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

Well, here it is, the third part of our Choosing an Army feature. Whew! I initially envisioned this as one big article, but splitting it up was 100% the right choice, otherwise, this article would have been massive!

Welcome to another article in our Kings of War Beginner’s Guide. In my previous articles, I discussed choosing an army for the forces of good and the forces of neutrality– you can find those 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 and discuss the various armies’ strengths and weaknesses as well as common models used, and link other resources to explore more about each 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 that 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 where you have flexibility in which models to use for your units. So, I am going to try 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. For 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 allies (except Varangur, which can’t ally with Forces of the Abyss), and Neutral can ally with everyone!

Dash28 has written 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 reviews 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 which army you should choose to play. You can find the Unplugged Radio episode here and the follow-up Counter Charge episode here. Or, you can check out Death By Dragons’ 3-minute army primers found here. One Northern King has been working his way through an army review a week, and you can find his complete list 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.

Onto the Forces of Evil!

Abyssal Dwarves

The corrupted and mutated dwarves of the Halpi Mountains. If you want to play dwarves, but also be evil, then Abyssal Dwarves are worth considering. Also worth considering if you love hearing dwarf players complain about how much better your army is than theirs (maybe that is just me LOL).

Strengths Abyssal Dwarves are one of the most flexible armies in the game. They have some great fast choices in Halfbreeds and Grotesques, which can be supported with the excellent Halfbreed Champions, Gargoyles, and Basusu the Vile. If you want to field a slower, tougher army, Lesser Obsidian Golems, Immortal Guard, and even basic Blacksouls are tough, but still hit hard. If you want extra bodies Slave Orcs are cheap and pack in the Nerve.

Abyssal Dwarves excel particularly at hitting incredibly hard. Nearly everything in the army has Crushing Strength 1, Thunderous Charge 1, or Piercing 1. Many units also have Vicious, letting your damage output be really reliable. If you want an army that punches really, really, hard, you can’t do much better than Abyssal Dwarves.

For shooting, Abyssal Dwarves have some of the best Artillery in the game with the terrifying Heavy Mortar and the still respectable Light Mortar. In closer range, their Decimators provide some excellent 12″ ranged attacks, which, when combined with mutated throwing mastiffs, means you can really pack on the damage at range.

Finally, Abyssal Dwarves have some amazing support options. Gargoyles are some of the best chaff in the game. Basusu the Vile is a flexible flying threat. The Hexcaster is a sneaky, but extremely powerful, piece.

Basically, Abyssal Dwarves have a plethora of phenomenal choices. If you want access to some of the best the game has to offer, Abyssal Dwarves may be for you.

Weaknesses The cynical gamers in Kings of War may say that Abyssal Dwarves have no weaknesses, and while that is wrong, they are a very powerful army.

One thing Abyssal Dwarves struggle with is a lack of mid-range shooting. Their artillery and Decimators are amazing, but they are either long-range or very short-range. If you want shooting that can move around and threaten things 24″ away, Abyssal Dwarves can’t deliver. In some games, this won’t matter, but against fast and maneuverable opponents it can be a big detriment.

Mediocre Surge means that your Shambling units don’t have the pivot threats that armies like Undead and Forces of Nature can bring to the table. Ironcasters aren’t bad, but since they are expensive you just can’t pack in a ton of Surge while still keeping a well-rounded list.

Finally, Abyssal Dwarves can easily over-commit to certain strategies, leading them to be defeated by counters for unwary generals. For example, the Artillery is amazing, it can be really tempting to take 3+ war engines, but pretty quickly you have spent 600+ points on non-scoring war engines. If the opponent has an answer for them you are in trouble. Similarly, I personally love using their Halfbreeds alongside some other fast elements, but if the opponent has a good answer for them I am in trouble. The answer here is obvious, build a balanced force, but it’s easy to get carried away!

