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Author Topic: Kings of War Armada  (Read 4148 times)

Offline Sir_Theo

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  • Posts: 1266
Kings of War Armada
« on: September 16, 2020, 02:55:15 PM »
Teased the other day, Mantic have released a few more details about their upcoming Naval game.

"Mantic Games is pleased to announce that this November it will be releasing Armada, a new naval wargame set in the world of its best-selling fantasy battle game, Kings of War. The launch period will feature a two-player starter set, which is perfect for getting into the game, four factions of highly detailed resin boats, a rulebook and a full range of accessories."

"Based on the best-selling Black Seas ruleset by Warlord Games, Armada takes historical naval battles and gives them an epic fantasy twist. From the initial launch, players can take to the seas of Pannithor as one of four exciting factions – starting with the brave Basileans and marauding orcs, then following shortly after with the stoic dwarfs and wicked Empire of Dust."

https://youtu.be/fkQ-Tk2cmUc

I was a huge Man O War fan and I enjoy the Kings of War universe so im looking forward to this. Im also expecting some sort of campaign crossover with Kings of War and Vanguard!

Offline Neldoreth

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    • An Hour of Wolves and Shattered Shields
Re: Kings of War Armada
« Reply #1 on: September 16, 2020, 04:23:47 PM »
That's great that they based it on the Warlord games historical game. Great to see building on top of something good as opposed to rolling the dice with yet another game system.

I'm tempted to play, always liked the naval aspect, so we'll see if I have room in the storage closet for some more figures :D

Offline pixelgeek

  • Scatterbrained Genius
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Re: Kings of War Armada
« Reply #2 on: September 16, 2020, 05:39:09 PM »
Wonder how it will scale with all of my Uncharted Seas minis

Offline pancakeonions

  • Librarian
  • Posts: 103
Re: Kings of War Armada
« Reply #3 on: September 17, 2020, 06:42:25 PM »
I'm pretty excited about this.  It's supposed to be in scale with Black Seas, but more "heroic" scale, so ships from Black Seas (1/700) or Oak & Iron (1/600) should look fine.  I have ships from both games, and they look good next to each other especially given that ship sizes and nomenclature wasn't terribly standardized back then.

I think the old Spartan Games Uncharted Seas was also about the same scale (1/600, right?)

Dreadfleet also looks good alongside Black Seas and Oak & Iron, so I see making custom rules for those cool looking ships from that otherwise very forgettable game...

But Man o War ships were a bit smaller.  I think Man o War didn't follow any standardized scale, but most look 1/1000 or smaller.  In a pinch, lots of ships are weird enough looking that they would be fine to use (e.g., the oversized cannons on some ships make 'em look "bigger" even if they're still nominally of a smaller scale), but many will probably look a bit small alongside Mantic's Armada.

Can't wait to get my hands on this game!

Offline Sir_Theo

  • Mastermind
  • Posts: 1266
Re: Kings of War Armada
« Reply #4 on: September 17, 2020, 07:23:09 PM »
Ive got quite a lot of Man O War ships but I think ill keep them for use with Man o war for the reason you mention. The Mantic ones look good, and im particularly looking forward to the Empire of Dust ships.


Offline Sir_Theo

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Re: Kings of War Armada
« Reply #5 on: September 20, 2020, 05:08:21 PM »
I thought id put some pictures up here ive got from various sources online

Offline zemjw

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Re: Kings of War Armada
« Reply #6 on: September 20, 2020, 07:54:37 PM »
The pre-order page is up - link

£74.99 for the two player starter set as well as various other deals.

Offline pancakeonions

  • Librarian
  • Posts: 103
Re: Kings of War Armada
« Reply #7 on: September 21, 2020, 04:37:59 PM »
Not cheap, but I'm a sucker for this kinda game - I'm going all in.

Offline Sir_Theo

  • Mastermind
  • Posts: 1266
Re: Kings of War Armada
« Reply #8 on: September 21, 2020, 07:22:03 PM »
I've noticed a few online retailers offering discounts on the preorders, so worth shopping around maybe.

Offline pancakeonions

  • Librarian
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Re: Kings of War Armada
« Reply #9 on: September 28, 2020, 05:37:17 PM »
Completely agree!  But I'm also a sucker for my FLGS, and have the disposable income to shop locally....  In this day and age, I want to make sure my fav game store can keep the lights on!

Offline Sir_Theo

  • Mastermind
  • Posts: 1266
Re: Kings of War Armada
« Reply #10 on: November 27, 2020, 03:26:18 PM »
So Armada was delivered to me the other day. I've started to put together some of the ships, but I thought I'd share a pic of one of the Large Orc ships to give people an idea of the scale. This isn't one of the ships in the starter set, but a 'Smasher' which is slightly larger than the normal ones.

Offline Macunaima

  • Scientist
  • Posts: 246
Re: Kings of War Armada
« Reply #11 on: November 27, 2020, 06:44:54 PM »
I wish someone would do a “realistic” looking fantasy naval game in 1/700. I really don’t like the over-the-top impractical designs that every fantasy naval game so far produced has come out with.

How hard would it be to do so e fantasy-style xebecs for elves, or Korean turtle boats for dwarves? Some junky junks for Orcs? Instead, we always get this sort of cartoonish fantasy style.

SOME cartoony elements, OK. It’s fantasy, after all. But do the ships always have to look like bathtub playtime toys...?

Offline Sir_Theo

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  • Posts: 1266
Re: Kings of War Armada
« Reply #12 on: November 27, 2020, 10:06:31 PM »
Ha! They are a little over the top. As much as I like Kings of War I do find the aesthetic a little cartoony for my tastes (it feels very Warcraft, all that boxy armour and fancy pauldrons) but I don't kind so much in a fantasy naval game, I like my historical games realistic and my fantasy games over the top.

Offline sir_shvantselot

  • Mad Scientist
  • Posts: 943
Re: Kings of War Armada
« Reply #13 on: November 27, 2020, 10:11:31 PM »
Ha! They are a little over the top. As much as I like Kings of War I do find the aesthetic a little cartoony for my tastes (it feels very Warcraft, all that boxy armour and fancy pauldrons) but I don't kind so much in a fantasy naval game, I like my historical games realistic and my fantasy games over the top.

What’s not to love about that though?

Offline Sir_Theo

  • Mastermind
  • Posts: 1266
Re: Kings of War Armada
« Reply #14 on: November 27, 2020, 10:30:41 PM »
Oh yeah, I think these models are great, can't wait to paint them.

A big thumbs up for the quality of the rest of the product too. Nice rulebook, lovely art on the tokens and card islands, nice paper mat. Definitely good value.

I also do enjoy how much effort Mantic have put into world building recently. I like how Pannithor is still big and generic enough that you can have your own niche in there, but it has all these big fantasy elements in the background specific to itself. Its starting to feel like it's finding ita feet away from the shadow of the Warhammer Old World.

 

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