Road to Kings of War Third Edition

Unless you've been under a rock for the past couple of weeks, by now you should know that Kings of War Third Edition will be launching this October. If you missed the announcement, make sure you read this blog. We'll wait while you check it out... finished? Great! Bet you're super excited now.

Actually, you're not the only one that's excited. Here at Mantic we're all buzzing with anticipation for Third Edition. So much so, that a bunch of us have pledged to get an army ready for the October launch. Some are going for a casual 1,000pts, whereas others are going for a full on 2,000pts.

Getting a Kings of War army together is no mean feat, so hopefully our blogs will inspire others to start building and painting minis ready for Third Edition too. Of course, we're in the lucky position of knowing what's coming up for each army - so you might get the odd sneak peek at new units for Third Edition if you keep following our progress.

Anyway, enough chatter - let's see who is taking part!

KIRSTEN - RESIN CASTER (BASILEANS)

Why Basileans? Well Nightstalkers were already taken… but also, back in the mists of time, 21 years ago, I started my very first fantasy army. It was an Empire force made by some company called Games Toolshed, I think. There’s always been something stirring about a bunch of ordinary humans facing down the monsters of the world. Abyssal beasties? No problem. Creatures from the very stuff of nightmares? Easy. Valiant soldiers, getting things done. Who needs elves or dwarfs or giant frogs? Human troops typically have a really varied army, and the models tend to have a great mix of armour, cloth, and skin that makes painting them a joy. You can also follow Kirsten's progress over on Twitch.

DUNCAN - DESIGNER (NORTHERN ALLIANCE)

I started the Northern Alliance as my warband for Vanguard and pretty much fell in love with the minis. They're all great models and I like the mix of races fighting as part of the Alliance. You've got your humans, but they can also fight alongside monsters like the Snow Trolls and Frostfang Cavalry. Plus, they've got a Frost Giant! Also, another factor was the fact I could use the new [redacted] which will be available [redacted].

SUNNY - THE POOR SOD THAT SENDS OUT ALL THE WEB ORDERS (OGRES)

I've always wanted to do a Kings of War army but have struggled to actually get one finished. I started a Trident Realm army earlier in the year but that was taking quite a long time. With Ogres I knew there was a lower model count, so I'm more confident about actually getting everything finished. Also, I want to see what customisation I can do by using some other bits - like the Ogre Palace Guard parts.

MARTIN - TRADE MARKETING (NIGHTSTALKERS)

[Ed's note - before I let Martin speak, he's basically cheated by starting this army early, so he should really painted double what everyone else paints. I mean, he's even got sexy photographs done already]

For Road to Third Edition, I am continuing my nightmarish journey with the Nightstalker-crawlers-stalkers. I love this army's aesthetic and, as you will all agree, the sculpts are brilliant and perfect for painting some wild colours! They are also pretty out there from a fluff perspective which matches my own disturbed mind.

Next up is my legion of Scarecrows with around 60 to paint, then I aim to do my Spectres, some shadow hounds and then my favourite – Reapers! I can’t wait to get these finished in time for October when I can smash Rob’s Goblins to smithereens!!

ROB - COMMUNITY MARKETING (GOBLINS)

Hello, my name is Rob and I hate myself. I could have chosen something simple, like ogres. I could have finished my Abyssals project I started last year. I could have tinkered with the Dwarfs I did back in 2017. But no. I decided it was a good idea to do another goblin army. I already have one 3,000pt army but it wasn't full Mantic. So, like a glutton for punishment I'm going green again. Even better I've decided to do full model counts for all the units *manic laughter, edging on sobbing* The one positive is that at least I can winggit by using some of my Vanguard warband...

So, that's it for today's update. We've got some other members of staff taking part in the army challenge too and will have another blog later this week about their progress.