Miniatures Range For miniatures, Mantic Games makes a pretty amazing range for their Abyssal Dwarves, which is nearly complete. A good chunk of this range has been recently redone, and the sculpts look amazing; however, I would avoid the old Immortal Guard and Decimator kits. The Decimators, in particular, were a pain to put together. The Gargoyles and Halfbreeds can also be a little fiddly. I like the end product with the Halfbreeds, but personally, I would look elsewhere for Gargoyles.

If you are looking for something different. consider checking out Titan Forge, which has some really cool options, particularly for war engines and monsters. Scibor Miniatures makes some cool looking Dark Dwarves. Finally, Mom Miniatures makes a line called Darck Dwarfs, which could work well for a few choices.

If you are looking for more perspectives, Death By Dragons has a 3-minute army primer on Abyssal Dwarves.

Empire of Dust

Undead, but Egyptian, yup that is Empire of Dust! If you want to play Undead, but are also a hipster who wants to be different, Empire of Dust may be perfect for you!

Strengths Empire of Dust is one of the grindiest factions in the game, they have good defense, Fearless, and have access to heal, regeneration, and life leech, meaning they love to get stuck in and hold. Lots of the units have solid Crushing Strength which helps them slowly win grinding combats as well. This combines really well with some of the surge tricks they can pull off, since pretty much the entire list Shambles.

Empire of Dust has a nice blend of shooting and combat options, as well as decent caster choices, meaning they can play a blended playstyle pretty well. Some of the shooting options are not optimal, but if you want to play Undead, except with a nice blend of unit styles, Empire of Dust is worth looking at.

Finally, Empire of Dust has some excellent variety in Monster and Monster-like choices. The Idol of Shobik is a terrifying Living Legend that is great at a lot of things (but you pay the points for it), Undead Giants are great at hitting flanks, or adding some high crushing strength damage, Pharaohs on Chariots threaten flanks and provide some mobile damage, and the Bone Dragon provides some excellent threats with Surge. If you like the ability to threaten flanks and rears with a combination of movement and Surge, Empire of Dust is one of the best armies out there.

Weaknesses Despite having a range of options, nearly the entire army hits on 4s meaning they will take longer to Rout the enemy units. Enslaved Guardians are solid but don’t stand out as anything particularly special when compared to the large infantry in other armies. Empire of Dust units are often the kings of mediocrity. This is compounded when things like terrain and/or ensnare come into play, making your mediocre Melee downright terrible.

Slow, slow, slow! Empire of Dust is not a fast army, they try to make up for this with toughness and Surge tricks; however, Alpha strike lists can still be a major threat to any Empire of Dust list. If you aren’t willing to sacrifice units in the hopes to trap and kill fast threats, Empire of Dust is not the army for you.

Finally, it’s tough to play Empire of Dust and not compare them to the similar, but just better army, Undead. In many ways, while playing Empire of Dust, you will be playing the hipster version of Undead. It’s Undead without a lot of the bells and whistles. If you are going to get frustrated seeing similar, but downright better versions of your army around, you may just be better off playing Undead.

I would not recommend this army for new players, or players who will get frustrated if they lose a lot when starting out.

Miniature Range Mantic Games make a pretty nice range for Empire of Dust. I have heard some of the model kits, particularly the skeletons can be a bit fiddly, but it’s one of the most cost-efficient ways to get a semi-Egyptian look in 28mm.

Games Workshop’s out-of-print Tomb Kings range would work wonderfully but these are rare, expensive, and would be tough to collect a whole army.

Crocodile Games makes some really interesting models for Wargods of Aegyptus, which have some promise for the Empire of Dust. Eureaka Miniatures UK also has a few sculpts that could work.

Finally, if you really like the idea of Empire of Dust, you could go for a different aesthetic than Egyptian. Warmonger for instance makes some more classical-looking Undead which could fill in for Empire of Dust. Or maybe go for another cultural aesthetic, like Roman with Wargames Atlantic’s range.

At the time of writing this I could not find additional resources on playing Empire of Dust.

