KoW Game Design: Alessio Cavatore spills the beans!
July 30, 2010 by johnlyons
For our coverage on Kings of War we delve into the world of tabletop games design and see just what considerations have gone into the upcoming ruleset for Kings of War. In this one Warren chats to the game's designer Alessio Cavatore (Of 40K Fame) about how Mantic are approaching the development of Kings of War.
This is mega early access to the game development process guys, something you rarely see in the wargames industry. To be fair they will make a lot of changes to how the game plays, but you can get a real feel for what Mantic and Cavatore are trying to achieve. And we like what we're hearing what about you?
Why not check out the new Kings of War groups and ask whatever questions you have:
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Great interview and the perfect man to make a simple war-gaming ruleset, can’t wait to have a go on the beta especially as I just got into Mantics a week ago 😀
Totally moist for what I’m hearing so far. Alessio worked on the Warmaster ruleset as well and I like the idea of ‘unit based’ rather than ‘model based’. All Fantasy wargaming for me is on hold at the moment and waiting anxiously for more!!
As a player who loves learning about game design I am glad this interview exists. It gives us a clearer picture of the designer and his personal preferences. This interview pushed me over the edge. Now I will finally descend into the abyss of Mantic games and hopefully will emerge with my wallet semi intact.
Good interview, interesting to hear about the games development proccess, will be looking forward to seeing the rules. Must say since the web site has gone live i’ve been impressed by BoW, more of this!!
great interview, I’ll be looking forward to seeing what else you manage to winkle out of Alessio and Ronnie over the weekend. Its nice to know that such a young company are looking towards the future and the step they’ve taken in going for a public beta will be a big help. As a whole Mantic seem to be very community orientated and thats always a good thing and the community as a whole can only benefit from such an approach
This is so awesome. I think the game system should be good with Cavatore at the forefront and with a specific focus on simplicity and playability. Looking towards the future, however, how long will it be until Mantic releases Kings of War 40,000 and aquires a liscense to cover The Chronicles of Narnia? ;p
Seriously. 🙂
Excellent interview 🙂
couldn’t agree more that sometimes the rules get in the way of the fun. Another great video. BoW is the best wargaming site on the web
I am semi-considering starting WFB for the first time over the next few months and I have to confess I do worry a little about the many layers of rules. I do sometimes wonder how much game-time I’m going to spend playing, and how much game-time I’ll be double-checking various things in the book constantly. Perhaps a simpler, more chess-like battle system – using all these fantasy models – could be a ‘better fit’ for some players who just want to enjoy themselves in the genre, without getting too hardcore, but still allowing for real strategy on the table top.… Read more »
I imagine it is quite difficult for Alessio to not make a Warhammer in Blue. He spent so much time with GW (which was not bad in my oppinion, the things he did were mostly good). I hope we see a lot more of the Zombies and I hope with some colour on them. I think every VC player is waiting for coooool Zombies (not the GW ones).
Warren, you’ve forgot to mention a very important thing. Alessio Cavatore also wrote the Warhammer Fantasy Battles 7th ed core rules (IMHO WFB ed that has the best and balanced core rules – unfortunately spoiled with some uber army books via Daemons of Chaos/Skaven) and 6 army books for the 6th ed including: Skaven, The Empire, Tomb Kings, Vampire Counts as the author and Dwarfs and Hordes of Chaos as an co-author. And I must say that all of those army books were very good written and balanced. I collect and play the Empire and I could give a lot… Read more »
Yes, please keep the rules simple and the games fairly short. It’s a game after all, not a simulation… Can’t wait to give Kings of War a try.
Simple is good but not too simple, when GW simplified Epic it lost all it’s character. You went from from “I’m firing my PlasmaVulcanMegaCannon at that gargant DAKKA DAKKA” to “I roll six d6 vs his 5d6 ” you need an elegant core that maintains the unique look and feel of each race so it’s really good that the plan is to keep the rules out of the way of the fun – exciting time in gameland 🙂
Great interview, Alessio is a giant in rules writing IMO. I wholeheartedly agree with the statement “easy to learn but difficult to master”.
