After two months of hints, reveals and promotions, Kings of War 4th edition is finally shipping. I still haven't gotten the books I pre-ordered on the first day yet, but I did get a Xirkaali Battalion, the day before I'm heading up to the frozen north to spend Christmas with my grandkids (so sorry that this is a bit rushed - I'm going to have to finish it on my tablet).
The Xirkaali are humanoid dogs (the Hemicyon) with humans (the Yan). I loved these minis when I first saw them, so I think this is going to be my 4th edition army.
The Xirkaali are humanoid dogs (the Hemicyon) with humans (the Yan). I loved these minis when I first saw them, so I think this is going to be my 4th edition army.
The Battalion boxes are replacing the old army boxes - and each contains a fully playable army (between 600 and 1100 points, depending on the army).
I love that Mantic slipped in a little joke on the packaging (on a flap). They used to hide jokes in the fine print of all their products many years ago, but being fine print, nobody read or saw them.
The first are the humans - the Yan. This sprue makes the brotherhood (the base unit, with clubs), Chakrams (with a 12" shooting attack) and Warrior Monks (with Ensnare, Fearless, Iron Resolve (1) and Thunderous Charge (1))
All of the models are labeled A-E - and some have multiple optional parts. The Chakras are the circle weapons. I'm not sure what the circles with the crossbar are.
All of the models are labeled A-E - and some have multiple optional parts. The Chakras are the circle weapons. I'm not sure what the circles with the crossbar are.
One thing I noticed on this and the warrior sprue, there are some bits labeled with an 'L' - my guess is these are intended to be the 'Leader' bits?
Chakrams have their throwing weapons
The Plainstalkers / Wildfangs sprue makes either the Plainstalkers (a ranged unit), or Wildfangs, a fierce combat unit. Each sprue and a half makes three large infantry models, which is a troop.
Assembly is extremely straight forward - head and two arms. The arm joints are flat - giving some flexibility in posing, which is nice. There are 12 heads on the sprue for a lot of variety. (I would have liked more with the hats - there is only 1 per sprue).
Brotherhood of Yan has clubs
Warrior Monks do not have any specific modeling to distinguish them - so it will be up to the painting.
The Plainstalkers / Wildfangs sprue makes either the Plainstalkers (a ranged unit), or Wildfangs, a fierce combat unit. Each sprue and a half makes three large infantry models, which is a troop.
Both model variants use the same legs, but that is all they share. The wildfangs have 3 bodies, but 4 pairs of arms, and 6 heads. They go together quite easily. The bodies are meant to go on specific legs - for instance the B body has a notch in it that fits a buckle on the B legs. The arms use a flat join, so you should be able to mix and match them and the heads as much as you want.
These are large infantry, so I wanted to compare them for scale, and they are the same size as Ogres.
The Plainstalkers are not quite as simple. First they don't have heads, they have faces (6 of them) because their hoods are molded into the body. The arms (4 pairs) are also quite different - they fit under the shoulders in the openings on the body. This did require some dry fitting to see how they go, but they did fit nicely. I only built the one, but since their are 4 pairs, I "assume" they should all fit the same.
Also, I'm never sure where the quiver should go.
Also, I'm never sure where the quiver should go.
These are large infantry, so I wanted to compare them for scale, and they are the same size as Ogres.
The Warrior sprue makes the Warrior Pack and Spear Wardens. These are a sprue and a half, and there are only four models per sprue. Like the Yan, these are marked A-D - but some bits are COM instead - again leading me to think these are for command models (the spiked shield is an example).
For the warriors, there are five pairs of arms. So you can make them with 2 weapons, or a weapon and a shield (sword & board). There are also 10 heads (2 of which are unarmored).
The Spearwardens only have the 4 spear arms, but 5 shields (one of which is the command).
Mantic is fully embracing multibasing with these, as just forgetting about FMC, PMC and MMC (Full, Preferred and Minimum Model Count). For a troop/regiment of infantry (including heavy infantry), FMC was 10/20, PMC 7/24, and MMC 6/11. A spare holds 4 models, so for these two units, they are using 4/8 models.
Aside from the spare design, they needed to have a different model count to differentiate them from the large infantry units at 3/6 models.
Actual size wise, they are a bit smaller, but could have been large infantry. The problem with that they wanted them to have 'normal' infantry attacks. Standard LI used to be 9/18 attacks (now I'm not sure there is a standard - Ogres kept 9/18 but most others dropped 1/2 attacks. These two units are both 12/15 attacks - more per troop, less for a regiment.
In addition to the plastic sprues, there are two of the premium resin models - the wit hunter and witch cage
Again very easy to put together. The one caution is that the face is tiny. I almost thought is was just flash. Then I dropped it and almost could not find it! It is one of my favorite models!!
Yes, I have it blurred to a 50 mm base ( instead of a 40 ). this is temporary, as I want to take the option to have them riding a lion. (Turning them into large cav, +2 att, sp 9, tc(1) and losing individual). There is no model for that - here is hoping they will be on the vault for January.
While still heavy infantry, it is pretty close to an ogre in size.
This is basically a Wildfang with the witch cage on it's back.
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Be aware - do not glue the cage front to the back before you paint it - you will not be able to get to the "witch" if you do.
The cage is a tight fit, but has some cool details - the witch hands are shackled to the bars of the cage.
Finally, The new hard plastic unit bases are included.
2 designs for the largeinfantry bases (120 x 40 )
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| 100 * 50 |
2 designs for Heavy infantry (125 x 50 mm) adds as well,
Only 1 infantry design (100 x 40)
The bottom of the bases says Mantic and the base size.
Then I saw the connectors and my first thought was that Mantic was getting Lego. Then I realized what they are. Singles fill the unused corners, doubles where two bases connect to make a larger base. The four piece is for the four corners when 4 bases are combined to make a horde.
I hope to get the other resin models to at share next week (if my preorder ships!)
Because it is all fun and games . . .
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