Hello everyone, Jake here bringing another guest article written about the army tiers. This one is another of Brindley Smith’s, who has really been churning these out! A big shout out of thanks to Brindley.
If you are interested in other Army Reviews check them out here.
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 within a single army but all kings of war armies. For the most part, units will be treated as one entry; however, if an option or size drastically improves a unit it will be separately mentioned.
S Tier: Reserved for units that are widely acknowledged as either being significantly undercosted or have 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”.
The Herd
S Tier
A Tier
Harpies – The only unit the Herd has that can be considered almost auto include. I could reliably assume that this is the best cheap chaff in Kings of War! You get speed 10, fly, pathfinder, and enough attacks to reliably take off other cheap chaff or disorder enemy units. At a price of 90 points, they are also amazingly effective for their cost, and the clear obvious choice for your fast nimble chaff options. Their main downside is that they rout easily, but this can be a good thing anyway as you don’t want them getting wavered and blocking up your lines. Thanks to their heavy infantry profile, their base size can completely protect hammers such as longhorns and centaurs.
Moonfang – Moonfang the king of combo charges, but can be an effective threat on his own as well. As a major upgrade from the lycan alpha, you pay nearly 50 points but get improvements to several stats, general inspiring, and provide vicious to any non-allied unit in the same combat as yourself. This is one of my favorite abilities in Kings of War, and I love trying to maximize the minor synergies you can find with an ability like this. He can tank somewhat reliably, though you still need to worry about getting wavered (common to most of the herd anyway). Regen 4+ is awesome.
Beast of Nature – I’m just assuming that if you take this unit, you are taking the wings and extra 2 attack upgrades. It’s a common saying that speed is king in this game, and typically the definition of this is exemplified by flying monsters who can reliably project threat over very wide areas of the table. With only costing 205 points for a “budget dragon”, you can still cause major damage in a flank, grind out units such as cavalry, get into small areas relative to flying titans, and fly at the double into terrain thanks to pathfinder. I almost always see these in pairs, and it’s rare to see a herd list without at least one. I am yet to see someone use the noxious mist upgrade, but I think it could be really effective to have vicious breath 10 for only 15 points!
Druid – Even before spell options, getting an inspiring individual with pathfinder, and heal 2 for 65 points is great. They have a better mount option value than most other mages in the game shooting up to speed 9! Each of the spell options is cheap due to their low number of dice, with the ability to get lightning bolt 2 for 10 points. Banechant 2 is an absolute must for 20 points, and the herd may have the biggest demand for this spell of any faction due to their prevalence of glass hammers and thunderous charge. Surge 4 and wind blast 4 are misses; however, and I would take the gladewalker if I wanted to rely more on surge.
Wild Gur Panthers – At 85 points, gur panthers are a fantastic chaff option when you factor in speed 10, nimble, and pathfinder. The obvious downside is there is almost NO reason to take them right now due to harpies just being such a clear winner. For 5 points, harpies gain fly and 2 attacks?!? The only reasons to take panthers aside from model limitations or rule of cool is the bonus for charging off hills and retaining nimble after being disordered.
Spirit Walkers – Spiritwalkers are one of the hardest hitting units in the entire game, on par with even the infamous soul reaver infantry or elven palace guard. You will almost exclusively see this unit run as a horde, where its 30 attacks hitting on 3’s is very reliable and gets massive value out of magic items or banechant. Troops and regiments are still good, and the former in any unit’s flank will do an impressive amount of damage. They project a massive threat between measuring charge distances from any point of their base and wild charge D3. Due to their low defense, it is critical to keep this unit in terrain, and despite their being fearless, you need to carefully avoid allowing your opponent to get hammers with an abundance of attacks into you. You pay a lot for items as a horde but elite, strength, or sharpness on these would be insane!
Tree Herder – Herders are very expensive, but you get what you pay for. Scout units are very handy in an army that wants to be in combat by turn 2, and you can just ram this def 6 anvil down your opponent’s throat very early on. Assuming you want to get right in your opponent’s face I’d recommend pairing the tree herder with forest shamblers and/or trappers. Radiance of life is a handy ability allowing you to remove 1 point of damage from each unit within 6” at the end of your unit’s movement, but best used alongside high defense units (aka centaurs and elementals). Unfortunately, I’m not a fan of surge on the herder, because using a 260+ point hero to cast surge feels like a bit of a waste. Hitting on 3’s with 9 attacks can not be underestimated, so don’t be afraid to get stuck in.
