Mantic Games has a new two-player starter set on pre-order now Kings of War: A Storm in the Shires. Due for release in March this will be the third starter set for Kings of War 3rd edition.

Kings of War // A Storm in the Shires

The boxed set contains two brand new armies first launched in this year's Clash of Kings update book. The Halflings of the Shire and the Riftforged Orcs created by Garkan in the Abyss following the consequences of the war in the Halpi's Rift campaign book. The box set contains

• 1x Resin Stormbringer on Manticore
• 4x Riftforged Orc Infantry Sprue (enough for 40 Riftforged Orcs)
• 1x Resin Muster Captain on Aralez
• 3x Halflings Sprue (enough for 30 Halflings and 15 Halfling Cavalry)
• 30x 20x20mm Bases
• 40x 25x20mm Bases
• 17x 25x50mm Cavalry Bases
• 1x Kings of War Gamer’s Edition rulebook
• 1x A5 Storm in the Shires Book

The new plastics are very good, you may have seen my halfling army unboxing, so it's great to see them in a starter set. The previous Shadow's in the North and War in the Hold boxes are excellent boxsets as well but once they have sold through there will not be a reprint of those sets. I like what Mantic are doing refreshing the starter boxes on a regular basis so if you aren't interested in the contents of the set you aren't locked in for the full run of the 3rd edition, however long that will be.

Riftforged Orc Stormbringer on Manticore // Mantic Games

The Stormbringer is a lovely chunk of resin, with five attacks and Stormstrike he can really upset a units day, a nimble hammer that can fit into a lot of tight spaces and a big threat range to counter the halflings ranged attacks it's a good choice for the box set.

Halfling Muster Captain on Aralez // Best Boy

The Muster Captain is similar to the Stormbringer, but there are enough aralez in the set to make a very effective cavalry wing for your Shire Defence League. Again the model is a resin sculpt and he is covered in beautifully detailed filigreed armour and an amazing set of mutton chops on his face.

With the full rule book in the set and a small narrative campaign to teach you how to play it makes the Storm in the Shires an excellent introduction to massed Battle Fantasy wargaming. I've quickly totalled the points and they come to around 550 points per side, so the forces are balanced and make a solid start to both forces. Or because the game works on unit footprints you can stretch the units out by not using full model count with the units.

For people worried about working with resin if they haven't before it's just going to require a bit of superglue instead of polystyrene cement, otherwise the tools are the same. Personally, I would rather have the resin over the PVC plastic that they have included in the first couple of sets. It means a few less miniatures but the ones you get are outstanding.

I can't recommend Kings of War enough, if you've ever been tempted by mass battles give it a go. You can download the basic rules for free from Mantic's website, but this is my favourite game and a new set with new miniatures is definitely one I will be picking up.

Which faction would you choose?