A Return to the Battlefield

By Alessio Cavatore

When Ronnie and Matt first approached me about writing the rules for the 4th Edition of Kings of War, I was genuinely excited. Returning to a game I had helped shape in its early days felt like coming home. But once I sat down to begin I realised just how much time had passed, and how much the game had grown in that time!

My first step was to look at Kings of War through fresh eyes. I wanted to understand where the game stood today, what players loved, what they struggled with, and what new players might find daunting. I studied the latest rulebooks, army lists, and community feedback, and attended Clash of Kings 2024 to see first hand how the game had evolved.

The challenge was clear: refine and modernise the rules, introduce new tactical depth, and improve clarity, without losing the essence of what makes Kings of War so beloved.

Clarity and Accessibility

One of the biggest goals was making the game more approachable for new players. The 3rd Edition rules had become incredibly thorough, great for veterans but intimidating for newcomers.

So, I’ve split the rulebook into core rules and advanced rules, allowing players to learn the basics first before diving into some extended mechanics.

I’ve also considered how rules are presented: for example, instead of burying exceptions within paragraphs, I now introduce a rule cleanly and follow up with exceptions separately, and ideally not in the first part of the rulebook. Such an approach is a small change that makes a big difference in readability.

Let me give you an example. When you first present the rules for movement, you should write something like the following:

‘Units can move through friendly units, but not through enemy units or blocking terrain.’

And not:

‘Units can move through friendly units but not through enemy units or blocking terrain, except for unit with the Fly special rule, which can move over enemy units and blocking terrain.’

So, whenever I found something like that, I removed the exception. In this case, the effect of the flying special rule should not be up front when you first read about movement, otherwise the rules become much longer and more difficult to read.

Streamlining and Standardisation

With the help of chosen veteran players and experienced Mantic staffers, we then made several changes to improve consistency and clarity across the game:

Unit Sizes

Large Infantry and Cavalry now follow a standard progression of Troops and Regiments, rather than the old Regiments and Hordes. Legions have been removed as a general unit size, but still exist as upgrades via certain Commander units.

Hero Bases

All Infantry, Heavy Infantry, and Cavalry Heroes now use 40mm or 50mm bases. This standardisation increases their battlefield presence and makes them feel like proper units. Larger Hero Titans remain on their bigger bases, of course.

Single Nerve Value

With changes to shooting (that we’ll discuss in a future blog), we found that the double Nerve value was no longer necessary. A single Nerve value streamlines gameplay without sacrificing tactical depth.

Height and Unit Strength

These have been taken off the profile to clean it up as they are standard values with few exceptions. They still exist though!

Traits Replace Keywords

We’ve cleaned up the old keyword system - there were far too many, and many weren’t used.

Now, units have Traits, which are clearer and more meaningful. Traits interact with special rules, Command Orders, and Auras, but are applied more thoughtfully. Many units do not have Traits, as we only add them when they are needed.

Unit Positioning

We’ve replaced the old Leader Point system with a defined centre-point and facing-points for each unit. This helps clarify positioning in relation to terrain and other units.

Rules Terminology

We’ve kept phase names and stat names distinct from each other to avoid confusion and improve rules clarity.

Here’s an example of a new profile; in this case, Berserkers from the Forces of the Abyss:

As you can see, they now have Troop and Regiment options (instead of Regiment and Horde from the previous edition), have a Sh stat (although it’s "–" in this case), and the Nerve is a single value.

They have a Trait of “Middle Circle”. Not only is this used within the army, but this is thematic as it is linked to the circle of the Abyss they are from.

Special Rules and Hero Behaviour

Several special rules have been updated to work with the new system, and we’ve introduced a few new ones to keep things fresh.

For example, units with the new Feint special rule can now Withdraw! from Combat without having to roll a Nerve test, and then also Change Facing! You’ll see this on things like light cavalry archer units.

With the move to larger bases Heroes now feel more like regular units, but Individuals still remain with their increased flexibility in movement.

Playtesting and Community Feedback

The development process was deeply collaborative. Initial testing was done in-house at Mantic, followed by early drafts sent to a hand-picked group of playtesters selected by the Kings of War Rules Committee. We gathered feedback through online forms and direct conversations, refining the rules and army lists based on what worked, and what didn’t!

Early testing focused heavily on the rules themselves. Later stages shifted toward army list balance, ensuring every unit felt worth taking and that players faced fun, meaningful choices during list building. The goal was always to create a game that’s deep, tactical, and rewarding - whether you’re a seasoned general or just stepping onto the battlefield for the first time.

In conclusion, it’s the same game…only better!

Thanks Alessio! New blogs, videos and stories will be dropping regularly between now and the launch of 4th Edition in December 2025.

Future blogs will look at how things have changed and now work within each the game's different phases, and much more.

Make sure to bookmark the launch hub, HERE, and check back regularly.