason to take him in their lists.

Thanks for taking the time to read this army review for the Forces of Basilea. Let us know what you think of our rankings by leaving a comment below.

Check out our other articles in this series as well!