Small Point Games of Kings of War: KoW in a Flash

Greetings Dash28 readers! Today I have something a bit different for you all. Years ago, several of my favorite games, including Lord of the Rings, had rules to play smaller games with modified army building rules to allow you to get in games in under an hour. I always loved playing this style of games because it was easy to get new people into the game, and you could easily get multiple games in during one gaming meet-up, but they still maintained a lot of the tactic fun of a larger game.

While chatting on the Counter Charge After Dark paint hangout, some other Kings of War gamers and I got to discussing how Kings of War doesn’t scale down as well as some games. In a game about trading units back and forth to achieve goals, the fewer units on the table, the fewer choices you have, and we all agreed that vanilla Kings of War doesn’t shine below 1,250 points. 1,000 points tend to be a few powerful units just trying to steamroll the enemy, and often whoever hits first wins.

Vanguard theoretically fills the need for a lower model-count game, but Vanguard collections can’t easily build into a full army. And the style of the game is SO different from Kings of War, so it doesn’t scratch the same itch. We started hypothetically brainstorming what Kings of War in a Flash would look like. The more we talked about it, the more I wanted to actually get these rules written down and put out into the ether — surely some other people may enjoy these smaller KoW games, particularly as a way to ease back into gaming or recruiting new people to the game.

So, without more waiting I give you Kings of War in a Flash, a modified ruleset for Kings of War, allowing you to get games in in roughly under an hour, while still building up to a full KoW army!

My goal is to create a tactically rewarding way to play smaller games of kings of war. I envisioned these small point games are the forward scouting forces of a larger force, or perhaps a fledgling warlord fighting over small bits of territory.

Whatever the lore reasoning, these smaller armies would not have access to the cream of the crop from their army lists, no Soul Reavers, no Drakon Riders, and certainly no Giants, this is mostly for balance purposes to avoid the early example of a handful of super units just charging right for each other.

I also wanted players to be able to take somewhere between 5-15 units, that way these games could still create the tactical moments of sacrificing a unit while hoping to get a flank charge, blocking enemy troops while grabbing objectives, ect.

The Rules

Games will be played with 750 points. Games should be played on a 4′ x 4′ table.

Nothing in the army may cost more than 120 points (including magic artifacts and upgrades).

Only Troops and Regiments may be taken in the army. Troops do not need to be unlocked; however, Irregular units still need to be unlocked. Each regular unit unlocks one irregular choice.

1-2 Heroes may be taken (you need at least one to lead your army).

An army may only take a single War Engine, Monster, Large Infantry Hero, Large Cavalry unit, OR Titan.

Only magic artifacts of 20 points or less may be taken, and as a reminder, these cannot take a unit above 120 points in total.

Scenarios

The rulebook has guidelines for adapting the core scenarios to smaller points. You can follow these “Smaller Board” suggestions for these base scenarios; however, Kings of War in a Flash can also provide an excellent opportunity for some more narrative scenarios. If you would like to inject some flavor into your small-scale games, consider some of these themed, but not necessarily balanced, scenarios.

Roll a D6 to determine scenario.

1-2 Ambush!

While bringing supplies to the main army, your force has walked into an ambush!

Deployment: Roll off with the winner choosing if they are the defender or attacker.

The defender will deploy within 12″ of the center of the board. They also start with 3 Loot tokens representing the supplies.

The attacker may deploy on any side of the board up to 12″ away from the table edge.

*You still should use alternating deployment*

Objective: The winner at the end of the game will be the side that has the most loot tokens in possession.

Game Length: Standard 6 turns with a chance for a 7th.

3-4 King of the Hill

While scouting ahead, your force spots a strategically placed hill; however, the opposing scouts have also noticed it. You must try to claim this tactical asset for your own forces!

Deployment: Place a pretty large hill in the center of the board. Ideally you want it to fill a roughly 8-12″ space. Roll off with the winner picking table side and deploying the first unit.

Objective: You must try to claim the hill in center using Unit Strength. Any unit with the majority of its base on the hill adds its Unit Strength to controlling the hill. Whoever has the most Unit Strength on the hill at the end of the game has been crowned King of the Hill.

Game Length : Standard 6 turns with a chance for a 7th.

5-6 Border Tower

As border skirmishes intensify, one force has invaded another’s territory, hoping to remove an important Border Tower. Without this watchful sentinel, future invasions should be much easier.

Deployment: Roll off with the winner choosing if they are the defender or attacker.

The defender places a tower or similar appropriate building in the center of the board.

For deployment, the attacker deploys as usual more than 12″ from the center line; however, the defender, representing their scrambling to defend their tower, may deploy up to the center line.

Objectives: The attacker is trying to destroy the tower, while the defender is trying to prevent its destruction.

The Tower functions as a unit that cannot move, cannot attack, and does not have flanks or rears, its stats are as follows:

Defense 6
Nerve -/20
Special Rules: Rallying (1), Cloak of Death (to represent the defenders shooting nearby threats)

Game Length: Standard 6 turns with a chance for a 7th.