Forces of the Abyss

The evil-hearted demons of Pannithor, Forces of the Abyss is the epitome of an evil army, complete with cheesy cartoony red paint schemes in the studio art!

Strengths Forces of the Abyss have access to a lot of regeneration, which means if you can keep your units alive, they will slowly go back to full strength. This, combined with access to solid numbers of Drain Life, and some really solid infantry choices, means Forces of the Abyss is set up perfectly if you want to play a grinding force of doom.

Forces of the Abyss also has access to some really useful and maneuverable shooting. Flamebearers, Fiends, and Warlocks all have great shooting that is range 12-18″. These shots can pour a lot of damage onto lower defense choices but can struggle against higher defense. If you want to really double down on this you can take Efreet, which while a little overpriced, can add even more ranged damage potential. The key to this shooting damage is unlike most other armies relying on War Engines, Forces of the Abyss shooting can move around and grab objectives, turn to hit fast things trying to threaten flanks, and generally be a maneuverable nuisance while plinking more and more damage on.

Chaff, chaff, chaff. Of all the evil armies, Forces of the Abyss has access to some of the best throw-away units. Gargoyles are fast and can easily block units and get in the way. Abyssal Ghouls are amazing, cheap, throwaway units that can be taken in troops, regiments, or hordes, in case you want your throwaway unit to be more of a tar pit. Tortured Souls, while pricey, are excellent “Thicc Chaff:” basically tougher units that can kill opposing chaff and also block enemy units. No matter what you want in a delivery system, Forces of the Abyss has it.

Finally, Forces of the Abyss has Succubi, which in regiments can shred through enemy units. If you back them up with Bane Chant or Hammer of Measured Force they can even threaten those high defense options your other units may struggle to deal with. Forces of the Abyss has a few other potential other hammers, Molochs and Abyssal Horsemen, neither of which are bad, but Succubi are just SO good!

Weaknesses On a whole, Forces of the Abyss is not a fast army. They have some fast choices, but for the most part, they are speed 5 and 6, meaning you cannot Alpha Strike your opponent away with them. If you gotta go fast, I would not recommend Forces of the Abyss.

Forces of the Abyss also has difficulty defeating high defense enemies. Succubi with Hammer of Measured Force and Bane Chant help with this, but on a whole, they don’t have the Crushing Strength a lot of other armies have. The way to overcome this is with flank charges and playing the objective, but this can lead to some frustrating situations where your units just bounce.

Greg’s note – I disagree with Jake’s take here. The Molochs make such a good backbone of an army with strong damage output (18 Att, Melee 3+, Crushing Strength 2) and Fearless (with an upgrade). Supported by Abyssal Fiends, Despoiler Champions, or even an Archfiend of the Abyss (or three if you’re Jon), this army can chew through the toughest armies.

Miniature Range Mantic Games makes nearly a complete range for Forces of the Abyss, some of these kits are starting to look on the dated side; however, if you avoid the red paint scheme and go with something else I think they can still look nice.

A common range to use is Games Workshop’s demon range, I think these can do particularly well as places to look for centerpiece monsters, like the Fiend and the ArchFiend.

The good news is a LOT of fantasy games have demon ranges. If you like the truly grotesque, Heresy Miniatures makes some amazing sculpts for big gribblies. Creature Caster is another great resource if you want some really frightening monsters.

If you are looking for models for large infantry and some other options, I quite like TitanForge’s sculpts, they have some perfect things for Molochs and Imps (though imps are terrible in the game). Some of Malifaux’s models, particularly from the Neverborn range could also work really well.

Honestly there are a ton of options for Forces of the Abyss, basically any demon like miniature works.

At this time I was unable to find additional reviews for Forces of the Abyss.

Goblins

Hordes and hordes of bodies. With access to Mantic’s best ranges in one of the game’s best armies, Goblins are a great choice if you love the idea of painting hundreds of snarling little faces, shooting your enemy off the board, or taking lots and lots of stuff.

