Kings of War Fourth Edition: Orcs Army Preview

G’day Goonhammer readers! The fourth edition of Kings of War is almost upon us and spoilers are trickling out all over the place, and Goonhammer is no exception! Thanks again to Mantic for providing us a sneak peak of some rules. Last week Urr brought us a glimpse of the Nightstalkers army list in this next edition and it’s now my turn to bring on the Orcs!

Army List Aesthetics

The pages of the rulebook that contain the Orcs army list look phenomenal. There’s already been a Mantic Blog article showing this glow up for single unit entries, but it cannot be understated just how much better this looks when a whole page is full of unit profiles with unit pictures and neatly arranged stats. Urr already mentioned this, but just being able to see what the unit looks like is incredibly helpful, especially in Orcs. What’s the difference between an Ax, a Morax and a Greatax? Now there’s no question, their image is right there on the page. And of course, the colour scheme of the list is green.

Three types of Orc clearly shown right in the army list. Credit: Mantic Games

Orcs. Together. Strong.

The Orcs are one of the original armies released by Mantic before Kings of War even had an official ruleset. Since then they’ve been iterated upon with the release of the Riftforged Orcs, a theme list of the Orcs that went full-metal and lightning. Much speculation has surrounded the fate of these two armies with the coming of the next edition - would Orcs be swallowed up by the Riftforged Orcs? Would Orcs disappear entirely? How many Orcs can one game system handle?

The answer is: All are Orcs.

The Riftforged Orcs units are completely part of the Orcs army. This makes for a massive army list, although it’s not that different from the final Riftforged Orcs army list seen in Clash of Kings 2024 when a swathe of Orcs units were made available to their Riftforged cousins.

Cytoplasm's Riftforged Orcs collection!

But which Orc is better? Well, unsurprisingly, the Riftforged Legionaries are better than Ax, with Melee 3+ on the Riftforged compared to Melee 4+ on the Ax. They also have slightly better Nerve, which is a bargain for the small points difference (230 points for a horde of Legionaries compared to 205 points for a horde of Ax). That said, there are still units that interact solely with Orcs, such as the Godspeaker, so there’s still good reasons to go lean and green.

It’s Good to Be Core

The Orcs army list is not lacking for Core units, in fact it boasts five separate units; Riftforged Legionaries, Ax, Greatax, Morax and Gore Riders (and that’s not including if you take Vohdler who makes Thunderseers Core). These are all the units Orcs players love to take, most notably the Morax and Greatax. They all possess similar stats to their third edition iterations, so keep on taking those massive hordes of Orcs, and enjoy the fact they are essentially Nimble now with the new movement rules.

The Auxiliary units are fewer in number; these are essentially the chaff kinds of units, such as the troop unit sizes of all the Core options, but also the Skulks and Orclings. But it’s the Skulks and Orclings that both got slightly interesting changes. Skulks are now equipped with bows that shoot 18 inches with Piercing (1) at Ranged 5+, which if standing still for the turn becomes 4+. Not too shabby for a unit that’s cheaper than Ax. Orclings have taken on the Large Infantry type, but are Height (1), which isn’t really a change, but they have gained Stealthy, making them slightly better at being survivable chaff than before.

Riftforged Legionaries are still the kings of Core. Credit: Cytoplasm.

There are a few notable omissions in the Orcs army list; Youngax, Unforged Orcs, Longax and Riftwalkers are all gone (my ghostly Orcs are now truly ghosts). None of these had official model kits, and most people would take Orcs and Riftforged Orcs and either paint them differently or simply point to a horde and designate it as the Longax horde. I don’t think anyone will lament the loss of Youngax or Unforged Orcs, but a few will miss the Riftwalkers and Longax.

What’s Special About Orcs?

The Specialist units of the Orcs have a lot of units players will want, but probably none more popular in recent memory than the Fight Wagons. The Fight Wagons now come only in one size; regiments. This is true also for the Orc Chariots. No troops, hordes or legions for Chariot type units in Orcs it seems. The Orc Chariot is cheaper, and hits with 15 Crushing Strength (1), Thunderous Charge (2) attacks at Speed 8, while the Fight Wagon has 20 Crushing Strength (1) attacks at Speed 7 with Fearless.

The rest of the Specialist units are Reborn Legionaries, Tundra Wolves, Trolls and Thunderseers, which are all relatively unchanged. That is with the exception of two curious special rules on two units.

Reborn Legionaries are Specialists - at smashing face. Credit: Cytoplasm

The first is on the Tundra Wolves; these have Pathfinder, Thunderous Charge (1) and Nimble. This is interesting because Tundra Wolves are the only unit in the entire Orcs army list that has Nimble. What it does in the new edition remains to be seen, but it might be the thing to make Tundra Wolves different from typical cavalry.

The second is on the Trolls; these have Crushing Strength (2), Regeneration (5+) and Inspiring (Self). That’s right, Trolls have gone from being some of the most unreliable thugs in Kings of War to being imbued with an incredible-level of self-confidence. This definitely boosts the viability of Trolls, but generally goes against the idea that a Troll is prone to distraction. It could be that Trolls in Pannithor are quite distinguished fellows in comparison to the stereotypical Trolls of other fantasy worlds.

Orcs Need Support

The Support category of units is made up of the Helstrikers, Ambarox, War Drum, Stormslayer, Stormforged Shrine and the Storm Giant. Some units are almost identical to their third edition iterations, but some have changed quite a bit.

