Hello everyone, I am bringing you another army review, this one written by a ruthless general who I have faced on many occasions, the man whose only plan is to destroy the enemy, Ed Fisk. A big shout out of thanks to Ed for taking the time to write this review!
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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. 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 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: These units have a mix of strengths and weaknesses that make them 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”.
League of Rhorida
Special Rules
Indomitable Will (IW) – This rule is amazing. For 10 points your units become fearless and self-inspiring. While you have to activate it on your turn, you can do it reactively. You can wait to see if you waiver before using it. This rule gives you the type of nerve control that most armies would kill for. All it takes is for IW to save a key unit or two to absolutely save a game. The self-inspiring aspect is a bit harder to use as you’ll have to guess 1 turn ahead of time if you need to pop IW.
Very Inspiring* – This isn’t our army special rule but it is baked into our naturally inspiring units. Coupled with IW we can basically always have the coverage we need and you probably only need two inspiring sources at most. Just don’t forget it and remember to remind your opponents when you notice them measuring 6 inches.
*Please remember that taking the inspiring talisman doesn’t give very inspiring.
S Tier
Nothing…
A Tier
Honor Guard: Knights riding giant dogs = Awesome. Honor Guard are one of the main reasons to be playing Rhordia. They are amongst some of the best large cavalry in the game. The 240 point package gives you some great advantages over the competition. Iron Resolve and higher than average nerve give you a decided advantage when you need to grind and IW (for +10 points) means you avoid the waivers that are the bane of many other heavy hitters.
Additionally, 18 attacks with +3 modifier to wound on the charge is actually pretty rare amongst mounted units. The real issue for this unit is that IT IS SLOW. Speed 7 means you are at a decided disadvantage against basically all cavalry options, and a lot of wild charge infantry options. This makes the use of chaff integral to getting the most out of this unit. It’s one of the few large cavalry options that can be counted on to survive a few rounds of getting punched in the face but, like all large cavalry options, you ideally will be the one initially charging, you just have to work a little harder to do it.
Foot Guard: One of the few true all-around units available to Rhordia. DEF 5 is always useful and their nerve can get as high -/25 with IW and a Battle Shrine nearby. Priced competitively with most other elite infantry units, Foot Guard gives you a lot of versatility over extra special rules. Stick with De 5 if you want an anvil. Compete against Elf Palace Guard and just drop them down to De 4 and add CS 1. My favorite way to run them is as a horde, keep the De 5, and add the Brew of Strength. Pricey but provides an incredible all-around unit to center your battle line.
Baron on Horse*: Everyone loves their cheap mobile combat character like the KOM Hero. For 10 points more than the comparable KOM Hero, you get an additional attack and Very Inspiring (Human ONLY). That’s an incredible value and provides a real toolbox for the army. The extra attack means you can reliably ground most flyers or wound a unit so they can’t move through you. When mounted, they give the army access to very maneuverable fast melee chaff which the slower units like Honor Guard desperately need. Like most combat heroes you should avoid the foot version. The additional speed and height give you so much utility that it makes it a no brainer.
*Always buy the horse but there is a caveat as the Baron on foot provides such good value that he can operate as a BSB replacement. He can take an item like the Lute of Insatiable Darkness and fulfill the same role with the additional utility of actually being somewhat of a combat threat. The limitation on the very inspiring is not that big of a deal as most, if not all, of your best units, will be human.
Battle Shrine: The Battle Shrine provides an extreme utility piece to Rhordia. Rally 2 will make your line hold longer and get downright obnoxious with IW (in a practical sense, it’s a 4 point bump in nerve if you pull this off). It’s an interesting piece because it will provide the same constant support for the army as long as it lives. Whether inside or outside of combat, it impacts won’t really change. It’s Lightning Bolt 6 tied to height 5 gives it plenty of options to shoot at while supporting the rest of the army and once you get stuck in, the 6 attacks with CS 1 means you can still pose the same threat.
B Tier
Pole-arms Block: Cheap Me 4+ Crushing Strength is always going to be useful. Pole-arms Blocks give that to you in spades with a garbage defense attached to heavy bladed weapons. My preferred way to run this unit is in a horde so you can have the nerve and unit strength to get to swing a few times and really make your opponent worry about them for objectives, but the regiment is so cheap it has a place as a more offensive chaff piece.