Strengths Goblins are the epitome of a horde army, they pack bodies upon bodies on the table. Most of these choices aren’t amazing, but they are cheap. Goblins tend to not need one thing to do well, because you usually take 2-3 of everything worth taking! If it doesn’t work the first time try again, and again!

If painting hundreds of miniatures doesn’t scare you off, Goblins can actually be a pretty beginner friendly army because they can take from a wide range of options, some solid combat, some great tarpits, some fast stuff, and a lot of shooting, and they are cheap enough you can easily build redundancy into your list to help cushion you from mistakes or bad luck.

Goblin shooting is the best shooting in the game. Big Rocks Throwers, Sharpstick Throwers, Maw Pup Launchers, and War Trombones, all supported with the amazing Winggit give goblins a TON of shooting potential, and this doesn’t take into account Spitters (archers), Chariots, and Characters! If the idea of shooting your opponent off the table appeals to you, Goblins may be a perfect fit. Just be warned that people get salty fast versus gun-lines.

Never fear though, goblins don’t need to be a gun-line. They have access to a plethora of other options that can make combat and flooding the board just as viable. Goblin Blasters, explosive carriages that are cheap and cause heavy damage to the enemy if they reach them, provide one of the game’s more unique units. Trolls, Giants, and Luggit Gang give you some damage output. Fleabag Riders are just as fast as flyers, and Mincer/Mincer Mobs provide some fast damage potential. Basically, goblins can go a lot of directions, but no matter what you choose, you need a lot of units to make it work.

Weaknesses Goblins are most susceptible to anti-horde tactics, because they are the epitome of a horde army. Units like Succubi, that both Ensnare goblin attacks, and shred through low defense, can kill multiple units of goblins a game no trouble. Goblins don’t auto-lose to anti-horde units, but they need to be aware of them and use their own options to quickly counter them before they become a problem.

Flyers can give goblins some issues, they have the tools to offset flying units to a point, but when facing multiple flyers, particularly flying monsters, they can have some issues.

Finally, goblins, as a horde army, can get in their own way easily. An unlucky waver can block up your units and give opponents vital extra turns to slay more of your units.

Even with all this in mind, Goblins are one of the most competitive armies, with a lot of flexibility in how they can be built while still winning games.

Miniature Range Mantic Games has recently redone their Goblin range, and they are amazing. I strongly suggest thinking about them at least for the rank and file goblins, as you will be hard-pressed to find as nice sculpts for the prices Mantic has.

Another common miniature range is Games Workshop’s Gloomspite Gitz which bring an interesting cave/robed aesthetic. Plus the squig models for this range are just so cool!

If you want a forest aesthetic for your Goblins, ShieldWolf Miniatures has an amazing goblin range. If you like a more old-school, humorous style to your goblins, Warmonger Miniatures makes some stunningly nostalgic models. Finally, returning to one of my old reliables, Games Workshop’s Moria range for Lord of the Rings could be a cool basis for a Goblin army.

If you want a deep dive into goblins, check out Counter Charge’s Goblin Review!

Nightstalkers

The creepy, otherworldly beings. If you find yourself wishing you could fit more monsters in an army, or perhaps wishing for even creepier miniatures to choose from, then Nightstalkers may be for you. Oh, and they are also the perfect army if you want to make shooting heavy armies salty.

Strengths Stealthy on nearly every unit in the army means they are extremely hard to hit with shooting. Combine this with access to a number of really fast choices, and Nightstalkers are a great counter to shooting heavy armies.

Nightstalkers also have access to a huge array of monsters, and since they do not need to take characters for inspiring, it is easier to fit these gribblies into your lists. You have the face-beating Void Luker, the blasting Mindscreech, the healing Planar Apparition, the ensnaring Terror, and more, you have options upon options for excellent monster choices.

