The Siege of Samarik: Get Ready for Action!
7th Aug 2026
Alex Gordon
Clear some space in the calendar. Finish painting that unit. Message the group chat and get some games booked in.
From Friday 14th August to Sunday 30th August, the Kings of War community will decide the fate of Samarik!
Across three weekends, games of Kings of War, Kings of War: Champions and Armada will help determine whether Samarik stands or falls, with the winning outcome becoming part of the ongoing history of Pannithor.
So gather your friends, get your army on the tabletop and prepare to make your mark.
The Battle for Samarik
South of the Samarite Mountains stands the Basilean city of Samarik: a vital stronghold close to the defensive lines that have held back the forces of the Abyss for generations.
Now those defences are under pressure.
A major Abyssal host has forced its way through the mountains and descended upon the city. While Samarik’s garrison fights to hold its walls and streets, Basilean reinforcements and Salamander allies are being drawn into an increasingly desperate battle.
Basilea will need its most powerful heroes if Samarik is to survive.
Basilea faces the threat while divided by a growing crisis of faith, while the Xirkaali invasion threatens the Salamanders’ own lands far to the east. Every force committed to Samarik is one that cannot fight somewhere else, but the Abyssal assault cannot be ignored. The fate of the city could reshape alliances and affect conflicts far beyond its walls.
On 14th August, we’ll publish new fiction from Mark Barber, picking up the battle as the campaign begins. What happens after that will be decided by you.
What Is the Siege of Samarik Summer Campaign?
At its heart, the Siege of Samarik is a great excuse to get together with your friends and play some games, whether that means a full weekend at your club or a single battle at home.
A dedicated campaign website will go live on Friday 14th August, where you can submit your results and follow the live standings. There’s no league or event you need to join. Play as much or as little as your time allows.
Choose Your Side
There are only two sides in this campaign:
Samarik Stands
- You are fighting to prevent the city from falling into the hands of its attackers.
Samarik Falls
- You are fighting to break its defences and ensure that the city is lost.
Before you begin each game, decide which player is fighting for which outcome. This gives your battle a clear narrative stake from the first dice roll: one of you is fighting for Samarik Stands, and the other for Samarik Falls.
Which armies you are using does not dictate which side you must support.
In the official story, the primary defenders of Samarik are the Basileans and their Salamander allies, with the Forces of Nature also taking an interest. The assault is led by the Forces of the Abyss, supported by Orcs and other opportunistic aggressors.
But that does not mean those are the only armies that can participate. Every faction is welcome, and traditional alliances or alignments do not restrict which outcome you can fight for.
Perhaps your Forces of the Abyss army supports Samarik Stands because its Archfiend despises the Lord of Lies and wants his invasion to fail. Perhaps your Dwarfs are stopping a Ratkin warband from sabotaging a Basilean supply route, or your Northern Alliance fleet is intercepting weapons bound for the besiegers.
The merciless Lord of Lies is leading the assault on Samarik.
Your battle does not even need to take place at Samarik itself. Battles elsewhere can delay reinforcements, disrupt supply routes or otherwise influence the wider conflict. The Pannithor setting is there to give you ideas, not dictate how you must play: talk to your opponent, choose your allegiances and create your story for your armies.
How to Take Part
We’re keeping the process simple.
- Choose your allegiances
Before the game begins, decide who is fighting for Samarik Stands and who is fighting for Samarik Falls.
- Play your game
Play a game of Kings of War, Kings of War: Champions or Armada. Standard games count, while the beta siege rules, custom scenarios and other campaign conditions are completely optional.
- Submit the result
One player submits the result through the campaign website. Only one player should submit each game, and submissions are limited to one result per user per day, to keep things fair and give players across all three game systems an opportunity to influence the standings.
- Follow the campaign
Watch the live standings, see which way the balance is tipping and return to the tabletop before the campaign closes on 30th August.
Download the Beta Siege Rules
You do not need to play a siege battle to take part: ordinary games across all three systems still count. But if you fancy defending a fortress, battering down gates or fighting across the battlements, the beta siege rules for Kings of War 4th Edition are available to download now.
Developed by CPG member Mike Smith and his brother Chris, these work-in-progress rules introduce fortifications, garrisoned units, destructible walls, castle gates, siege equipment and a selection of five scenarios for fighting battles around defended positions.
Because these are beta rules, we also want to know how they perform on your tabletop. A dedicated feedback form will open when the campaign begins on 14th August, so you can tell us how the rules worked on your tabletop.
A Campaign in Two Parts
The Siege of Samarik will unfold in two distinct phases.
Part One: The Battle Begins
Friday 14th August–Sunday 23rd August
The campaign website opens on 14th August, when result submissions go live and we’ll publish Mark Barber’s opening fiction here on the blog. Let battle commence!
Part Two: The Final Struggle
Monday 24th August–Sunday 30th August
On Monday 24th August, we’ll reveal which side holds the advantage, publish the next piece of fiction from Mark and introduce a fresh set of optional campaign conditions. You’ll then have one final week to shift the balance before submissions close on Sunday 30th August.
After the campaign, we’ll confirm the winning outcome and what it might mean for the future of Samarik and Pannithor.
Share Your Siege
We’d love to see the armies, battles and stories the community creates along the way. Share your army photos, battle reports, club events, siege tables and anything else you get up to using #SiegeOfSamarik.
We’ll be looking for highlights to share with the wider community. You can also send photos and reports to [email protected].
Get Ready for 14th August
You’ve got one more week to get ready!
Finish that last regiment, build some siege terrain, get a practice game in or simply message a friend and book a battle. Whatever army you play and however long you’ve been playing, you’re welcome to take part when the Siege of Samarik begins on 14th August.
The fate of Samarik is in your hands!