A great rules set should allow you to focus on tactics and not playing the loopholes, much like chess. I play games for fun and not to crush my opponent into the ground at all costs!
I’m really looking forward to trying this new system 🙂
Awesome interview. Alessio is an interesting guy, and I am looking forward to hearing more from him–especially about what goes into the designing the core mechanics.
I’ve been out of the wargaming loop for over a decade now, but the packs sound like a great way to suck me back in: I may just have to pick up a box come October. Then I just have to find someone to play with here in the States.
Dude.. if Alessio Cavatore is the one writing the rules.. We could be seeing a Very good competitor for GW here. 🙂
well GW’s dominance in the wargaming industrie is more likely because few people know about other companies and game systems like Mantic, Wargames Factory, Flames of War, Hordes, Privateer Press and Rackham Confrontation and many others
so I’m really thankfull for BoW and there reviews about other ranges and whatsoever,
I first heard about Mantic, Wargames Factory ect. ect. as I started to watch BoW vids,
and now Mantic makes there own game system 😀
I wonder if Alessio and Darren had a long discussions on cheesy rules! LOL
I remember seeing Alessio in WD when he had long hair 🙁
“Alessio Cavatore also wrote the Warhammer Fantasy Battles 7th ed core rules (IMHO WFB ed that has the best and balanced core rules – unfortunately spoiled with some uber army books via Daemons of Chaos/Skaven) and 6 army books for the 6th ed including: Skaven, The Empire, Tomb Kings, Vampire Counts as the author and Dwarfs and Hordes of Chaos as an co-author. And I must say that all of those army books were very good written and balanced.” This, a thousand times. I didn’t realise it until fairly recently, but most every WH rule book (core and army specific)… Read more »
man, I am pumped for the new rules 😀 and it’s fantastic to actually see one of the heads behinde a rulebook, learning what they think, what they have in mind with the new rules, what they plan ect. ect. another great thing is that Alessio Cavatores opinions about rules are the same as mine 😉 rules shouldn’t be complex, I think everybody agrees if I say that the difficulty and complexity of a game should come from the skill of your opponent and yourself, what tactics they use how they play there armies how they try to make the… Read more »
I hope there are no “to hit” and “to wound” charts and I hope they sell the rulebook in some sort of Hardcover form.
Look at the big picture Mantic. If you have the core generic army mechanics worked out for Kings of War why not release a historical version to knock Warhammer Ancients Battles out for the count.
/sarcastic “old beardy wargamer voice”
Historical wargaming really needs another set of rules, there are too few options already.
Too few scales as well, a real lack of choice in historics.
/sarcasm
🙂 🙂 🙂
Im sure the rules will adapt well to any period, based on the simplicity stressed in the video.
This is an amazing bit of walks you guys are the cutting edge of wargaming news at the moment this is why I goto the internet why the news crawls on TV and papers the internet is always on the ball.
You guys remind me why I want to go on the net.
KoW realy sounds good, think iem gona give it a shot. But its gona be hard with the new warhammer fantasy rules out, but if this is as simple as the nice man say then this is gona be a good game in the aspect of not having to carry a 5kg rulebook around. But then agen the fantasy book is a rule book & a blunt weapon so you can ALWAYS agree on who is right/wrong. Ofc if both have a book then its gona be a fight to the death… ok.. I got a bit off course there..
For me, I need a game with a ‘Hook’ such the Command & Control of Warmaster or the DBM elegence of Combat. I agree wholeheartidly with what AC has to say with regards to simple and really REALLY looking forward to hearing more about the base mechanics of the game.
MASSIVE armies is what I am all about…so are Mantic…thats a damn good start !
on a side note…tried Blitzkreig/Cold War/Future Commander before?
Loosely based on WM, and suitable for all scales and periods, as long as its after 1930.
Great games with a great, fast playstyle.
Hoping that KoW takes a similar approach, a more wargame-y approach.
Hmmm, chess with dice. Sounds good to me.
I’m just thinking about all these moment where you aren’t playing for 15 min cause everybody is lost in his rulebook trying to find out how to resolve the situation. Especially when the game is new to everyone.