Kings of War Beginner’s Guide: Choosing an Army Forces of Good

I initially envisioned writing a post that would cover all the Kings of War armies, so this article is written with that in mind. However, just the Forces of Good made for a pretty long article, so I am splitting up this into 3 installments, one for each alignment to be more manageable both for readers and me!

Hello Dash28, and welcome to another article in our Kings of War Beginner’s guide. In my last article I discussed if Kings of War is the game for you, you can find that and other Beginner’s Guide articles here.

In this article, I am going to try to help guide you through the process of choosing an army, what the various army’s strengths and weaknesses are, common models used, and linking other resources to explore more about the army, hopefully, this assists you in navigating the plethora of choices in KoW. As always please feel encouraged to comment and request other beginner topics, or give your own thoughts.

A couple of things to address first, in nearly every wargame I have ever played, at least half the community advises picking an army based on aesthetics, so you enjoy painting the models. While I don’t disagree with this suggestion, I don’t think it is terribly helpful in narrowing down choices, particularly in a game that you have flexibility in what models to use for what units. So, I am going to avoid covering the aesthetics of the armies, figuring you know better than me what you think looks cool.

Also, Kings of War allows allies, which means army choice doesn’t completely restrict you from picking units from other forces; however, allies can only make up 25% of your force and still follow the usual requirements for picking things, example, you need an allied regiment to unlock an allied monster.

Allies are allowed based on alignment, Good can take Good and Neutral allies, Evil can take Evil and Neutral (except Varangur which can’t ally with Forces of the Abyss), and Neutral can ally with everyone!

Dash28 has done army reviews for every single army (except Ratkin Slaves which is still a work in progress), I am not going to individually link those for every army, but you can find all of them here, these break down the army choices into tiers of usefulness, and can give some good ideas for what will be common choices and strategies for the various armies.

If you prefer audio, Counter Charge and my own podcast, Unplugged Radio, teamed together to create a two-part series discussing what army you should play. You can find the Unplugged Radio episode here and the follow-up Counter Charge episode here. Or, you can check out Death By Dragon’s 3 minute army primers found here.

Finally, if you are looking for a discussion of the standings of the various factions in terms of power, check out this video from Direct Misfire.

Right, so onto the army list, Kings of War has an astounding 27 different armies to choose from, lets start with the Forces of Good.

Forces of Good

Basileans

An army of humans, backed up by religious zealots and angels, Basilea in many ways serves as the quintessential “Good” army, complete with an ego the size of Pannithor.

Strengths: Basilea has access to a number of excellent combat choices, like the Paladin on Dragon, Ogre Palace Guard, and even the Paladin Foot Guard can hold their own, when combined with the support of their Phoenix and other casters, Basilea can create a resilient and hard-hitting combat line.

Basilea has access to a number of cool and useful monsters and monstrous infantry, such as Dragons, Phoenix, Ogre Palace Guard, and the iconic Elohi. This means despite being a human army you have some nice flexibility in choice for units. Supported with the very fast Gur Panthers, Basilea has some variety in how it will approach combat.

A lot of Basilea’s combat choices hit on 3s, which means they are reliable once they get to attack. A few good items here and there and their choices can be a terrifying force to contend with.

Weaknesses: Basilea is a combat army, while they do have shooting options, these are not terribly great, and so when playing Basilea it is better to rely on combat to win the day. If you do take shooting, expect it to help support your combat line, rather then win the day itself.

Basilea is usually a pretty elite army, meaning it will almost always be outnumbered. It can take groups of Men at Arms to help add bodies to the board, but the support options will quickly eat up any points saved this way.

Slightly awkward playstyle defines Basilea, several of their most appealing choices, the Paladin on Dragon, Elohi Regiments, and Gur Panthers are very fast however, many of the units that do the most damage are very slow (looking at you Ogre Palace guard), this means a Basilean general needs to be prepared to have units work together, that on the surface may not initially seem to pair together.

Learning when to hold back your fast choices, while your main battle line catches up, and when to jump forward and threaten flanks, is essential to success with Basileans, but is not easy to predict at first.

Miniatures Range: Basilea is one of Mantic’s best-supported ranges, so you will have no problem finding Mantic options to fill roles in your army. A good chunk of the range has been recently updated too, which means they are some of the best models for the forces of Good. You can view their full range here. I have also seen people use Gamesworkshops Stormcast Eternal miniatures as Basilea to good effect.

For a more in-depth look, you can find Counter Charge’s army review for Basilea here. Or Death By Dragons 3 Minute Army Primer here.

Order of the Brothermark

Exiled knights from the destroyed Kingdom of the Brotherhood, Order of the Brothermark are a group of knights and their squires that have joined with Basilea as allies/mercenaries. Kevin Spear’s Brothermark review is excellent and I highly recommend it, can find it here.