Nightstalkers have some nice support choices; however, they excel at hitting the enemy hard and from multiple angles. Units like Fiends, Phantoms, Shadowhounds, Void Lurkers, and Dread Fiends provide excellent fast flanking forces, while Butchers, Reapers, Terrors, and other slower choices can push up the center. Nightstalkers can be either elite or a more horde-style army, but no matter what you will need to consider how to attack the enemy from multiple angles.

Weaknesses Low defense across the board (to help offset Stealthy) means Nightstalkers can be fragile in combat. This can be mitigated with high Nerve (Scarecrows), regeneration (Terror and Void Lurker), or Speed (Fiends), but the fact is that in combat, almost anything can put damage on Nightstalker units. Lightning Bolt is particularly awful for Nightstalkers to face, as it can still hit relatively well, and Piercing 1 means it is wounding on 2s and 3s every time.

Slightly lower access to Crushing Strength means that High Defense armies can really be bothersome to Nightstalkers. Fiends can, and often will, bounce off Defense 6, and then their low defense means they get hurt on the return hit. Because of this, Nightstalkers need to take high defense threats seriously and be sure they are moving to hit their flanks and rears.

Stealing enemy Inspiring, but not Inspiring yourself can be a double-edged sword. It’s great when you are fighting the enemy near their heroes. But in the early turns of the game, your units can be extra vulnerable to spiked nerve tests because they will not have a reroll. Keep this in mind when deploying and using low nerve units like Shadowhounds especially.

Miniatures Range Mantic Games makes amazing miniatures for their Nightstalkers, other than the brand-new Goblins these are hands down my favorite Mantic Miniatures. The range has a few holes that I think can easily be supplemented or augmented with other companies. Personally, if I was working on Nightstalkers I would intermix Mantic and other miniatures in units to get a nice variety of looks and heights.

Malifaux Neverborn has some perfect options for Nightstalkers, particularly if you want to lean into the weird and creepy themes. Creature Caster makes some perfect models for monsters. Finally, one of my favorite companies for the wicked and creepy, Heresy Miniatures makes some horrifying miniatures that are perfect.

I couldn’t find much information on Nightstalkers in 3rd edition; however, Nick Willaim’s blog has some great insight into how he piloted his hordes upon hordes of Scarecrows. It could be an interesting read if you want some deeper reflection on what Nightstalkers can offer.

Orcs

The combat brutes of Kings of War. If you like the idea of taking hordes upon hordes of things called Ax, Morax, Longax, Youngax, and Greatax, then Orcs may be for you.

Strengths Orcs, when supported with War Drums, can take a very high nerve, hard-hitting, combat line. These choices are going to primarily be varieties of orc infantry, but all of them have Crushing Strength, decent Defense, and respectable Nerve brought to scary levels with War Drums.

Orcs hit hard, like very hard. Their standard infantry loves to get caught into grinding combats, while their hammers, Fight Wagons, Morax, Greatax, Krudger on Winged Slasher, etc. can cut through opposition. When backed up by some Bane Chant, orcs can chew through pretty much any battle line in a turn or two.

Orcs are known for their excellent hero support. The humble Krusher on Gore provides 75 points of fast-moving damage potential, great for stopping shooting, killing other heroes, or killing war engines. Krudgers provide some greater combat punch and inspiring. While Godspeakers have a unique ability to cast spells at higher levels depending on how many orc units are around them. Finally, Orcs have access to some excellent Living Legends, with my favorite being Gakamak, a combat beast who hits on 2s!!!!

Weaknesses Orcs on a whole are slower than many other armies and rely on their Defense and Nerve to stick around long enough to reach combat. Alpha strike armies particularly can give orcs issues, as they can be hard to stall into grind combats where orcs excel.

Orcs lack a ton of flexibility in their playstyle, they can be a bit more elite, or a bit more horde, lean into Winged Slashers or Fight Wagons, but overall you know they are going to be a slightly slower major combat threat that puts piles of Nerve on the table. This means that many orc generals eventually can be heard grumbling that they wish they had more choices beyond just foot orcs. There are of course some other things that can be taken, but generally, the core of orcs on foot with different weapons is going to be a big chunk of any orc list.