You just need to be reasonable about your expectations for a unit that gets mileage out of drowning your opponent in blood, body parts, and pointy bits. I wouldn’t really consider IW on this unit because they end up taking so many wounds that being fearless won’t really matter but it may have a place on the horde just for the chance to squeak out one more round of attacks.
Spear Phalanx For a defensive unit you get what you pay for. Average stats for average costs stapled to phalanx. Situationally, this can be a great unit to anchor a battle line, throw out a few wounds, and help win the objective battle. Just keep your expectations reasonable for the unit; you should feel some shade of gray about them at the end of every game. Where it gets interesting is the addition of pikes. Pikes can be a real game-changer as they can absolutely put the fear of god into a lot of units, especially if you park in terrain as the modifiers stack. It won’t set the world on fire with kills but they will stay where you want them. The real issue holding them back from a higher rating is the price as they cost twice as much (more so with pikes) than the next unit…
Halfling Braves Cheap, unlock, cheap, ok unit strength, cheap, stealthy, cheap. Halfling braves are extremely useful for unlocking, bumping up unit strength, and generally being a nuisance for your enemy. The cost is the real draw here as you rival how cheap zombies are (check out the Dash 28 undead – they are S-Tier in that list).
With beings twice as cheap as a spear phalanx, you can create the same defensive ability by just drowning the opponent in little halfling bodies. A spear phalanx regiment CAN hold up a unit of Soul Reavers for two turns. Two units of Braves WILL hold it up two turns. Couple that with De 4 and Stealthy and you can generally count on getting them to the hill you need them to die on. What holds them back is speed and nerve. Taking too many units of them can really become a puzzle on how to maneuver them where you need them and not get in the way of your own army (you don’t have access to movement shenanigans like surge and fearless to get around it), plus Rhordia generally doesn’t need the help unlocking.
Knights: They fit the role of vanilla hammer fairly well and as long as you can engineer unhindered charges, they will do fine. The knights offer a faster hammer than honor guard and they offer the hardest hitting unit in the list when taken as a horde but, with like all cavalry units, it’s imperative you get the initial charge.
One issue is they sit in a weird place in Rhordia. The headstrong rule is odd to have when we have access to IW. I also often find that Rhordia tends to grind out their combats, which is where knights do not want to be; and Honor Guard and Foot Guard excel in the grind. Other units just seem to offer more utility for the cost but I can’t say taking a unit of knights is ever a bad buy.
Mounted Scouts: Great little shooting cavalry unit. With access to black powder weapons they give you access to mobile and reliable shooting power that seems a little hard to find in Rhordia otherwise. Speed 9 with nimble is great and when taken as troops give you a very versatile chaff unit. They are Def 3 so don’t have high expectations for them to stick around but a big surprise is that they are Me 4+. They are technically better at melee than shooting and with their speed, it’s not that hard to take advantage of a hill to engineer a surprise charge.
Cannon: cannons are great for the threat projection they provide. Taking 2-3 provides you a steady number of wounds every turn that ignores cover and can really put pressure on your opponent on turn 1. What holds them back from being A tier is Rhordia just can’t lean into shooting like some armies (KOM, Goblins, etc…) since they lack other ignore cover artillery pieces or more reliable shooting regiments. Generally, I find the cannons are great the first 1-3 turns, then they spend the rest of the game picking on taller units engaged with your army in melee. It’s this reason I rate the cannon better than the volley gun as it can still meaningfully contribute every turn even when melee breaks out. Still great for the cost, you just need to be more reasonable about what your shooting phase will do for your battleplan. DON’T’ FORGET SHATTERING (sounds like this is a note from personal experience LOL – editor)
Duke on Ancient Winged Aralez Iron resolve and decent nerve means it can generally be expected to stick around but it doesn’t have enough attacks to be a huge deterrent like a dragon unless you can charge a flank. However, it comes into its own as a support piece to get stuck in around a few key combats where it can contribute a few more dependable wounds and keep your units grinding with radiance of life. You’re paying a lot of points for its support ability so your mileage may vary
Baron on Aralez: Fairly cheap but nothing really shines on him. Their nerve is a bit low but Iron Resolve helps them stick around longer. Their hitting power is pretty mediocre and even on a flank they won’t really make people fear them but CS2 and TC1 mean they will reliably stick a couple of wounds on a unit and maybe tip a combat more in your favor. Honestly, only looking at their stats on paper I would have ranked them a bit lower but cheap mobile unit strength will always be a useful and solid investment.
