Kings of War News: Arrogance, Army Updates and What Comes Next
At Clash of Kings UK this past weekend, Ronnie shared some big Kings of War news during his evening talk.
For everyone who wasn’t in the room, here’s a quick rundown of what’s coming next, including Arrogance, upcoming model releases, and changes to how expansion books will work going forward.
Arrogance Will Be an All-Army Update
The next Kings of War expansion book is Arrogance, and it’s due to arrive before the end of the year.
Rather than following Invasion and Fracture, where the main rules focus was on a small number of featured armies, Arrogance will be closer in spirit to the annual Clash of Kings update books from previous editions, with updates for every army in Kings of War.
The aim is to give the whole game a thorough balance pass after a year of fourth edition games on the table. That means quality of life rules updates, points tweaks, stats changes and rules adjustments across the full range of armies.
Some specific examples of rules changes that were mentioned in the presentation are:
- Allowing a reform as a post-combat option, so units do not get stuck quite so awkwardly with enemies in their flank
- Individuals not counting towards the 2-unit limit in an enemy unit’s facing.
We’ll also be looking at army building flexibility, making sure players have more room to take the units they want, and continuing to improve Command Orders so that every army has a fun, thematic and useful set of options.
Another exciting addition is that every Champions Company will be useable as a Formation in its respective Kings of War army – though the Champions themselves will of course remain available as individual hero choices.
In short, Arrogance is about giving every army some attention, levelling the playing field, and making sure Kings of War is fair, flavourful and fun.
What About the Elves?
We’re very happy to announce that Elves will be getting a major refresh, including new hard plastic kits and more. This is scheduled to release in summer 2027 – not alongside Arrogance as previously rumoured.
New Units and Miniatures
That doesn’t mean Arrogance will launching without new toys, though!
The book will include new units for a range of armies, with new miniatures releasing in resin, plus some STL and print-on-demand options. These will include both full models and upgrade sets.
Some of these new units were inspired by ideas from the community survey we ran earlier this year, so thank you to everyone who took the time to share thoughts and suggestions.
Twilight Kin are gaining some new options, such as heroes, war engines and Impaler variants.
Crone
Assassin
Impaler Voidblights and Bloodpriests
Abyssal Dwarf players can look forward to Infernox Berserkers, new heroes, a Great Winged Halfbreed, new war engines and even a new Titan war engine.
Great Winged Halfbreed
Halfbreed Lord
Infernox Berserkers
Mortar
The Xirkaali will also be getting more tools for the invasion, including Yan Cavalry, Shaoquan Warriors and Witch Smeller Hounds.
Yan Cavalry
Shaoquan Warriors
Witch Smeller Hounds
Plus there’s a BIG addition for Ogre and Northern Alliance players, in the shape of the mighty mammoth. It’s a beauty!
Northern Alliance Mammoth
Ogre Mammoth
What About the Remaining Expansion Books?
When fourth edition launched, we talked about a series of six expansion books: Invasion, Fracture, Arrogance, Ruination, Alliance and Death.
That plan is still in place, but we’ve tweaked it a little.
After Arrogance, the remaining books will still happen and will continue the overarching story running through the edition. However, we’re moving to one expansion book per year rather than one every six months. That should give everyone (including us!) a bit more time to breathe between releases.
Each book will still put a few factions in the spotlight, but mostly from a lore and story viewpoint. From a rules perspective, each book will include a Clash of Kings style all-army update, with balance changes and adjustments for every army.
Some armies will still get new units. It’s likely that at least one or two of the featured armies in each book will get some new things, but other armies can get new units and models too.
Sometimes, we might release new models earlier than the book, alongside beta army updates that let players test the rules and provide feedback before the final version goes into that year’s book. This is what we’re planning with Elves next year – models and beta list update in the summer, then official list update in the book later in the year.
Based on feedback from the recent community survey, we’re also looking at more narrative gaming content for future books. A campaign system and rules for interactive terrain are just a couple of ideas the design team are considering.
The Story Continues
Rules and balance are a big part of Arrogance, but the story of Pannithor is still moving forward too.
After the Battle of Callenspire, the Xirkaali push past Ej and into Elvenholme. The elves are slowly falling back, with the different kindreds struggling to fight as a united front, but the Xirkaali advance is slower than planned. The war is becoming a long campaign of attrition.
Eventually, the Xirkaali commit naval forces to an attack on Walldeep, hoping to break the stalemate before it settles in too deeply.
Naturally, the Twilight Kin are watching events closely and using the chaos to their own advantage. As the Xirkaali continue their invasion, the Twilight Kin launch a planned attack on the Abyssal Dwarf city of Diew.
We’ll be sharing more about Arrogance, the new units and the upcoming releases as we get closer to launch.
For now, thanks again to everyone who’s attended an event, responded to the community survey, or is out there playing, painting and contributing to the future of Kings of War.
See you on the battlefield!
