4th Edition: The Ranged Phase

By Alessio Cavatore

One of the most consistent pieces of feedback I received during development was that shooting felt too powerful. In a game that’s fundamentally about blocks of troops clashing in brutal fights, ranged attacks should support your strategy, not dominate it.

So one of my key goals for the 4th Edition was to rebalance shooting, toning it down but without making it irrelevant!

At the same time, I took the opportunity to clean up Line of Sight and terrain rules, making them more intuitive and consistent. Let’s take a look at what’s changed.

From 'Ra' to 'Sh'

We’ve renamed the Ranged stat from ‘Ra’ to ‘Sh’ (Shooting).

This brings it in line with other Mantic games and creates a clean, consistent naming convention across the Phases.

Line of Sight: No More Leader Point

Gone are the days of measuring Line of Sight (LOS) from the Leader Point.

Now, LOS is drawn from anywhere along the front of a unit’s base. This makes things much quicker and more intuitive, and removes a lot of the ambiguity that could arise in tight formations or unusual angles.

I’ve also improved how Cover and terrain is handled, and the new rulebook includes plenty of diagrams to help players visualise these interactions clearly. It’s all about making the game smoother and more accessible.

Height

Heights are now listed in a table as follows:

Shooting Modifiers

I’ve introduced a new modifier: +1 to hit if the unit didn’t move (instead of -1 for moving). I like the symmetry this creates with the existing -1 for Cover, so that quite often they cancel each other out - no maths needed!

To balance this, Sh values on units have been adjusted accordingly.

Toning Down The Firepower

Perhaps the biggest change: Ranged Attacks can no longer Rout a unit unless it’s already Devastated. This helps prevent the frustrating experience of having a key unit deleted in a single volley.

Now if a unit fails a Nerve test from shooting, it becomes Wavering not Routed, unless it’s already on the brink.

This change reinforces the idea that Kings of War is a fantasy battle game, where the decisive moments happen in hand-to-hand combat, not at the end of a crossbow bolt.

Shooting still matters, but it’s now a tool for softening up the enemy before the decisive charge, not wiping them out from afar.

Magical Missiles

I’ve introduced a new category of spells: Magical Missiles. These are ranged spells that now interact more cleanly with cover. Most spells hit on a 4+, but Magical Missiles hit on a 5+ if the target is in cover. This cleans up the large spells tables from the previous edition.

An example of a Magical Missile is Fireball. This is now Blast (D3) to better distinguish it from Lightning Bolt. Fireball’s n values have been halved but it has Shattering, giving it a distinct role on the battlefield.

The Arcane Library

The Arcane Library has been made more accessible. Any unit with the Spellcaster Trait can now purchase spells from the Library, and all of these spells are marked as Unique [U].

As new expansion books are released, armies will also gain access to faction-specific spells, adding flavour and tactical variety without overwhelming the core system.

In Conclusion

The Ranged Phase in Kings of War 4th Edition is now more balanced, more intuitive, and more fun. Shooting still plays a vital role, but it’s no longer the star of the show.

That honour, as it should be, belongs to the clash of steel and the roar of battle, which we'll look at next time with the Combat Phase.

Thanks Alessio!

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

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