Greater Earth Elemental – This unit is fantastic, and its only downside is that it may struggle to keep up with your faster units. Unlike the lesser elementals, however, the greater has speed 6 so can still keep up a bit and project a good threat range. Not only that but they are one of the most resilient units in the entire game and hits like a truck full of boulders (heh), especially if you surge them into a flank. The modeling potential alone for earth elementals is also a bonus point. Make sure it has healing and surge support, but honestly it may not even need that.
Earth Elementals – Despite earth elementals not fitting as well into the herd as they do Dwarves or Forces of Nature; where being slow is not a hindrance, I think they can still be very effective in a refused flank or for trodding up the field while you envelop the flanks with your faster units. I simply could not put this unit into B tier because it is so crazy good. If you are playing with this unit it does need support to excel, namely: surge, heal, and banechant. These are mainly taken in hordes where they can withstand almost any hit and swing back hard in return, but the regiment is also ridiculously tanky on a budget.
B Tier
Gladewalker Druid – Commonly known as the “big boy druid”, for a base cost of 25 points over the druid, you gain +2 heal, +2 nerve, and a very different spell selection. Once again the mount option is a steal, and I don’t think you can really go wrong with any of the spells. The downside is that as soon as you get 2 spells, a mount, and an item like shroud of the saint, you are well over 150 points on this mage. The two builds I would consider are heal 7 (particularly for lists featuring def 5 or 6 units) and surge, or as more of a utility build with blizzard and surge/heal. Blizzard for 20 points is very good, but the price and lack of banechant makes the cheaper druid stand out in comparison.
Forest Shamblers – As regiments, they are one of the best fast and resilient chaff units in the game. While normally speed 6 and shambling would be a hindrance, being able to advance 12” up the board with scout is wonderful and all you need for getting into the right position. Defense 5 and a -/14 nerve make shamblers difficult to remove, and they can generally beat out opposing chaff units. Another bonus over our cheap chaff options is their height 3, which allows you to hide nearly any hammer behind them (just keep in mind that longhorns and centaurs would have a 5mm overhang that nimble units can exploit).
Lycans – As hordes, they are the most mobile hammer available to the faction. Being speed 9 and nimble, this unit can get wherever you want it to be and can reposition at the blink of an eye. While they tend to bounce off resilient units in frontal charges, moonfang and banechant can each bring your damage output to a respectable level. Their 5+ regen gets its best value if you can consistently take manageable levels of damage, but this is tricky seeing as how they’re only Def 4.
Longhorns – Longhorns are one of the most efficient hammers IN THE GAME thanks to their high volume of attacks hitting on 3’s with effective CS 2. Unfortunately, they are also in that weird crossover between extreme fragility and just resilient enough to take a hit without involuntarily cringing. My preferred way to use these, by far, is their regiment option, but the troops can still do work if you can keep them protected.
Minotaur Chariots – Minotaur chariots are the most resilient option we have following earth elementals between def 5, decent nerve, and fury. The tradeoff with these over moving rock monsters is that you are much faster, and hit far harder at an increased cost. I am not a fan of the troops, but regiments can hit fairly hard and grind pretty well. Where I think the unit excels is in hordes, which are perfectly fine with being disordered because they still hit hard in return, but force your opponent to deal with them. With a whopping 16/19 nerve, the hordes can also survive anything but a big combo charge, allowing you to heal them up and start grinding. They could be higher up this list, but where ogre and orc chariots boast speed 8, this unit is much slower with its base speed of 6, despite having wild charge of D3.
Tribal Spears – This unit is second only to longhorns for being my favorite unit in the faction. They are a bit pricey, and def 4 is nothing to brag about, but this phalanx unit hits so hard on the charge! Typically phalanx units want to be charged, but TC1 forces opponents to deal with you, and pathfinder allows you to get your phalanx unit wherever you need it. I’d only play these as a horde because the smaller units are more expensive than warriors but still unlikely to survive a hammer’s charge.
Tribal Warriors – Warriors are at a bit of a weird place as mid-range infantry (evenly between say goblins and palace guard). Relative to men’s shield wall infantry, the horde gains pathfinder, +1 spd, and TC1 for 35 points which is fantastic. However, you’re only defense 4, and with hitting on 4’s you are still an unreliable hammer (as a horde). I could see these used at any size, but the horde is the only one that can really take a hit.
