KoW hardback book - your questions answered

[The Devourer]

The fluff sounds great, really liking the sound of the orcs. I was expecting KoW to stick with its generic feel (in regards to the races) but i'm very pleased that it is moving towards developing more and becoming a more rounded game. Very much looking forward to recieving my rulebook.

Thanks for the info.

[Amorphous]

Units like Ax and Zombies now have 4 unit size options. Ax are now a more sensible De 5+ giving a decent reason to take them now.

Would you be willing to elaborate on this? I know in the current book it is-
ZOMBIES: Half-Regt.(15), Regiment(30),Horde (60)
AX: Regiment(15), Horde(30)
What is the new breakdown of those units?
I just want to formulate the best plan for building my Orc army that I'm thinking about starting through the Kickstarter.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...-war?ref=users

[Max Jet]

The background has been written by Guy Haley and Anthony Reynolds.

Thank you very much! This seems a little bit strange handing his personal pet out to other writers, however it also indicates that Mr. Cavatore does trust them a lot I think. Still I hope for a rich fleshed put background. There is no need for Mantic to hold back, they have done (in my opinion) tremendously good work so far! Is the background divided into each race or is there a global background for everything?

[mattjgilbert]

The stuff at the front of the book is about the world in general and some history. Each army gets a couple of pages to themselves at the start of each list.

@Amorphous

Ax [base size]
Troop (10) [2x5]
Regiment (20) [4x5]
Warband (30) [3x10]
Horde (40) [4x10]

Zombies
Regiment (20) [4x5]
Horde (30) [3x10]
Swarm (40) [4x10]
Endless swarm (60) [6x10]

On the unit frontage/ranks I'm going to get it officially confirmed but hordes can now be 3x10 as per their definition and the configs I've given are based on the number off attacks.

[Baragash]

Good to see they've tidied up the naming conventions.

[mattjgilbert]

You'll also be happy that the points scaling issues have been addressed

[Baragash]

Yes, I saw on the Mantic Forums

My only bugbears now are Regeneration and Undead Rats having expiry effects

[darkPrince010]

Man, I have to say I'm honestly very impressed with Mantic's backstory for Orks; Like others, I was expecting a GW-lite set of filler, not a somewhat thought-provoking viewpoint instead.

Also, on the subject of Siege rules, I assume there will be the option to buy walls, towers, static defenses (pots of oil), and so on. However, I was wondering if there is any indication of "siege-only" warmachines (Huge honking catapults or trebuchets) or larger buildings like a Keep or Castle?

[mattjgilbert]

You get walls and can then spend points upgrading them. And the attacker spend points on things like Siege towers, battering rams etc.

[emperorpenguin]

Another question. We know that Abyssal Dwarfs army-wide rule changed. Did anyone else's?

[The Devourer]

What is the AD new rule?

[emperorpenguin]

They are now "Vicious" instead of "Headstrong"

[AlexHolker]

Ax are now a more sensible De 5+ giving a decent reason to take them now.

Orc armour really shouldn't be on par with Dwarves.

[mattjgilbert]

Army-wide rules:

Dwarfs: Headstrong
Elves: Elite
KoM: Very Inspiring
Abyssal Dwarfs: Vicious
Goblins: Utterly Spineless
Orcs: Crushing Strength (1)
Twilight Kin: Vicious
Undead: Evil Dead

Orc armour really shouldn't be on par with Dwarves.

Says who and why not?

[AlexHolker]

Says who and why not?

You're actually going to contest the point? You don't think the finest engineers in the setting of a race known for their stubbornness and resiliance should have developed better armour than short-lived barbarians who haven't even invented the shoe?

[mattjgilbert]

You've read the fluff in the book then have you?

And the De stat is not just about armour. It includes general resilience, natural toughness and defensive fighting ability.

[Hellebore]

You've read the fluff in the book then have you?

And the De stat is not just about armour. It includes general resilience, natural toughness and defensive fighting ability.

Yes, it does include toughness, however Alex's point about the background stands based on information posted by Scarletsquig. It was said that orcs don't live more than 10 years and hate other races for having longer happier lives. A race with such a short lifespan certainly makes it hard to countence advanced armour work of any kind.

However for an elite army that relies on its high def due to smaller numbers and lower speed, it seems silly that a horde army is now just as hard to kill. Did they boost dwarf Nerve so they have more staying power than orcs? Are orcs more expensive and less hordey? Are dwarfs now cheaper and thus more hordey to compensate?

Given the limited variation between units, virtually ignoring 4+ def (consider that dwarf berserkers are now easier to kill than normal orcs, which to use the 'it's not just armour' argument applies to frothing lunatice that don't feel pain - unless they made them 5+ too which I would be sad about for mechanical spread reasons) makes units more similar and reduces the elite quality of the dwarfen army whilst giving a big boost to a horde army. Especially now that they have even larger unit sizes.

Hellebore

[mattjgilbert]

scarletsquigs post was based on what he remembered from old fluff on the website, not what's in the book. They are described as being "capable of awesome feats of smithying and engineering when inspired"

Only Orc ax were given the De boost, not the entire Orc army.

[scarletsquig]

Also, given short lifespans (i.e. that of an orc or a medieval labourer IRL), complex feats of engineering still occur, they simply take multiple generations to complete. There are elaborate cathedrals in Europe where building started in the 17th century, and still hasn't been finished centuries later, and stonemasons often ended up working on the exact same room of the exact same building that their fathers and grandfathers spent their lives working on.

In addition, orcs steal a lot of armour, as you can see from the sections of looted dwarf armour, and scraps/ arrowheads that appear on the models. They're also physically better equipped for metalworking via hammering, so I don't see metalworking as a major problem for them, they've probably got it figured out and don't have to do much in the way of smelting ore, since while they don't trade, I imagine they don't have much trouble bullying others into giving them raw materials (especially goblins), and that's before any connection or alliance with the abyssal dwarves is considered (where do they get all those orc slaves from?). I don't have a problem with orcs having the same defence as dwarves for basic troops since any lack of armour can be explained by a much higher level of physical toughness or tolerance to pain (something which already appears in the DKH rules for them in a major way).

As far as game balance goes, Orcs had some pretty serious problems with surviving missile fire which needed addressing. At least now, with the De increase and wider frontage an Ax horde can be used as a first wave to shield the more vulnerable units behind it.

It gives the Ax unit a defined "tank" role, which is something that the army previously lacked, and really needed considering its lack of shooting. I don't get what all the fuss is over one unit changing a single stat for the better.

[Wakerofgods]

What about melee though? The orcs have crushing but maybe the dwarves have better melee skill?

Do dwarves win our somewhere or are the orc axe men just better than the dwarf ironclad?

I'm just curious - not saying it would have to be bad if the average orc > the average dwarf. Especially if it's outlined like that in the fluff!
Nothing wrong with hordes of dwarves .