Army Standard Bearer: Solid cheap inspiring source. You should probably stick the Lute of Insatiable Darkness or the Diadem of Dragonkind so they can do something other than wave a flag. Always remember you are very inspiring because your opponent will forget at some point.
Wizard: cheap and super customizable. You can basically tailor them to any of your magical needs so they provide a solid support piece for the cost. Just be aware that they does not innately have any options to help their casting ability. Of special note is the Pegasus option. 85 points for a flying scoring unit that inherently has fireball or lightning bolt is a great buy.
C Tier
Halfling Archers: A cheap source of shooting and that’s about it. They don’t provide an unlock and a Ra 5+ without steady aim means you can’t rely on them for more than a few wounds a turn, even if that. Stealthy does make the unit more interesting though and allows it to win a few standoff shootouts against comparable units.
Halfling Knights: Compared to the KOM option of Mounted Sergeants, you lose a point of speed for a few extra attacks. This unit suffers from being overshadowed by other units. They are a bit slower than most units of light cavalry and without a missile option, it lacks utility. For a few more points you can take Knights which are hardier and hit harder or get more utility out of mounted scouts.
Volley Gun: It’s an OK artillery piece and provides decent threat projection, providing better equivalent shooting per point that most shooting units but the range hurts it. You’ll often have to move it first turn, losing a turn of shooting, and if your opponent has any form of cover or stealth it’s can be completely neutered. Sometimes you’ll have a game where it hits almost every time and completely vaporizes a unit but more often than not it will get one turn to shoot before the lines clash and then they end up sitting around because they lack the Ra, unit strength, or movement to really do anything else. It’s just a little too terrain dependent for you to really count on.
Mammoth: I miss when these used be made of Iron and had a Halfling crew. The Mammoth is ok at being a more consistent Giant equivalent without the random number of attacks coupled to a decent -/18 nerve that provides a decent anvil. What holds it back in Rhordia is that it’s really competing with Honor Guard. 30 more points (with IW) gets you 6 more attacks hitting on 3’s, Iron Resolve, more unit strength, same nerve, and get to be a core unit. The Mammoth does give an extra point of CS and Brutal so it’s not a bad buy if you are tight on points.
Duke: They are not a bad combat character, they just don’t offer anything unique. For a modest point increase over the Baron you get an extra attack, true inspiring, and mighty. The Baron will do most of what a Duke can do for cheaper so it’s up to you to decide if the upgrades are worth it.
Dogs of War: I loathe writing this because I love the unit concept (I also used to run two units in 2nd Ed.). There may not be any other unit in the game you can count on the stick around like you can the Dogs of War. It’s a combination of high defense and high nerve on top of Phalanx and Ensnare makes it the premier defensive unit in the game. It can basically be counted to stand its ground against anything, even a charge from 3 dragons. The problem is the cost. For 270 points, 40 points more than regular pikemen, you get a De 5 upgrade and that’s it.
They can’t hit any better than the normal footslogger. It’s not all doom and gloom and you will run into games where they can almost win it single-handedly because sometimes you just need a unit to not die and sit on an objective which is what the Dogs of War do best
D-Tier
Crossbowmen: Crossbowmen offer a basic shooting unit that just isn’t that good at shooting. It only has a 24’’ range so you will probably have to move turn 1. If you do move, your shooting effectiveness is extremely limited due to potshot. Coupling De 3 with limited mobility will make sure that this unit doesn’t stick around very long. The only thing that makes this unit worthwhile is that they are cheap and because of the lack of effectiveness they sometimes end up being ignored by your opponents. Me 5+ isn’t great but it’s not awful if you manage to pull off a flank charge. (This unit can take handguns as an upgrade and all of the preceding points apply except the unit is now more expensive and has piercing 2).
Halfling Master Sergeant: The Master Sergeant sits at D tier because it’s just mediocre at everything AND gets major competition from the Baron. They don’t offer anything that is particularly interesting other than the possibility of taking a bow. For the same points as a Baron, you get a worse stat line, lose CS 1, and change the inspiring to Halfling only. The only rule you get for some major negatives is stealthy. If you want a melee character, a mounted Master Sergeant will do fine and still manage many of the same roles but you do handicap yourself.
And with that, that is the League of Rhordia, a big shout out of thanks to Ed for taking the time to shed some light on one of the most underplayed factions in the game!
