Alessio on Combat, Shooting and Special Rules in KoW
August 1, 2010 in Fantasy Wargaming, Kings of War, The Insider by warzan
In this final part of the interview with Alessio Cavatore, I get to ask him about his thoughts on the rest of the game mechanics (at least the ones he had started to solidify at this stage).
Its an interesting chat and really does give a fascinating insight into the inner thoughts of a game developer as he wrestles with the (often competing) demands of servicing a model range and servicing the community that adopts them.
By the end of our time with Alessio (having looked into the planned rules in some depth) we were left with a clear sense of excitement and anticipation that this game will be both fun to play, and will start to add what the Mantic range has been missing; ‘character’ to the models, because while they are just models they can feel static and un-alive, what Mantic and Alessio are embarking on now is the process that will take the model range and start to bring it to life.
Good times we are living in eh?
We have seen a bit of debate over the chess clock, and i suppose it should be stated that the chess clock is optional, but the interesting thing about the debates we have seen raging is the push back seems to be coming from those people who have never played (any game) with a chess clock before. Those that have seem to understand the great (optional) layer of fun having one can actually bring – even to a beer and pretzels game.
This is an interesting thing we see in the wargaming community quite a lot (at least within the vocal minority), a clear reluctance to try anything new, and just discount it without taking the time to even experiment with the idea. Now of course these attitudes exist in every industry, but seem to be some how more prevalent in the wargaming community – is this attitude the last bastion of defence to try and protect our industry from changing beyond recognition, or is it a poison that even turns the very young into stubborn traditionalists who fear scorn (or being flamed) for trying anything innovative?
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Again, the only real problem I am having is the lack of rallying – I like rallying.
Some other rules also sound overly simplified, the lack of rules changes based on damage is another stumbling block. If you want some good examples of real world rallying – take a look at the War of the Roses, the American Civil War, and even the Thirty Years War. Troops did rally, in particular Cavalry. (Cavalry had the movement that allowed them to A. Get away. and B. Get stuck back in when they did rally. Look up Tilly in particular, multiple examples of rallying, even within a single battle.))
The figures in the box sound like they would make the purchase of the game worthwhile, regardless of the rules. But from the early description (bearing in mind that it may change a great deal) the rules themselves do not excite me at this stage. But there are enough good rulesets out there that I will still be able to use the figures, but ignoring the game itself.
The Auld Grump, hoping for lots of changes before October.
Have to agree on the current feel of the game – I’ve watched the vids again and the only concern I have is that it’s so simple I’m losing the feeling of the individual struggling through a battle – it’s feeling like ” a unit has a rating of X – attacking unit rolls X d6, any roll higher than the target units rating puts one marker on the unit if the number of markers at the end of the combat is higher than the unit rating it is removed from the table” – no feel of an epic struggle with heroes striding across the battlefield or a regiment turning the tide – still early days yet though, still keen to see how it looks on release
I Love the Idea so far and I am really pumped up about the New Ruleset. I do however think that casualties should be represented on a unit of warriors. Eg. I cause lets say, 8 damage or wounds… I would like to see 8 guys taken from the unit I damaged, either replaced with dead figures or just taken out. If you don’t take figures out.. or find some other way to represent the unit has taken damage with maybe not too many Game markers then I will have a hard time remembering how much damage is on my units and how much on his.
Also the number of casualties I believe.. should slightly alter fighting ability of that unit. If say I had 10 VERY elite warriors and they fight in battle and take so much damage that there is only 4 guys left standing from the original 10, that unit defiantly would be at a handicap of some sorts and then when it takes another wound then runs away.
Of course this is STILL WAY too early in the development to comment on anything like that. I love the the chess clock Idea. I think that will work fantastically. This looks and already feel VERY original and unique. I just want an Easy way and nice looking way to represent damage and that that damage will affect the unit in SOME way.
I can´t wait for the beta! I think Mantic has had the great idea of giving us the opportunity to take part in the process. I like wargames based in units, because they are very simple and work very good. I love Mantic for their miniatures, their new and fresh style and, of course, for their prices. And now I hope to love them for their KoW rules!