Competitive Meta Tactics & Advanced Strategy
Master every deployment, punish every matchup, and keep the podium in sight.
Why List-Building Still Wins Tournaments
If you’ve followed Counter Charge’s List Builder Studio episodes, you know the advice is everywhere—one guest leans into grind, another swears by alpha, and a third argues you just need 26 drops and a dream. I’ve listened to most of them. My previous Part I articledug into the data behind list building. This guide attempts to pull the throughlines together, synthesizing both that volume of data and the various expert opinions on Dash28 and Counter Charge. Rather than chase the latest hot take, I’ll cut to the strategic fundamentals: what makes a Kings of War army list consistently win. Not just theorycraft—but practical principles tested across metas, missions, and five-round GTs.
Even perfect positioning and hot dice can’t rescue a bad Kings of War army list. Build smart and you will:
- Dictate deployments – opponents must respect 18″ cav charges, Piercing 2 artillery zones, or unbreakable grinds before Turn 1.
- Shrink decision trees – no “dead” drops means every activation pushes the plan forward.
- Create error margin – redundancy and scoring depth forgive the occasional snake-eyes or failed Surge.
Misconstruction flips each point: risky lines, wasted turns, brutal variance. You can out-play a weak list only so many times in a five-round GT.
Five Core Principles of Elite List Design
| # | Principle | What It Really Delivers | Stress-Test Question |
| 1 | Threat Projection | Credible reach via speed, range, and damage ceiling. | “If I face Elven archers, can I threaten a key unit by Turn 2?” |
| 2 | Scenario Scoring | Unit Strength, board reach, late-game stamina. | “Do I field ~24 US and at least nine scoring drops in 2300?” |
| 3 | Durability | Raw stats (Def 6, high Nerve) or sustained Heal. | “Can one unit eat a double knight charge and live?” |
| 4 | Trading & Chaff | Cheap pieces that fix charges or waste activations. | “Will a screen still cover my hammer when lines clash?” |
| 5 | Synergy | Bane Chant, Rally, Surge—anything that spikes efficiency. | “Does every hammer receive a relevant buff half the time or more?” |
Applying the Principles
- Threat isn’t just speed – Ogre Boomers (12″ Piercing 2) project farther than some cavalry units.
- Scoring demands redundancy – lose one US 1 flyer, and the token race collapses.
- Durability can be active – Zombie legions healed 10+ wounds/turn stay longer than stone walls.
- Trading pieces – Goblin Slashers: cheap, tall, credible, expendable.
- Synergy – don’t stack Brutal and Brew of Sharpness on Elohi; Bane Chant units that lack Crushing instead.
Classic Battlefield Roles
Hammers – Crack the Line
Goal: Rout a priority unit in one punch.
Profile: 10–20 attacks on 3+, CS/TC 2+.
Examples: Basilean Knight Horde (J-Boots), Ogre Siege Breakers.
Anvils – Hold the Centre
Profile: Def 5-6 or unlimited Heal/Rally.
Examples: Dwarf Steel Behemoth, Undead Revenant Horde with Necro Heal.
Multi-Role Scorers
Fight and score (e.g., Soul Reaver Infantry). Flexibility—at premium cost.
Dedicated Scorers
Either fast & fragile (Sp 10 Gargoyles) or slow tarpit (Zombie Legion). Pick per mission mix.
Support Elements
| Support Type | Primary Job | Key Metric |
| Inspiring Heroes | Keep Nerve honest | 3-4 bubbles |
| Casters | Heal, Bane Chant, Hex | ~10 % of points |
| War Engines | Board control | Reliability vs unlock tax |
| Roadblocks | Stall one turn | Height 4 monsters, Troops |
2300-point Rule-of-Thumb: 3 hammers / 2 anvils / 4-5 scorers / 3-4 support / 2-3 chaff.
Meta Snapshot 2025 – Four Corner Archetypes
- Alpha-Strike – Varangur cav-spam, Basilean Elohi+Knights. Counter: layered chaff, LOS blocks, empty flanks.
