"Kings Of War 1st ed. Vs. 2nd ed?" Topic

How much of a difference is there between the 1st and 2nd editions of Kings Of War? I picked up a hardcover 1st edition for a dollar at the thrift store.

Thank you.

Artillery and Cavalry have the biggest rule change impacts. Artillery was insanely good in the first edition and has been toned down (perhaps a tad too much now). Cavalry have also been changed to lose the Crushing Strength (always +N on damage) and now have Thunderous Charge (+N only on charging and if not hindered). This means horse hits hard once, or you can use terrain to hide from the big impact.

The rest if fairly similar though the 2nd edition is much better tuned in terms of points and rules.

You can download the rules for free from Mantic's site and have full access to army points and rules at Easy Army Kings of War site.

Missile troops are more effective in v2 as there are fewer penalties when shooting

Yeah, second is nicely cleaned up and better balanced. First has some issues, the second edition campaign rules are better too. I don't think second has gotten siege rules yet. The first edition rules don't really work in play. Actually I suspect that they do but people miss a point that isn't expressed clearly which leaves us with a game where you can't take casualties while scaling a wall with ladders.