*As a heads up, this army is not in the core rulebook, but rather is in the Uncharted Empires book, which means you would need both books to play the army*

Strengths: Access to the Aegis Fragment and Iron Resolve on pretty much all your knights means your combat units can be surprisingly resilient, assuming they can survive the first hit. Paladin Footguard can use this particularly well. With Paladin Footknights and Ogre Palace Guard, Brothermark can bring a solid battle line.

Brothermark also has access to Order of the Abyssal Hunt, a pretty solid knightly order from the Brotherhood, however, don’t have great options for supporting this solid unit, so if you take one you are probably taking two or three of them.

Brothermark also has access to some solid ranged options in the excellent Siege Artillery and the decent Longbowmen. This means they shoot better than Basilea, at the cost of having worse options for combat.

Weaknesses: Brothermark, unfortunately, has a real lack of choices for units, and many of its choices are just sort of bland. They have little that separates them from Basilea, beyond a more restricted army list.

Lacking options and therefore tactical flexibility, Brothermark, unfortunately, is also not an easy army to play. In a game with Kings of War’s balance, this doesn’t mean you cannot win with them, however, this would not be an army I would suggest to a beginner. If you really love the idea of knightly orders, I recommend looking ahead to the Order of the Green Lady, or perhaps Kingdoms of Men, both in the Forces of Neutrality.

Miniatures Range: Mantic doesn’t make Brothermark miniatures (beyond the Basilean choices), nor do they have any plans to begin making them. A common model choice seen is the old Bretonnian miniatures; however, those are becoming increasingly scarce, and now cost a small fortune to buy. For incoming gamers, without Bretonnians to dust off, I recommend checking out Fireforge miniatures who have a number of cool choices for human knights.

Dwarves

Imperial Dwarves have a massive empire, led by the canny, but greedy, King Golloch. Unlike the Free Dwarves, which are a series of independent clans, the Imperial Dwarves are a stalwart, interconnected empire, representing one of the most formidable powers in Pannithor.

Strengths Dwarves are tough, between Earth Elementals, Steel Behemoth, and Iron Guard they can bring a plethora of Defense 6 choices. Even their basic warriors are a respectable Defense 5, meaning that Dwarves are arguably the toughest nut to crack in Kings of War.

Dwarves also have access to excellent shooting options in Sharpshooters, Cannons, Organ Guns, and Rangers; combined with their tough Defense you can really control access to objectives and board space with your rock-like units and hails of bullets.

Unlike many other games, Kings of War dwarves have access to Brock Riders, dwarves riding Giant Badgers, which gives them some much-needed speed and punch. This gives you some tactical flexibility, though your army will still be rather slow

Weaknesses Dwarves, unsurprisingly, are slow, which in a game where movement often wins and loses games, can be a major disadvantage. Brock Riders help offset this some, as does the Dwarf shooting options; however, Dwarves will still frequently find themselves out sped at all turns.

A lack of hammers, other then arguably the Brock Riders, means dwarves often want to play a grind game, trying to force combats to eb over several turns, so their higher defense and nerve allows them to grind out opponents. Sneaky flank surges with Golems can help offset the lack of hammers. However, the fact is that Dwarves do not have access to units that can easily chop their way through most threats in one turn.

Lesser Golems and Greater Golems are some of the best choices in dwarves, leading to a popular build of Brocks and Rocks; however, the Free Dwarf Stone Priest is better than the Dwarf one, meaning Dwarves are just slightly worse at using their golems.

Miniature Range Mantic makes nearly a complete range of dwarf models which can be found here, the Mantic vanguard units are particularly cool.

Dwarves are a really common miniature range to find, so you have a plethora of choices. Some standouts for me: Avatars of War has some excellent models, particularly their Rangers and Berzerkers. Scibor makes some really cool dwarves, check out their Dwarf riding bear, a favorite of mine. A final standout of mine is Warmonger Miniatures, which makes some really classic looking dwarf models.

For a more in-depth look you can find Counter Charge’s Dwarf review here, or Death By Dragon’s 3 Minute army overview here.

Free Dwarves

Free Dwarves are a loose network of dwarf clans, which have recently been chased out of the Halpi Mountain range by the Abyssal Dwarves. Lacking the massive power base of the Imperial Dwarves, Free Dwarves lean into their relationships with the elements more, having more access to Rangers, better synergy with Golems, but lacking some of the more industrial choices of the Imperial Dwarves, like the Steel Behemoth.