The Ambarox are now set to a max of 2 per battalions... so one will have to stay home. Credit: Cytoplasm

The War Drum, a critical piece in any Orcs army, now comes with Dread built in, but no longer has the option to be mounted in a chariot. Rallying no longer has a number value, but also is not restricted by Traits (the new name for Keywords). No matter what kind of Orcs army you’re building, a War Drum will be a handy addition.

The Stormslayer has had an incredible make-over. Although the rift-warped troll-monster has gone up in points, it’s gone up in attacks, Nerve, gained Inspiring (self), Slayer (D6) and Regeneration (5+). This will punch some holes in the enemy and will be critical in those combo-charges. Considering the previous version just never made it into my lists, this is a great improvement.

Speaking of make-overs, the Stormforged Shrine has changed its role on the battlefield quite a bit. It will still sit in the middle of the army thanks to an Aura (Headstrong), but the Shrine will instead be electrocuting the enemy ranks with Lightning Bolt (12) (yes, 12) that can jump from one enemy unit to another thanks to its Chain Lightning special rule. The distance it can jump is down to how much damage it did, but the vision of lightning crackling through an entire enemy army is very enticing indeed!

The Heroes of the Orcs

The Champions and Warlords of the Orcs contain a nice mix of both Orcs and Riftforged Orcs heroes, but notable absences are the Morax Mansplitter, the Skulk Stalker, the Troll Bruiser, any kind of Orc on Chariot, Gakamak, Wip the Outcast and Ulpgar the Mad. Yes, that’s correct, the legendary Gakamak has not made it to fourth edition. If there had to be a model and hero released for the Orcs with their expansion book, then hopefully that’s how Gakamak returns, with his incredible Melee 2+ of third edition.

As many have pointed among the various reviews of fourth edition army lists, all of the heroes with the exception of those riding titans seem to have become quite a bit more expensive in terms of points. Whether this is because of the changes to the Individual rule (such as enabling flank and rear bonuses) or because it’s a tax for constructing Battalions remains to be seen.

One exciting option that many Riftforged Orcs players will appreciate is that the Stormbringer on Winged Slasher makes Helstrikers Specialist instead of Support. This makes it slightly easier to get Helstrikers in the army, albeit at the cost of taking quite an expensive hero.

Vohdler is expensive, but can change up the whole army. Credit: Cytoplasm

Most of the heroes are the same, but with a few tweaks here and there. The Krudger can make Ax Hordes into Legions, bumping their Nerve to 28+ with 30 attacks. The Krusher has gained 3 attacks and Duellist (2). Vohdler can redeploy one unit in the army after deployment. There’s more but I’ll let you find out when they are released.

Command Orders

The Command Orders remain, even if the Command Dice do not. As far as we know, heroes can use these orders on target units, with Champions rolling two dice and Warlords rolling three. For each dice that rolls the target number, the order is successful. Some orders have improved effects depending on how many dice are successful, others simply work with just one.

The Orcs have two Command Orders at their disposal; Green Rage and Up and at ‘em.

The Green Rage is a potent Command Order, bestowing a target unit (with Orc or Forged Traits only) the doubling of any hit roll of a 6 (essentially having Blast [2]). This is similar to the old Stormstrike upgrade in third edition Riftforged Orcs, but now it is Command Order. It requires a roll of a 5+, which means only Warlords will reliably use it, and even then it’s only a 70% chance. This can result in 3 extra hits with a regiment of Helstrikers and 4 extra hits with a horde of Riftforged Legionaries, both of which result in about 2 extra damage against a Defense 5+ target. Not bad, but not crazy. What can make it exciting is that when Thonaar orders Green Rage, the doubling of the hits happens on rolls of 5 and 6, doubling the numbers above (4 extra damage). This isn’t guaranteed to happen each turn, and Thonaar is now much more expensive and much less powerful in close combat, but it could really help a unit punch through.

Thonaar can make things punch hard, but he doesn't come cheap. Credit: Cytoplasm

The Up and at ‘em order can only be used on units with the Orc Trait (i.e. classic Orcs), and for each roll of 4+ the unit gains that much Wild Charge. This is useful on everything from Ax, to Orc Chariots to Fight Wagons. But the real power of Wild Charge is the potential. It does not matter that you can’t order the whole army at once to charge an extra 2 or 3 inches, but your opponent will have to assume that any unit could. Unfortunately, Up and at ‘em is useless for Morax as they already have Wild Charge (D3) and the Command Order is not additive.

The Age of the (Riftforged) Orc

Many Orcs players will be happy that the Orcs were not removed from the game in favour of the Riftforged Orcs, and together they make for an army that has many more interesting combinations. By the end of third edition, the Riftforged Orcs almost had access to the entire Orc army list, but now it’s been formalized and some redundancy has been removed.

It seems a shame that while all of the Riftforged unique heroes remain, the Orc heroes were culled. Will Gakamak return forged anew? Will Thonaar actually get a backstory? Where did the cyclopses come from to make the Thunderseers? These are things I hope an expansion book answers.

As Urr mentioned, the first big tournament in the world likely to feature fourth edition will be Clash of Kings in Canberra, Australia. It’s a fantastic event at a very nice venue, so if you’re in the area, why not come along for a game or six.

This isn’t the last of our reveals for the upcoming fourth edition. Be sure to join us next week, because there’s a little magic in the air.

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