Kings of War

What is Kings of War

Kings of War is the fantasy mass-battle game from Mantic Games. Mantic calls it “the fantasy mass battle wargame loved by thousands across the globe.” It’s set in the world of Pannithor.

Alessio Cavatore designed it. The first version came out in September 2010 with the Mhorgoth’s Revenge starter set. A second edition followed in the summer of 2015, and a 380-page third edition in October 2019.

The current Fourth Edition launched in December 2025. Cavatore, whom Mantic calls “the original author of the game,” came back to work on it in early 2024. The rulebook holds the core rules, advanced rules and army lists for 16 factions. The INVASION expansion adds four more lists, among them the new Xirkaali Empire, and a second expansion, FRACTURE, is out too.

How it plays

Units, not models. You move blocks of troops. In Fourth Edition, large infantry and cavalry come as Troops or Regiments, which replaced the old Regiments and Hordes.
The active player rolls everything. You roll your attack dice to score hits, then roll again against the enemy’s Defence to cause damage.
Nobody loses a model to wounds. Damage piles up on the unit instead. A Nerve test adds that damage to a 2D6 roll, and when the total is high enough the unit breaks and flees. Fourth Edition cut each unit’s Nerve down to a single value.
Orders in the Movement Phase. Units charge, pivot, Reform! to change facing, or Withdraw!, which needs a Nerve test. Fail it and the unit is Routed. Charges no longer have to take the shortest route, and only two units can charge a single facing of an enemy.
Two sizes of game. The starter set plays in 60 to 90 minutes. A 2,300-point tournament game takes about two hours.

How to start

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Kings of War 4th Edition Free Starter Rules

A free PDF of the starter rules, in five languages. Delivered to your Mantic webstore downloads.

Read the starter rules for free. The Free Digital Starter Rules come in English, Spanish, German, French and Italian. Registered users on the Mantic Companion can read the Fourth Edition ruleset there. A paid subscription unlocks the full rules and expansions, kept up to date with errata.
Get the starter set. Claws in the Sand is £100. It pits the Trident Realm against the Xirkaali Empire with 60 models, a slimline rulebook with the core and army building rules, a getting started sheet, two army profile sheets and bases.
Or buy the book. The Fourth Edition rulebook is £37.50 in hardback or £25 digital. The INVASION and FRACTURE expansions are £35 each in hardback.
Read up on the world. The World of Pannithor background book is a free download.

New to the hobby altogether? Mantic points people at Kings of War Champions: Faith and Fury, a smaller starter built around heroes and warbands instead of full armies.

The miniatures come unpainted and need assembly.