Now I fully expect to be labelled as someone wanting to make KoW into a new version of Warhammer, but I think that there is one easy initiative that would increase the appeal of KoW to a wider audience.
Introduce Race Specific Magic Items and Spells.
This doesn't mean added pages to each list but rather give certain/all races an additional couple of unique Magic Items...weapon/artefact/banner.... and a couple of unique spells.
These would reflect the character of the race.
This would not be too onerous nor would it unbalance the game but it would definitely increase the attractiveness to a lot of people.
Peter, I fully agree with you. I find KoW just a wee tad too generic. A couple of cards ala 8th ed WHFB would not go amiss
ReplyDeleteThat might help but I doubt it it's not really the issue...it's almost like in an effort to please all the gaming refugees KoW has become too blandly generic it's like the modern day HoTT yes you can use any models and race but I am just really sure why...
ReplyDeleteWith local playing group it is definitely an issue and is causing some to look elsewhere for their fix
DeleteTotally agree. Die hard KoW will cry and yell it's not needed but as we've seen, there are more spells and items from v1 to v2 so I'd expect similar to v3 :) My prediction anyway
ReplyDeleteYep I'm not expecting it any time soon. V3 may be too late though
DeleteAgree in principle, the only caveat being that there are a lot of races, with at least a couple more soon to come, so I wouldn't want to have to try to remember too much race-specific stuff. I like not referring to the rules all the time. But certainly a bit more flavour would be good. Something I'd like them to think about for 3rd Edition.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that two Race Specific Spells and a Unique Weapon + Banner + Other Artifact is particularly onerous.
DeleteThe key thing here is looking at barriers to entry. When you look at AoS for a lot of people it was lack of points (not me however). An often cited turnoff for a lot of people with KoW is the lack of race-specific flavour.
Yes you can say "Stop trying to turn it into Warhammer" (but remember the scale I'm advocating here 2 spells/3 artifacts)but then people shouldn't complain if numbers don't grow. They might be happy with current numbers, personally I would like to see greater take-up, so to do that you address issues.
IMO Mantic has already blown (YMMV) one gift wrapped opportunity post UE....they need to be taking any others if they are serious about wanting to compete.
I worry that they think that they have the USA locked up.....personally I think that battleground is still very much up in the air.
With regard to the UK scene, I think everyone who doesn't play AoS is surprised that there's anyone playing AoS. So I think Mantic expected to collect the business more easily than they have.
DeleteI can't see the US going to AoS now, GarageHammer notwithstanding. I guess it's possible that they'll go to T9A but I don't see T9A growing or developing. It seems like the choice of nostalgia and stagnation.
But I agree that complacency isn't an option for Mantic. They need to emphasise the contrast between dynamism and stagnation. More race-specific flavour would be a good step in that direction. I just don't want to have to memorise 20 army books to be competitive.
Also, I like balance, so race-specific items would need to be carefully play tested. I suspect that relative lack of flavour has made KoW easier to balance.
If it's not too onerous then start coming up with some ideas Pete and send em through to the forums/fb/RC to take a look. Though the RC are busy with KOW historical at the moment so it may take a little while.
Delete@Lliam - it could be as simple as "I'm playing ratkin today. What special magic items and spells do they have?"
DeleteThat doesn't see overly onerous.
@David - still waiting for the tournament pack they have been promising for the past four months
DeleteI'd prefer differential points cost for existing magic items so it makes sense to boost something other than hordes.
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest problems is that any changes suggested generally get shouted down as "trying to turn it into warhammer"
ReplyDeleteI agree it makes no sense that different sized units pay the same for magic items. Similarly they may like to look at unit type as well. You can't tell me Caterpillar on horde of cavalry has same utility as on a troop of palace guard. Some granularity would be good.
You starting to go beyond minor adjustments here and talking about something which would be a major rewrite of the rules. The "trying to turn it into warhammer" criticism is quite justified in a number of cases, for instance people wanting charge reactions, more unique racial abilities etc.
DeleteOne of the things which Mantic did with 2nd edition was to enable a wider scope of play and army styles for each race, along with the large number of new races/armies which came on board as well. There is no one way to play any army, players can come up with a theme, list or strategy which best works for them. Best example would be mobile dwarf cavalry lists.
The major criticism I hear directly - and I read on forums - is that there is little variation between races.
DeleteFor longevity and development of the player base that is something Mantic should give consideration to. It may be that they prefer the game as is but that will limit in the eyes of some people.