Kings of War: Armada (Mantic Games Fantasy Naval Combat)

[Kelly]

A new set of updates on the mechanics of Kings of War: Armada have been posted on the Mantic blog over the past week, highlighting the differences from Black Seas on initiative, movement, and shooting so far.

https://www.manticgames.com/news/armada/

[Zac]

So it doesn't use the wake markers?

[Ruckdog]

So it doesn't use the wake markers?

That appears to be the case. I haven't played Black Seas, so I'm not sure how big of a rules change this is.

Also, Mantic posted some pics of studio painted models for the first 4 fleets they are launching on their FB page:

Basilean Fleet (coming in November)


Orc Fleet (coming in November)


Dwarf Fleet (coming 2021)


Empire of Dust (2021)

[Zac]

Very nice. I like the Empire of Dust particularly. Its funny that we all seem to paint our Orc Fleets in brown and red :-)

[Kelly]

New updates to the Mantic blog on Armada were posted today with official mechanics videos linked to the page below…

https://www.manticgames.com/news/everything-you-need-to-know-about-armada/

Their staff also started out on builds / conversions of the first two starter fleets available on the blog that I hope will continue past the release and on through the next two faction fleets.  They are all approaching the bases with different methods of building out the water and waves from storm-tossed…



...to placid...

[Kelly]

Some more information on Armada on the Virtual Open Day from Mantic was released this morning, and is viewable at the Youtube video below...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63SFJDba_aY

The Armada content begins roughly at 5:15:00, with updates on shipping delays first, XL ship previews at 5:35:00, and concept art for upcoming factions at 5:45:00.  Best news out of the show was that the long-range plan for Armada is new releases on a bi-monthly schedule, Dwarves in January, Empire of Dust in March, etc...

[Kelly]

Solitaire scenarios for Kings of War: Armada were posted on the Mantic blog, including flowcharts of how the opponents will act / react through the turn.  The monster scenario in particular looks like it is the most approachable since they operate with simplified arcs of fire.

https://www.manticgames.com/news/solo-play-rules-for-kings-of-war-armada/

[Covertwalrus]

 Must admit, this is looking better and better!

 The scenarios seems well thought-out too. Lot of thinking has gone into this game it appears, and I hope that this is appreciated and reflected in solid sales.

[Kelly]

Mantic put up more previews on for future Armada releases as part of their weekend stream, and is viewable at the Youtube video below...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQPRS-iMylI

The Armada block begins at 39:00, with more XL ships first, followed by the first expansion book for this summer, and renders of new faction releases later this year.  My expectations for the expansion are sky-high!

[Stephan]

It's a ways off, but with everything postponed due to Covid I'm hoping there will be demos of this at Adepticon 2022.

[Kelly]

I already have my preorder in for Seas Aflame, as I was looking forward to the introduction of flying units into the game, but I was not expecting how much was going to be added into Armada.  There is a new preview up on Mantic's blog and I never knew that I needed coastal fortifications until I saw it listed here...

https://www.manticgames.com/news/five-reasons-all-armada-players-need-the-new-seas-aflame-supplement/

Also, the mentions of additional scenarios and a campaign framework is also intriguing, not fortification level, but intriguing nonetheless.

[Covertwalrus]

I never knew that I needed coastal fortifications until I saw it listed here...

 Oh, one *always* needs coastal terrain for naval combat, especially the defenses.

[Kelly]

Today's entry on the end of the year blogs from Mantic was highlighting the upcoming Armada releases planned for the first quarter of 2022.  New renders of the Salamander fleet ships are up, but they also have the new Dwarf flyer models up as well which I was glad to see as they show Mantic at their best...

https://www.manticgames.com/news/christmas-blogs-armada-in-2022/

...As soon as the flyer previews were put up last spring, the entire Internet agreed that the single Dwarf flyer was not in any way representative of the faction, and was nowhere near the standards of the other core fleet flyers.  Mantic listened, pulled that release, and now has two flyers that are the equal of the other fleets both in quality and style.

[Kelly]

Preorders and previews have been posted by Mantic on their blog below for the Northern Alliance and Varangur...

https://www.manticgames.com/news/northern-alliance-and-varangur-fleet-preview/

...this release is different from prior fleets, because the ships will come with cards supporting two factions in each box.  The Northern Alliance is a new and small faction recently released in the parent game Kings of War, and the older Varangur faction has very little model support currently.  Both are located in the north of the setting, so putting them together with similar ships makes narrative sense internally, and allows both smaller factions to be brought into the game.

There is a huge number of armies, and sub-armies, in the other Mantic fantasy games, so I hope we will see more multiple use ships or alternative card packs released for existing fleets.

[Kelly]

Sneak peeks on Armada coming up next summer from the Mantic Open Day this week:
Two new fleets for release, Abyssal Dwarves (bad dwarves), and Trident Realms (undersea dwellers of all types) along with new fortification types, interactive terrain types (volcanoes!), and more scenarios to round out the new book.

From the head of Mantic on the Trident Realms delays:
Ronnie...
“When you are making a ship game, you know with open seas, and you have an army that lives in the water, what do you think the most obvious fleet to do is?”

from the crowd...
“Shark”
“Squid”
“Submarine”
“...unintelligible others...”

Ronnie...
“Yeah you see, this was the hardest one to get natural… took two years to agree on”