Orcs almost completely lack shooting options, which means they can struggle to deal with threats that are best kept at arm’s length, like Goblin Blasters. Characters on Gores can help this, but it’s worth keeping in mind Orcs are pretty much exclusively a combat army.

Miniature Range Mantic Games makes some miniatures for orcs, but it is far from a complete range. Some of the newer Orc miniatures, like the Winged Slasher, and the Longax are particularly cool, though.

Games Workshop’s Orruk range, especially some of the out of print stuff from Warhammer Fantasy times is a common choice to see filled in for orcs. Their Lord of the Rings range for Mordor could also make a cool Orc army.

There are a lot of companies that make a variety of Orc miniatures, here are a few, but really almost any fantasy game has some orcs. Avatars of War has excellent sculpts for characters. If you want a unique theme, Titan Forge has an awesome Undead Orc range. For a more classic look, Warmonger Miniatures makes some really amazing orc sculpts.

At this time I was unable to find additional resources covering Orcs.

Undead

Masters of Surge (or the cheat phase as many of my opponents call it), Undead is arguably one of the best armies in the game, able to be tough, hit hard, and move fast. If you like spooky things, awesome zombie units, or demonstrating to opponents just what Surge is capable of, Undead may be for you.

Strengths One of Undead’s greatest strengths is that their list has a TON of flexibility with few poor choices. The depth of their roster creates an army that can do a lot of different strategies and is incredibly rewarding to play long term, because if you get bored, just switch around your list!

Undead has some of the best grind potential in the game. They have a few useful tarpits, the best of which are Zombies, and a few tough-ish units that can hit hard over time, like Mummies, Revenants, and Zombie Trolls. But most importantly, all of these options can be surged, meaning if you hold one turn it is incredibly easy to hit flanks and sometimes even rears, with the rest of your battle line. Many of my Undead games are won by baiting my opponent in, surviving for a turn, and then enveloping them.

Undead are also gifted with several simply amazing hammers to choose from. Wights and Soul Reaver Infantry are current favorites, but Werewolves and Soul Reaver Cavalry can also do a ton of damage. Choices like Vampires on Dragons, Vampires on Pegasus, and even Zombie Trolls can serve as pseudo hammers, projecting a lot of threat if they hit flanks or combo charge.

Perhaps beyond the sheer volume of choice, Undead are defined by their resiliency. Everything in the army has Life Leech, meaning it will heal damage when in combat. But the army also has access to a lot of Drain Life and Heal, which when combined with Life Leech can have Undead shedding serious damage off of their hurt units if they survive a turn. Considering several of their choices having great nerve values for their points, Undead can stick around through a lot of punishment.

Weaknesses Shooting can be tough for Undead to face. They have a couple of heroes and chaff options that can counter this, but because the army wants to take damage in combat (so it can Life Leech some back the following turn) taking damage early on versus shooting can be tough. Undead also only has a few shooting options of their own, with the only viable one being their Catapults, meaning things can get desperate against heavy shooting.

Ensnare and Terrain is not Undead’s friends. A lot of the list hits on 4s or worse, and nothing in the list has natural Pathfinder, and only one choice, Wraiths, have Strider. Because of this both Ensnare and Terrain can create opportunities for enemies to stop your battle line fast with less investment. Zombies hitting on 6s often take 2 turns to even break troops…

Finally, Undead’s Shambling, which allows their Surge shenanigans, is an amazing strength, but also a potential weakness. Kings of War games are won or lost through objectives, several of which involve crossing the table. When a lot of your army cannot move at the double, this means you need to be aware and moving towards objectives 1-2 turns before your opponent, otherwise you will fall short, even if you have won fights. I have lost several Invade scenarios despite winning a lot of combat, because my slow battle line falls 2-3″ short of the other board side!