Centaur Bray Striders – Bray striders are an interesting unit, and I would primarily expect to see them taken as regiments. I consider this unit to be very unique as a pseudo-hammer, where they cannot remove units on their own, but function best in combo charges alongside units such as lycans, moonfang, or …more centaurs! While the regiment may seem pricey to some at 160 points, I think their value becomes more apparent when you compare them to midrange infantry at a similar price point. The troop could be decent chaff but doesn’t hit hard enough and we have much better alternatives. Due to the low number of attacks and low resilience, I would only take 5-10 point items on centaurs.
Centaur Chief – The centaur chief is one of our best units for disordering enemy hammers or flying monsters, thanks to reliable attacks and mighty, so that even when they fail those knights won’t be able to simply ignore you. On top of this, they are also useful with inspiring-centaurs and the ability to contribute to combat alongside your hammers to get in those few extra wounds. The short bow could be handy, but I don’t see it doing too much.
Lycan Alpha – This hero is an effective addition to a fast flanking group, and you would be crazy to use a lycan alpha without having nearby lycan units as well. They only inspires lycan units, which is still very handy and doesn’t do much damage unless in the flank, which you are aiming to do anyway. They are expensive though and really outshone by moonfang. They are also surprisingly resilient thanks to inspiring and def 5.
C Tier
Great Chieftain on Minotaur Chariot – The chief can fill out a great role in terms of a budget anvil or chaff unit that beats out other chaff. A base speed 6 holds them back a bit, as does only having 5 attacks, but this unit is very resilient for its price point. Their main problem is that once disordered, you won’t be doing much damage, and if you are aiming to set up flanks then you are not likely inspiring many units.
Forest Warden – The forest warden is meant to be a cheap hero that can tie up opposing units, and while it does this well, I think I would just prefer to have units better dedicated to the role, such as a forest shambler regiment or our chaff units. There aren’t many units that the warden can remove quickly due to only having 3 attacks, so aside from targets low nerve targets, you really can’t expect much. Surge 4 can be handy.
Tribal Tracker – Ironically, despite only having 4 shots, this is actually one of the best-ranged options in the entire faction. Despite its short bow’s 18” range, this hero will be shooting whatever unit you want by Turn 1 thanks to scout and steady aim. The tracker excels at two things, which are removing chaff and plinking wounded units in the final stages of the game.
Centaur Bray Hunters – The ranged options of centaurs, bray hunters are more fragile than their melee counterpart and hit almost half as hard. They are much too fragile with Def 3, as enemy shooting can tear them apart, and you are likely to be moving at the double anyway so you may not shoot often. That said if you get them into the flank of something you will still do a lot of damage as a regiment, and the troop is functional chaff.
Hunters of the Wild – One of the more expensive mid-range infantry in the game, hunters are very similar to forest shamblers in terms of high nerve and Def 5. Their lack of crushing strength results in a unit that doesn’t hit hard enough for its price point.
Woodland Critters – The only reason critters aren’t in D tier is because other armies would still be happy to have an option for spd 6 flying pathfinder chaff at a price of 80 points. They are, however, utterly useless in this list when compared to the likes of panthers and harpies, and the horde option is approaching the “unplayable” status. This is another case of using the cool models you have regardless of options, which is totally fine. Hell, a horde in the flank of something could do work and would be hilarious.
D Tier
Guardian Brutes – I really want to like brutes, I really do. They are swingy, but hit still harder than longhorns. While they lack pathfinder (not an issue in this faction due to its prevalence), they have higher nerve, fury, AND wild charge D3 for 20 points. Where they really start to look bad though is their def 4 when in the open, height 3 making it difficult to hide, and the other similar unit (minotaur chariots) being far more resilient overall. At that point though, just get spirit walkers which are just better in almost every way.
Great Chieftain – Man oh man is this guy a struggle to justify ever taking. He’s costed the same as the Northern Alliance / Varangur lord, but has lower nerve and lacks very inspiring. I can see where his cost comes from (pathfinder and slightly higher speed), but it’s simply not worth it, and giving him wings isn’t great because he becomes even more fragile.
Tribal Trappers – The only ranged infantry unit available to the herd and you pay a lot for what you get. Defense 3 and average nerve means you will die to any decent shooting, even while in terrain. Scout is great for getting into position but between a low number of attacks and Ra 5+, you won’t be doing much anyway. Not only this but you have shortbows so only have range 18”!! Unfortunately, their TC1 is completely wasted due to the low attacks and hitting on 5’s in melee, so that’s a wasted ability. At their points level, the only way trappers would get out of D tier is with something like Me 4+ or Ra 4+ so they can at least be better at one of those, if not a buff to both. They really are that bad.