*As a heads up, this army is not in the core rulebook, but rather is in the Uncharted Empires book, which means you would need both books to play the army*

Strengths Free Dwarf Shieldbreakers have Scout and Pathfinders, allowing them to get into position earlier, and to move through terrain easier. Combined with better synergy with Berzerkers, and access to Rangers, a Free Dwarf army can be more maneuverable then Imperial Dwarves; though it will still be slow.

Free Dwarf Stone Priests have Stoneshaper, which means after they Surge a golem unit they can then cast Bane Chant, letting some great synergy between these units. In addition, Free Dwarf Stone Priests have access to Marty’s Prayer, giving healing to the already tough Free Dwarf line up!

Though Free Dwarves have fewer shooting choices than Imperial, they still have access to excellent shooting, Canons, Rangers, and even Throwing Mastiffs (particularly if you take a Packmaster), which means you can still apply pressure at range.

Weaknesses Like Dwarfs, Free Dwarfs are slower, which means they will struggle some with board control and grabbing objectives.

Similar to Dwarfs, they lack clear hammers, other than Brock Riders, which means they will often win combats after 2+ turns of grinding. Their better Shieldbreakers can also serve as a hammer, but not one with the same punch as many other armies.

Even more than Dwarfs, Free Dwarf choices that really shine are not cheap but lack the power of other army’s elite choices. Free Dwarf units must work together, taking advantage of their increased Defense and Nerve, otherwise, they can be isolated and destroyed.

Miniatures Range The same suggestions I gave for Dwarfs works for Free Dwarfs.

Elves

In Kings of War, like many other games, Elves are supposed to be the epitome of an elite force. With a blend of combat and shooting options, along with flying cav and monsters, they have a lot of options, all of which are expensive.

Strengths Elves have some of the best combat choices in the game, but they pay a premium for them. Drakon Riders and Palace Guard hordes both can wreak havoc on enemy battle lines. With Elite on many of their choices, combat attacks are often more reliable, letting them consistently obliterate enemy units before reforming to face the next threat.

Elves’ average speed is 1 higher than other armies, meaning their infantry is Speed 6, and their Cav Speed 9, this extra bump of speed gives elves a slight edge, outspeeding most competition with similar choices.

Elves also have some excellent character and monster choices, giving some variety beyond just spears, swords, and bows.

Weaknesses Elves are expensive, you will almost always be outnumbered, and minor errors can really hurt you as you don’t have units to throw away like other armies. In addition, one of your best choices, the Drakon Riders, are Large Cavalry meaning they are challenging to hide from enemy shooting.

Elves have mediocre Defense across the board, meaning they often will feel like glass cannons, hitting hard, but struggling to survive any counter-attacks, the two exceptions to this is the Tree Herder and Forest Shamblers, which are very tough!

Unfortunately, the elf army has a LOT of irregular units, which means you have less flexibility in builds than many other armies. Some of the internal balance of the army is off, with a good chunk of the choices just being outperformed by other choices in the army, meaning about half of the army will rarely see battle. This isn’t game-breaking, elves can still be quite good, but generally, you are going to see similar styles of builds across the board from elves.

Shooting is surprisingly underwhelming, while Silverbreeze cav can lay down a decent amount of firepower, Elven ranged options otherwise just aren’t very impressive. Elves in Kings of War really seem designed to play aggressive, and either build heavy towards Drakons and/or Palace Guard.

Miniature Range Mantic makes an elves range found here; however, these are Mantic’s worst range of miniatures, and honestly best avoided.

Luckily, Elves are common across many fantasy games, giving a number of options. I frequently see GW’s High Elf and Wood Elf ranges fill this need; however, most of the range is OOP at this point. However, the excellent Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game still produces elf models, which look really cool. The Elves from Lothlorien work particularly well.

For a more in-depth look at Elves, consider checking out Counter Charge’s Elf Review found here, be warned that not all the hosts loved the changes to the army in 3rd edition. You could also check out Death by Dragons 3 (ish) Minute Army Primer!

Northern Alliance

The Northern Alliance, a collection of outcasts, tribesmen, and other beings from the frozen North, Northern alliance has a huge variety in the units it can take.

Strengths A really nice blend of Infantry, Cav, Monster, Monstrous Infantry, and ranged choices, if you want an army with a wide array of potential things it can take, Northern Alliance may be the army for you.

Northern Alliance has an extensive number of choices for hard-hitting hammers. The slow Huscarls, wild Half-Elf Berzerkers, monstrous Dire Fang, imposing Giants/Cavern Dwellers, and the ferocious King of Chimera, all hit incredibly hard!

Speaking of hitting hard, if you like taking big monsters, Northern Alliance has 4 excellent choices, and additional large infantry and large cavalry choices, meaning if stompy monsters are your thing, Northern Alliance may be worth considering.