Miniatures Range Undead are one of the most common ranges in fantasy gaming, and there are so many options to pick from.

Mantic Games makes a pretty solid Undead line, with their Zombies being the best option on the market for massed hordes for an affordable price. Their Wights and Zombie Trolls are incredible kits, and some of their hero and monster kits are rather cool as well.

Games Workshop makes some cool Undead ranges, with their Night Haunt being my favorite options for ghostly armies.

Titan Forge’s incredible Undead Orc range is perfect if you are looking for a unique and fun theme. Heresy Miniatures makes my personal favorite choices for Ghouls.

If you are looking for additional coverage of Undead, check out Counter Charge’s 3rd Edition update for them, as well as One Northern King’s army review.

Ratkin

The deranged ratmen of Pannithor, Ratkin are a horde army with some great support options. If you like hordes and hordes of infantry, backed up with weird creations and monsters, Ratkin may be for you.

Strengths Cheap, cheap, cheap! Ratkin excel at putting hordes and hordes on the tabletop. Perhaps even more then goblins, and to assist this, they have several options that give rallying around, making their hordes slightly beefier then expected.

Ratkin are defined by some excellent support options. Their Demonspawn hits extremely hard, but also rallies its followers. The brood mother slings around Drain Life, allowed to damage cheap swarms and hordes, to heal more important options. Their Clawshots, War Engines, and Nightmares provide some excellent shooting support for the hordes of rats you fill the board with.

Shock Troops are an amazing choice that is a combo with a cheaper choice, with some rules to make it somewhat elite, and additional upgrades to improve its utility. Shock Troops, when used well, can completely tear through opponents, while stubbornly refusing to die as the Brood Mothers heal them back up. A great deal of Ratkin lists use 2-3 Hordes of these bad boys!

Weaknesses Low defense means Ratkin get damaged by almost anything. They rely on their high nerve to keep them around, but damage can pile up on them quickly if not supported well. They also lack choices with really high crushing strength (other then the Demonspawn), so they rely on Bane Chant and numbers to get through Defense 6.

Ratkin suffer from some wonky internal balance. They are overall a really good army, but several of their choices just aren’t worth taking when compared to other options in the list. Warriors and Spear warriors are tough to justify when you have wretches and Shock Troops. Several of their options fall into this trap, not quite good enough at something to not just pay a little more for something better, or a little less for something worse. Because of this some Ratkin generals complain the list lacks enough options and playstyles.

Miniature Range Mantic Games has started to produce a simply stunning Ratkin line. All of this range is new, and some of the best stuff Mantic has done.

Another common option is Games Workshop’s Skaven line.

There aren’t a lot of other options for Ratmen-like miniatures. The only other company I could find was Punga Miniatures.

If you are looking for more information on Ratkin check out Counter Charges Ratkin review, Direct Misfire’s Ratkin Review, or Page Neo’s channel Newbie Dice where Page plays Ratkin against a LOT of different opponents.

Ratkin Slaves

Ratkin Slaves, an odd in-between army for people who can’t quite choose between Abyssal Dwarves or Ratkin, and so get a little bit of both. This faction has had very little discussion, so there is still a lot to explore for them.

Strengths Abyssal Dwarf and Ratkin components support each other surprisingly well. Ratkin add extremely cheap units and chaff, along with some nice shooting, while Abyssal Dwarves add some nice cavalry choices and more shooting.

Ratkin Slaves are great at piling bodies on the table, similar to Ratkin; however, they lose out on almost all the Ratkin support options that make these hordes shine, and instead swap in some Abyssal Dwarf choices. These can work well with the Ratkin, but differently than in Ratkin.

Weaknesses This army is in a weird place army composition-wise. They don’t have a ton of clear synergy between options, and have a very small army roster. While there are competent lists in this army, it is not beginner-friendly. I would recommend avoiding playing it, and instead playing Ratkin with Abyssal Dwarf allies, or vice versa.

