And now a break from your normal programming schedule... Kings Of War: Vanguard

Not a normal post from me (though don't worry the Ork jetbikes are close to being completed so pictures will be up soon) but as you may know I'm a keen fan of the Kings of War rules from Mantic, not only for use with their own miniatures but for large scale games of Lord Of The Rings.  Well they're expanding the world of Mantica with a new game system which looks very promising, Kings Of War: Vanguard.

Here's the blurb from Mantic:

Before the first charge, before weapons clash in brutal close combat, before the victor gathers the spoils of war, battles in Mantica can be won by the brave deeds of small, elite bands of warriors. 

These are the fighters relied upon by their commanders to identify tactical positions, light beacons to show their comrades the fastest route, or harry and disrupt their enemy’s vital supplies. If the raiding parties do their job well, the war is won long before the battle lines have even been drawn.

FANTASY SKIRMISH RULES – take command of a crack team of elite fighters, including captains, support units, weapons experts, along with grunts and warriors to overwhelm the opposition

IN-DEPTH CAMPAIGN SYSTEM – track the progress of your key members to earn experience and gain new abilities or improved stats

FULLY COMPATIBLE WITH KINGS OF WARS – use the incredibly detailed, dynamic miniatures from Vanguard as the heroes or elite troops in your Kings of War army

3D SCENERY – use Mantic’s new range of pre-assembled, plastic TerrainCrate scenery to bring your skirmishes to life, and with lots of different scenarios to play, every battle will look – and play - differently

INNOVATIVE RULES – issue special commands in the heat of battle with the unique Power Dice abilities, and gather your troops with the Group Actions

EQUIP YOUR FIGHTERS – ahead of the fight, choose from a range of equipment to improve the abilities of your characters, or unlock new and more powerful abilities during campaign play

I see a lot of promise in not only the rules system itself but also the potential of being able to cross over into full on games of KOW or even Dungeon Saga in one narrative arc.  I've already got myself some bases coming from www.warbases.co.uk so that both my Lord of the Rings/Hobbit and Conan miniatures can sit inside them (https://warbases.co.uk/?product=regiment-tray-25mm-slots-2mm-top-layer the 1x1 option here for those interested) as square basing in integral to the rules.  More importantly Mantic have put up the Alpha rules so that you can give them a try:

Download Vanguard Rules

If you're interested in the game why not give it a try and then head over to the Vanguard Fanatics group on Facebook to let Mantic know how your games went and chat with other players.

From what we've already seen we'll be jumping in on the Kickstarter and probably have a game this weekend, now to get out those Abyssals from Dungeon Saga...