Slow Grow Challenge Episode 11: Second Milestone Approaching!
25th Apr 2026
Alex Gordon
We've got a shorter update for you this week. As always, Tobias is well on top of things, while Ross, Dan and Alex are focusing on getting as much painted up as possible before the Stage Two milestone hits next week.
Tobias - The Hobby Dynamo (Xirkaali)
TW: This week I've painted up my Witch Cage. It's a lovely miniature and I really enjoyed putting some colour on it! I think it'll make a nice addition to my 1000 point army - it's a versatile unit that does a little bit of everything, with a focus on disrupting enemy magic.
Its Aura (Spellward) will help keep nearby friendly units safe from enemy spells, plus it has a couple of special abilities that allow it to shut down enemy magic items, and even cast an opponent's spells back at them!
With 5 attacks at Crushing Strength 1, it can chip in in combat too, especially if it catches a flank.
At only 130 points, it feels like great value to me - a nice, flexible unit that can be a bit of a nuisance for my opponent while I get on with the rest of my plan. I'm looking forward to deploying it in some games soon!
Ross, Dan and Alex (Ogres, Xirkaali, and Trident Realms)
AG: With the end of Stage Two approaching, and all three of lagging behind a bit for various reasons, we decided to get together for a group painting session recently. It was great fun, and we all managed to make some decent progress on our armies.
While I do find painting on my own to be very relaxing and rewarding, getting together with friends adds a different dimension to the hobby. It keeps things social and light-hearted, helps with motivation, and often leads to more progress than you might expect. You naturally pick up tips from each other and share ideas - not to mention that you can have a good catch-up about non-hobby topics while the painting just kind of "gets done" in the background.
It’s a great way to keep things fresh, enjoy the process, and remember that this hobby is just as much about the people as it is about the models. If you're out there painting a slow grow army, and you have the option of getting together for some hobby time with friends, we'd highly recommend it!
We Want to See Your Armies!
The milestone date for Stage Two is Friday 1st May - at that point, we'll be 12 weeks in to the Slow Grow Challenge. Don’t forget to keep posting your progress! You can share it with us in one of the following ways:
- Creating a hobby thread on the Kings of War Forum (kowforum.com) and including “Slow Grow 2026” in the title
- Posting updates on Facebook or Instagram and using the hashtag #kowslowgrow2026
- Emailing us at [email protected]
- Sharing your updates in the relevant threads on the Kings of War subreddit or the Mantic Fans Discord server
We’re keeping an eye on the projects that are out there and will be featuring more community armies here on the blog after the Stage Two milestone, so keep your updates coming!
PSA: Build Your Army For Less
With lots of new miniatures on the way for Kings of War (check out the recent news if you haven’t already!), we need to create some space in the warehouse here at Mantic HQ.
That means we’re offering some crazy value deals on 3rd edition boxed sets – all packed with miniatures that are stull fully usable in 4th edition, of course.
For example, we’ve got a limited number of the old Ambush boxes available – and if you buy two, you’ll get the third for free.
Whether you’ve been following the slow grow and you’re thinking ahead to your next 1000 points, or you haven’t quite managed to get started with a new army yet, these special offers are a great opportunity to expand your Kings of War collection.
The deals will only run while our stocks of 3rd edition boxes last though, so we recommend moving quickly to avoid missing out.
That's all for today, folks! As always, thank you for reading. We'll be back next week to see how our challengers have measured up to the Stage Two goals. Happy hobbying!
