Kings of War: Vanguard – How to Equip Items

Phew! All this week we've had a speedy tour through our fantasy skirmish game, Vanguard. We've taken you through the basics, like how to build a warband, and more complicated things , such  as group action. Our last blog covered the spells that Spellcasters can take, so we thought it was only fair to show some love to the grunts, warriors, commanders, etc. In this blog we’re talking about the equipment you can give to your models to help beef them up… or keep them alive for a little bit longer.

As mentioned in one of our earlier blogs about how to build your warband, the standard points value for one-off games is 200pts, while a campaign will see you creating a company worth 400pts. However, not all these points need to spent on characters, and you can give equipment to your warband members. What’s more, in campaigns you can earn new equipment to give to your warband.

Apart from Grunts, models can be equipped with a maximum of two different pieces of equipment, in addition to any already listed on their cards. Grunts can only equip one piece of Common equipment, which will come to in a minute. Beasts cannot be given any equipment… so no bandages for your Goblin Mawbeast ☹

TYPES OF EQUIPMENT

There are three different types of equipment:

COMMON – these can be equipped by anyone (apart from Beasts, of course) in your warband and you can repeat the same item for different models, e.g. two Lower Abyssals could be given the Heavy Weapon item

RARE – these cannot be equipped by Grunts or Beasts. Plus, you cannot duplicate them

UNIQUE – these cannot be equipped by Grunts or Beasts, plus they can only be used in a campaign and cannot be duplicated

So, what sort of equipment can you expect to find in Vanguard? Well, you’ll discover a mix of single-use and permanent items. For example, in the common items you can equip someone with Bandages. This is a single use item that potentially heals one wound. Whereas a Spear is a permanent weapon upgrade that grants an outnumbering bonus if the user is within 2” of an enemy.

Some, like the Lucky Charm, are merely notes on your warband roster but others provide a great opportunity for modelling. For example, you could equip one of your Grunts or Warriors with the Large Shield item and then use a model that features an actual shield. Likewise, if you want a heavy weapon, you could swap out the standard weapon and replace it with a hammer or club.

MY KINGDOM FOR A HORSE

As well as equipment like swords and bandages, you can also give your warband members a mount! In fact, every member of your warband can be given a mount - so you could have an entirely mounted warband. What a fantastic hobby opportunity. In the Common Items you’ll find a Common Mount, the Rare items have a Rare Mount and the Unique items have a – you guessed it – Battle Mount (ha! We got you with that one). Of course, the better the mount is, the more expensive it will be but the more benefits you will gain.

When you equip a model with a mount, its base size will change to 25mm x 50mm, which is the standard base size for cavalry units in Kings of War. This means, you’re not limited to only using the cavalry units listed in the warband lists. Fancy a Fleabag Rider for your Goblins? Be our guest. Want to use your Revenant Cavalry in your Undead warband? Go ahead.

However, even better the type of mount isn’t specified in the rules, so you can get creative. A zombie giving a skeleton a piggy back? Sounds like a mount to us. Orclings riding a Gore? Well, it might happen. A Northern Alliance Thegn hopping aboard a snow fox? No, that would be ridiculous.  In fact, you could have an entirely mounted warband by duplicating the Common Mount, so you'll end up with something like you can see above.

So, as you can see, equipment opens up some very exciting opportunities in Vanguard. Not only from a stats point of view, but also from a modelling point of view.