Jorden Talensen: License to Chill

As Spring is warming up in the real world, let's take a refreshing dive into the frozen Winterlands with our next Champion.

The Northern Alliance is a relatively young force in Pannithor: a motivated gathering of the world's dispossessed who have founded a new home in the far north. They diligently patrol the Winterlands to fight back potential incursions by the tribal Varangur, and far worse. Rumour even has it that they are protecting something ancient and of great value at the heart of their city, Chill. Lured by this strange power, many have already tried to assault the walls and failed. So far.

And now this compelling force from the frozen lands has arrived in Kings of War: Champions, led on the tabletop by a charismatic dwarf engineer with his own agenda...

Let's check out the faction introduction, plus gameplay tips from rules writer Rob Burman.

As Cold As Ice - Meet Your Champion

Jorden Talensen hides a terrible secret, which he must keep hidden at all costs. Until he’s ready to reveal his true identity he leads the Northern Alliance into battle to prove his worth, along with the effectiveness of his mechanical frostclaw, Swoop. The reward: a potential audience with Talannar himself and the opportunity to uncover the mysteries of Chill.

Want to find out his secret agenda? You'll need to pick up the Champions rulebook for that, which also comes packed with great art and backstories for all of the new characters revealed so far (and a whole bunch more).

Jorden is brought to life with brand-new MasterCraft™ resin, which (if you hadn't noticed) we just can't stop raving about. It's clean, it's crisp, and it's easy to build with a little dab of superglue. Plus, it's durable enough for worry-free gaming: an all -round winner.

The Frost and the Furious

And of course he's not travelling alone through the frozen wilderness. Jorden is joined by a company of trusted fighters: the Wolfpack Warriors (Tribesmen), Wolfpack Hunters (Tribesmen with Spears), and Brock Brockersen (a Frostclaw Rider).

They all come with their own short narrative introductions on the back of their unit cards, so you'll be able to read these through at the start of a game to really set the scene. Or just dive immediately into the action if that's more your thing!

Now, speaking of gaming...with further ado, we'd like to hand over to Rob - who's going to share some invaluable tips and tricks for getting the best out of Jorden Talensen's company on the tabletop. (If you're excited by what you've seen so far, then you 'll want to bookmark this page.)

Game Designer's Notes - Tips From Rob Burman

"Well everybody’s heard about the bird… the mechanical, magical, mystery bird. That’s right folks, today we’re talking about Jorden Talensen, the Northern Alliance dwarf with a cool secret and an even cooler bird.

Swoop, the little mechanical Frostclaw (a steelclaw) on Jorden’s arm, is a fantastic tool that can be used to really disrupt the enemy. Although it may only have a 12” range, Jorden can actually draw line of sight from any unengaged friendly unit when preparing to fire off his metallic companion. Imagine the bird swooping over the battlefield and being told where to go by friendly units or Jorden himself. Thanks to this special rule, you can keep Jorden well out of trouble and fire off pretty decent Ranged attacks (five dice, hitting on 5+ and with Piercing (1)) before charging in to finish them off.

In terms of boosting those around him, friendly units within 9” of Jorden regain one point of damage whenever they cause damage in combat. Healing is a rare commodity in Champions, so make use of this as much as possible! And because of Jorden’s ranged attack, you can keep him safely behind those units in close combat while still shooting off attacks.

Faction Orders

The real standout Faction Order for the Northern Alliance is Wild Animals, which was amended quite a bit during playtesting. Initially too powerful, then too weak - this final form of Wild Animals is just like Goldilock’s porridge. When you give this order to a unit, they gain an additional two attacks that always hit on a 5+, regardless of any modifiers. This is perfect for charging enemies that are hidden behind cover, as the attacks don’t get the normal -1 to hit. It’s also useful against opponents that may have rules like Ensnare, which would normally make an attack more difficult to hit. Use it wisely and it can make all the difference to a key Nerve test.

Meanwhile, Freezing Strike is perfect for neutralising stronger enemies. If a unit with this order causes damage in a melee attack, the opponent suffers a -2(!) modifier to their Attack stat until the end of their next turn. In our previous blogs, we’ve talked about hard-hitting units like the Basilean Paladin Knights or the Twilight Kin Impalers. Well, this is perfect for making them less effective in melee combat.

Playstyle Summary

The Northern Alliance are perhaps one of the more straightforward companies because they generally like to hit stuff! The Wolfpack Warriors and Wolfpack Hunters are both troops of tribesmen, with slightly tweaked Special Rules. Across the board, their stat lines are fairly average - Speed 4, Melee 4+, Defence 4+ and 10 attacks, although combined with the Wild Animals Faction Order, you can bump those attacks up a little. They both have the Strider Special Rule, which means they don’t suffer any modifiers when charging through difficult terrain or obstacles. This ensures they’re always effective in combat, even if your opponent is trying to hide away. The slight difference in their rules is due to the Warriors having Crushing Strength (1) and the Hunters having Ensnare - which makes it harder for them to hit in close combat. As a result, you can use the Hunters to project objectives (and hopefully heal up with Jorden’s Champion Rule), while the Warriors take out some stronger units.

Although the star of the show in the Northern Alliance company is definitely Brock Brockerson riding his mighty Frostclaw. We’ll just let the image below sum up our feelings towards Brock...

Not only that but he’s got a 9” Ranged attack too, thanks to his Ice Bombs. Brock is perfect for moving around the battlefield ready to strike against an exposed flank or rear… hopefully while the Warriors or Hunters are fighting in the front arc."

Thanks again Rob! Jorden Talensen and his company are shipping this week - so prepare to start your next great hobby adventure in the frozen North.

And maybe, just maybe...one day he'll earn that audience with Price Talannar, and discover the secrets hidden deep within the City of Chill...