I'm a massive fan of Mantic Games' Kings of War. It is my favourite/go-to rank-and-file fantasy wargame and as far as I'm concerned everyone should be forced to play by law! Alas, the law seems to be taking its sweet time sorting this out so Mantic has taken the reigns in trying to get more people involved in a proper war with squares and so in the big red rulebook they included an introductory version called Ambush. Now to gently lead the round-based masses to the square-based promised land there are six Ambush starter sets available to pre-order.

Kings of War Ambush // Mantic Games

All of the sets contain a Quick Start Rule set and a build guide for the models that also explains what type to build in the case of models that have multiple build options, in a similar way to the recent Deadzone 3rd edition or the various Kings of War starter sets. So if it's your first foray into Kings of War then you have an army list to aim towards. If you are more familiar with the system, or wargames in general, then you can always go off-book.

Ratkin Ambush Starter Set

Vicious and cruel, the stinking hordes of the Ratkin lash out at vulnerable and unsuspecting settlements. These once-slaves take to the field with barbed weapons and mutated monstrosities, eager to enact vengeance on the world that rejected them.

The set contains a Night Terror and two regiments of lovely little Ratkin that are listed as warriors and spear warriors, presumably, that is to match the list they are building towards, but in reality, the regiment makes both. The warriors are a cheap stock unit, while the spear warriors gain phalanx against cavalry and fliers and a handful of more attacks. While the Night Terror with its high crush and nimble means it can get into rear and flanks to do some real damage.

Empire of Dust Ambush Starter Set

The cursed armies of the Ahmunite pharaohs march from the deserts to reclaim their masters’ once-great empires. Rank upon rank of gilded skeletons and revenants march into battle, unheeding of their casualties – for any who fall can simply be raised again to fight for the glory of the pharaohs.

The new (old) kids on the block the Empire of Dust come with ten infantry and ten cavalry. Listed as four troops, spear, archers, and two cavalry. The spearmen have slightly more attacks than usual and also phalanx, the troop of archers can reach out and touch people at 24" forcing them into moving quickly and therefore be more prone to a multiple charge from the revenant cavalry with thunderous 2 they'll rip most units apart.  Again while they can be built that way you don't have to. The impact cav can instead be built as archers and the infantry troops both combined into one spear regiment.

Ogre Ambush Starter Set

Roaming tribes of Ogre mercenaries and Red Goblins will fight for whoever pays the most (although one can always be outbid). Even without such an incentive, these burly warriors will seek the toughest foes, highest bounties, and most valuable loot to re-arm and prepare themselves for the next battle.

The new Ogre plastics are ran as two regiments of warriors and they are accompanied by a regiment of red goblin spitters. Again the ranged attacks brought by the goblin spitters are a good way of pinging damage onto the enemy and forcing them into rash challenges, which would lead to getting their heads planted by the ogres. The warriors with hand weapons and shields are a high defence anvil to anchor your line, while the two-handed weapons lose some of that resilience to instead be a much larger nutcracker.

Forces of the Abyss Ambush Starter Set

Although rare, the incursions of the Abyss’ armies into the mortal world are a very real threat. These rageful demons will cut a swathe of destruction through any civilised realm, burning everything to ash with their hellfire. These invasions are only ever stopped at great cost to the defenders.

A Succubi Regiment is accompanied by Flamebearers and Lower Abyssal troops. Both the Flamebearers and Lower Abyssals have regeneration so they can weather the storm a bit more than other troops. The Flamerbearers shorter range is compensated by a +1 piercing bonus so they pack a punch and the lower abyssals can also be upgraded with crush for melee combat. The real stars here though are the Succubi. They have all the attacks, and can be upgraded to have pathfinder which gives them real manoeuvrability. Add to that ensnare, fury, and stealthy you're opponent will struggle to prevent you getting them into combat and unloading on them.

Halfling Ambush Starter Set

Since gaining their independence, the Halfling shires have established a well-trained and well-armed military. These doughty warriors take advantage of every advance their homelands have to offer, from black-powder weaponry, to juvenile aralez cavalry.

The little un's come as a Spearspikes Regiment, and two Wild Runners Troops. Because of the design of this sprue you can't build all the options for everything, There are ten rifles and ten melee weapons for fifteen miniatures, so you will always have to make a mix of weapon types. This ambush set has a chunky spearspike regiment to hold an objective while the two troops of Wild Runners can outflank and ping away at the enemy. That's important because the Halflings can re-roll failed attacks in melee against an already wounded unit. So get the damage on early.

Goblin Ambush Starter Set

What the goblins lack in strength and bravery, the more than make up for with numbers, ramshackle machinery, and maniacal glee in outnumbering and dragging down their foes. They’d never win in a fair fight, so they never fight fair – making use of every underhanded tactic and advantage they can get their grubby hands on.

A Sharpsticks Regiment, Spitters Regiment, and a new Mincer Mob Troop. No back of the box for this as I may have pointed out to Mantic that the picture didn't match the contents, and they took it down and changed the pictures. It also still doesn't match so that Mincer Mob Troop may be a single Mincer chariot. Time will tell on that one. This box has a lot going for it, melee spear, ranged spitters and an incredibly punchie Mincer in whatever form it takes, means you should be able to deal with whatever is coming across the table at you. The new plastic mincer is particularly deadly in the front but if you can get it into the flanks you'll roll up the line in short order.

Overall the boxes are a good spread of kits to get people into Kings of War, they weigh in at around 300-350 points from my napkin maths, so add a hero and you'll be looking at a good start to your fantasy force. All of the boxes are due for release on the 16th January and Mantic are using them to showcase the game focusing on using the new plastics first. I would say anyone just getting started should base everything on troop trays to give themselves more flexibility as they learn the game and get to grips with the armies strengths and weaknesses.

Let me know what you think of Ambush