Weaknesses On average, Northern Alliance are not incredibly fast, they aren’t Dwarf slow, but they also aren’t far from it. This means that they can struggle versus shooting, or against opposing fast armies. Some great fast chaff, like the Tundra Wolves and Snow Foxes, let Northern Alliance support their slower battle line, but it can still be a struggle depending on the scenario.

Hard-hitting, but not always accurate, a lot of Northern Alliance choices have Crushing Strength 1 or higher, but many hit on 4s, which means without items to offset it, they can be prone to swingy dice. Against hordes of weaker things, your Crushing Strength 2 and 3 will be wasted, while your hitting on 4s will feel like a hindrance. However, if you face someone relying on their Defense to survive you have endless options to cut through them.

Miniature Range One of Mantic’s newer ranges, the Northern Alliance look fantastic. If you want to try taking some alternative models, you could look for barbarian ranges from historical miniatures, and there are a lot of various companies to pic monsters from to fill in as Cavern Dwellers, King on Chimera, or Frost Giants.

Looking for a longer review? Check out Counter Charge’s Northern Alliance review.

Salamanders

The fiery lizard warriors of Pannithor, Salamanders are still a relatively unexplored faction in Kings of War. We know they have close relationships with fire elementals, and live in volcanoes, and we know there are a variety of different salamanders, some of which need to rejuvenate themselves in the volcanic fires to survive. Interestingly the faction also has a strong navy, but we haven’t really figured out what that looks like!

*As a heads up, this army is not in the core rulebook, but rather is in the Uncharted Empires book, which means you would need both books to play the army*

Strengths Salamanders as a whole are very tough, with most of the units having Defense 5, and respectable Nerve. Salamanders can bring a lot of Crushing Strength to the table, creating a tough and threatening battle line.

Some of the quicker choices, like the Ghekkotah, are squishier, but they make up for it with speed. These fast options pair wonderfully with the slower, but tougher Salamander choices, creating some nice synergy in the list.

Salamanders have a vast array of monster choices to choose from, from the healing Phoenix, the shooting Lekelidon, the stompy Ancients of Rhinosaurs, and the list goes on. If there is a function you want filled in the army, often there is a potential monster choice to fill it. When supporting a tough battle line of Salamanders, or an agile and quick line of Ghekkotah, Salamander Monster choices create an army that is truly a force to be reckoned with.

Excellent named characters give Salamanders an injection of flavor that some other armies lack. While they only have two Living Legends, the stealthy assassin Artakl and the combative pirate Firebrand, both are solid choices, which can also enhance the flavor of your army.

Weaknesses Mainline units like Salamander Primes and Ghekkotah are affordable points-wise, but once you start adding support casts and characters, monsters, and some of the other cool choices in the list, you can quickly fill your allotted points up. This means it can be easy to create a disjointed and too small list because you took too many monsters!

Salamanders’ harder-hitting choices mostly are on the slower end, with the exception of the Clan Lord on Fire Drake. This is offset by the excellent support options Salamanders have access to, but their hammers need to be used alongside supporting units, otherwise, they can easily be overwhelmed and outmaneuvered.

Salamander characters are all rather pricey, which means you need to be picky and careful when choosing them, otherwise you will lack the numbers to grab objectives and win games.

Miniature Range For Salamanders, miniatures is probably the hardest thing about collecting the army. Mantic Games makes some models for the army, but basically just Artakl (which is a great model pictured below), Firebrand (also great), Fire Elementals (continuing the greatness), and Salamander Prime models (less great). For the rest of the army you need to find other companies to use.

The most common choice is Games Workshop’s Seraphon (the old lizardmen) range. The skinks for Ghekkotah work particularly well. However, this is not a particularly affordable approach, because Age of Sigmar is priced using far fewer models than Kings of War.

Lost Kingdoms Saurian Ancients are stunning miniatures, with a lot of cool and dynamic dinosaur models. If you like the feel of the Salamander army, but want to go a different aesthetic from Lizards, you could look for historical miniature ranges that could work. Crocodile Games Amazon range could look cool alongside Fire Elementals and monsters. Wargames Foundry makes some cool Aztec models that could serve as a Salamander army.

Because of the potential difficulty in finding miniatures, Salamanders are not a great choice for a player who wants to buy a starter set, a few extra pieces, and go. However, the flexibility of the kings of war system makes them the perfect fit for someone who likes exploring miniature ranges and thematic ranges.

Looking for longer reviews? Unfortunately, I was unable to find any reviews of Salamanders in Third Edition. There is an older Counter Charge episode covering Salamanders in 2nd Edition here. Just keep in mind the army has changed a good bit since then. Ryan Munsel wrote his first perspectives on Salamanders in 3rd edition here on Dash28, which could also be useful, in addition to our Tiered army review.