- Gunline – Kingdoms of Men cannon spam, Elf Bolt Throwers + Gladestalkers. Counter: Stealthy/Def 6 screens, multiple fast threats, Height 4 flyers.
- Swarm – Goblin 20-drop rabble, Ratkin and Ratkin slaves. Counter: early shooting, high attack density, ignore non-scoring noise.
- Surge-Grind – Undead or EoD constructs. Counter: snipe Surge casters, pin Individuals, push the clock.
If your Kings of War list can’t answer all four, expect hard counters in Swiss pairings.
Mission-Driven Planning
| Mission Type | Must-Have Assets | Common Mistake |
| Loot / Plunder | Durable US 2-3 carriers + fast “clean-up” unit | Banking on fragile flyers |
| Dominate / Invade | Central anvil, flank speed, ≥24 US | Parking weak scorers just inside 12″ |
| Kill / Control | Volume damage + late-turn speed | Forgetting each quadrant scores separately |
| Raze / Push | Sp 10 or Surge tricks for early token grabs | Abandoning a flank → 2-0 swing |
Homework: lay your models on the table, flip each mission card, and point to the unit that wins it. Blank spots = fix list.
Faction Illustrations
Ogres – “Reliable Aggression”
Strengths: Sp 6-7 across the board, above-average Nerve, Brutal aura.
List Hook: 2 × Siege Breaker Regiments (anchors) + Warrior Horde (US 4) + Boomers (projection).
Common Trap: 500 pts of Warlocks & Shooters → slow, anemic gunline.
Elves – “Range First, Speed Later”
Strengths: Elite shooting backed by Sp 9-10 melee.
List Hook: Bolt Throwers and Gladestalkers set tempo; Seaguard wins attrition; Drakon Riders close.
Trap: Cav-heavy builds without board-control pieces.
Goblins – “Quantity Has a Quality”
Strengths: 20+ drops, cheap artillery.
List Hook: 4 Rabble Hordes anchor; Rock Throwers create the kill-box; Mincers finish.
Trap: Forgetting Rabble evaporate—plan board control, not attrition.
Self-Audit Checklist
- Roles Covered – label every unit; missing a category? adjust.
- Threat Benchmarks – one melee threat 18″+ on 3+, one ranged threat 24″+ on 4+.
- Scenario Viability – ≥24 US across nine scoring drops.
- Tarpit – one unit demands 3-4 turns to break.
- Inspiring Network – overlapping bubbles; no dead zones.
- Redundancy – losing any single unit still leaves ≥18 US.
- Answer Sheet – Def 6? CS 2 + Bane Chant. Regen walls? double-charge or ranged spikes. Flyers? Height 3 screens, LB spam, or longer-reach flyers.
- Clock Discipline – Surge and shooting sequences practiced to speed.
Print it, check boxes, iterate.
Key Takeaways
A top-table Kings of War army list balances threat projection, scenario scoring, durability, chaff trading, and synergy. Cover every battlefield role, prepare counters for alpha-strikes, gunlines, swarms, and surge-grind armies, and map each mission to specific units. Do that—and practice reps—and your competitive KoW list will convert tight games into trophies.
Additional Reading
- Beginner’s Guide: Balanced List Building – Dash28.org
- Kings of War: Constructing an Army List – Goonhammer
- List Builder Studio #675 with Luke Fraser
- List Builder Studio #686 with Jeff Schiltgen
- List Builder Studio #756 with Ray Shields
- List Builder Studio #758 with Daniel Wright
- List Builder Studio #760 with Marcelo Rouco
- KoW Tactics: Unit Class – Nick Williams
- 2024 UK Clash of Kings: The Largest Kings of War Tournament in the World – Data and Dice
- 2024 Australian Kings of War Masters: Faction Analysis, Meta Trends, and Top Lists Breakdown – Data and Dice
