Slow Grow Challenge Episode 3: Community News and First Hobby Updates

This article is part of a series. You can find the preceding articles here:

Intro: Everything you need to know about the "what" and the "why" of the slow grow challenge

Episode 1: A start-up guide for new players

Episode 2: Meeting the challengers from Team Mantic

Community News - More Ways to Get Involved

Hi everyone! Before we get into this week's hobby updates, we have a quick bit of community news.

We’re now accepting Slow Grow submissions on both Reddit and Discord, so there are more ways than ever to share your progress and see what everyone else is building. Check out the Kings of War subreddit or the Mantic Fans Discord server for more details.

As a reminder, you can also:

• Post on Facebook or Instagram using #kowslowgrow2026
• Start a hobby thread in the Showcase section of the Kings of War forum (just include “Slow Grow 2026” in the title)
• Email your updates to [email protected]

We also want to give a shout-out to Kay, admin of the Mantic Fans Discord, who kicked off a fantastic slow grow back in January. Kay’s version challenges you to paint one unit per month, so it’s perfect if you’re looking to build an army at an even more relaxed pace.

There’s no reason you can’t take part in multiple slow grows at once. And even if your local group is running a slow grow that has a slightly different timeline or structure from ours, we’d still love to see what you’re working on.

Now, onto the hobby updates!

Dan – The Lore-Led General (Xirkaali)

DM: Opening the Xirkaali Battalion box was a genuine joy. Positioned between the old Army and Mega Army sets, it offers loads of hobby potential right out of the gate. I love the new hard plastic kits and I’m also a big fan of the new plastic unit bases. They make multibasing feel clean and straightforward right from the start.

In a bold (or possibly foolish!) move, I’ve decided to fully build, pose and attach my models directly to their unit bases before painting. My logic is simple: if I can’t reach a spot with a brush, it’s probably hidden enough not to matter. This is a mass battle game, after all! With larger models like Xirkaali, my theory is that this may speeds things up. We’ll see if I end up backtracking or changing my approach later!

I’m planning on using something akin to the “slapchop” method for the painting. Accordingly, I’ve started with a matte black spray, followed by a medium grey drybrush, and finally a light white drybrush to pick out the details. Next up I’ll be adding colour using speedpaints.

Ross – The Fresh Recruit (Ogres)

RC: Building my first Ogres has actually been a really nice surprise.

I’ll admit, when I first opened the box and looked at everything laid out in front of me, it felt a bit intimidating. Since I’m lucky enough to work at Mantic, I asked Tobias for help while I got started. But fairly quickly I realised I could have done it alone.

Once I got into the rhythm of clipping and cleaning the minis, I found it quietly satisfying. It might sound obvious to some of you, but I hadn’t fully appreciated how much flexibility there is inside each box. Choosing heads, weapons and poses gives just enough small decisions to make it feel like I’m putting a bit of myself into each model – and I’m really enjoying that part of the process.

Looking ahead to painting, the biggest hurdle is those first steps. What tools do I need? Which paints? I’m starting from zero, but I’ve always enjoyed learning new things, so I’m confident I’ll get a lot of satisfaction out of seeing the end result.

I’ll be diving into some painting tutorials and figuring out my next steps. Realistically, I’ll probably move a little slower than my slow grow colleagues while I learn – and that’s fine. The main challenge, like for most people, will be finding the time. For now, I’m just focused on enjoying it and being kind to myself while I figure things out.

Tobias – The Hobby Dynamo (Xirkaali)

TW: I’ve gone in a slightly unusual direction with primer this time – bright orange.

Since orange is planned as the dominant colour across my Xirkaali, it made sense to start with it as a base. It looks dramatic on the desk already, and it should speed up the painting stage nicely.

For my first 500 points, I’ve opted for an all-melee force. It remains to be seen whether that’s a genius tactical decision or something I’ll regret when the arrows start flying! But I can always adjust the army composition at later stages of the challenge.

Anyway, my first batch is built and primed, and I’m happy with how they’re looking. Once the painting rhythm kicks in, things should move quite quickly.

Alex – The Reformed Perfectionist (Trident Realms)

AG: I’ve built my Riverguard and Naiads so far. I’ve been frantically prepping my house move for the past few weeks, so it was really nice to sit down, forget about real life for a bit and do some clipping and gluing. A few hours of tranquillity amidst the chaos!

This project will actually be my first time doing “proper” Kings of War multi-basing. For my previous 28mm army, I used individual bases with magnetised trays. I was pretty happy with it, but I’ve wanted to try “true” multi-basing for a while, especially since it’s such a distinctive part of Kings of War’s visual identity.

I’m following Stephan’s advice and painting the models on temporary individual bases before fixing them permanently onto the unit base. I didn’t have any actual bases lying around, so I made makeshift bases out of wooden sticks. I think they look little surfboards – quite appropriate for the Trident Realm!

Painting will begin once the house move is out of the way. I can’t wait!

We're Underway, But It's Not Too Late to Join!

None of us have made spectacular progress so far but we’ve taken our first steps!

The whole idea behind this challenge is that a large army stops feeling intimidating once you break it into manageable chunks. Six weeks to paint roughly 500 points. Repeat that four times and suddenly you’ve got a sizeable force painted and ready for the summer campaign – all done at a steady pace, without panic or overwhelm.

And  another part of the equation is doing it together. Whether you’re posting on Reddit, Discord, the forums, or tagging your progress on social media, it's all the more enjoyable when you know that fellow hobbyists are on the same journey.

If you haven’t started yet, it’s by no means too late. In fact, now is a great moment to jump in, because we’ve currently got an incredible deal on Mystery Battalion Boxes. Each one contains a legal army of roughly 1000 points for Kings of War 4^th edition – with the exciting twist that you don’t know which faction you’ll get!

If faction indecision has been holding you back, this might be the perfect solution. Let the gods of Pannithor decide! Just order your box, build what’s inside, and get stuck in.

With each mystery box providing around £200 worth of a models for only £89, it’s an amazingly good value way of kickstarting your own slow grow challenge for 2026.