Miniature Range See the options for Ratkin and Abyssal Dwarves, it’s just a mish-mash of the two armies.

One Northern King had a review article to explore the faction a bit deeper and here.

Twilight Kin

Do you want to play elves, but are you also an edgelord (Greg’s note – I hear Jake throw this word around all the time, and still don’t quite understand what it means)? Twilight Kin may be for you! Honestly, similar to Ratkin Slaves, Twilight Kin are almost barely an army, and rather a mish-mash of other armies combined. If you want to field elves, but use evil stuff, I’d recommend just playing as elves, with evil-looking elf minis.

Strengths Twilight Kin has a nice range of options, particularly with the combination of Nightstalker, Abyssal, and Elf units, along with a few units of their own. They have a unique special rule which provides synergy between Cronebound units and their Crones too!

In many ways, Twilight Kin has many of the strengths of Nightstalkers and Abyssals supported by a couple of okay Elf choices. Their Living Legend Mikayel is rather cool as far as choppy heroes go.

Weaknesses Honestly it’s probably clear I was struggling both with Twilight Kin and Ratkin Slaves. Both of these armies are barely armies in my book. Twilight Kin has very few regular units, meaning you have very little flexibility in core army build. Their synergy between Crones and Cronebound units is cool, but more of a gimmick than something I want to base a whole army on. As I said at the beginning of the entry, if you really want to play with evil elf miniatures, just play with them but use them as elves, and it will feel closer to an actual elf army. I do not recommend this army for new players. (Greg’s note – sounds like a challenge!)

Miniature Range Games Workshop mostly OOP Dark Elf range is a popular choice for Twilight Kin. Some of these options are available still in the Daughters of Khaine. Mostly, it is tough to find miniatures to fill this army (another reason why I don’t recommend it for new players).

The Nightstalker and Abyssal components can be Mantic or other options suggested in those army postings above.

If you want a differing perspective on Twilight Kin, check out One Northern King’s blog post on them.

Varangur

Varangur, an option for players who want to play Northern Alliance, but even punchier.

Strengths: Varangur are a themed army from the Northern Alliance, so they have a lot of the same strengths and weaknesses. You can find their entry in Choosing an Army Forces of Good. However, there are a few differences.

Varangur play even more aggressively than Northern Alliance. They gain access to Fallen and Mounted Sons of Korgaan, both excellent hammer options. These round out some of the mobile threats the army offers nicely, fixing the speed weakness that Northern Alliance tends to have.

They also gain access to the fantastic cheap option, Draugr, essentially giving them an option for cheap hordes to flood the board with, and unlock options with! The Draugr also synergize with the Magus, who can transfer wounds from Bloodbound units to them, basically channeling damage from expensive important units, into your cheap pseudo zombies!

Finally, Varangur gains access to Magnilde, a really powerful and cool combat hero that can fly once a game.

All these combine together to make Varangur an option for players who really, really want to beat face in combat.

Weaknesses: The elite of the elite, Varangur armies, even with the introduction of Draugr, are always going to be small, elite forces. Each loss will be felt, and some scenarios could be particularly tough against things like horde armies. Their high-cost units also mean poor dice rolling can be particularly detrimental.

Other than Magus Conclaves, Varangur has few ranged options. If you are going to win with them, it will be up close and personal. Opposing armies will know this and can use it to their advantage.

Because of their elite size, as well as their lack of ranged options, Varangur can be particularly vulnerable to shooting early in the game, especially war engines. A few lucky hits and Mounted Sons of Korgaan or Fallen units evaporate away.

Miniature Range Varangur is a themed list for the Northern Alliance, which Mantic Games makes a nice range for. These can also easily serve as Varangur.

Games Workshop’s Chaos miniatures can make excellent Varangur miniatures, with the OOP Chaos Warrior range being particularly popular.

Avatars of War have some excellent potential miniatures to use for Varangur, look at this Dark Gods range specifically.

While writing this I was unable to find additional guides or reviews to Varangur.