UK Clash of Kings 2026: What to Watch in the Released Lists

The lists are out for the 2026 UK Clash of Kings, and I was able to parse 160 competitor lists. That gives us a pretty good look at the field before anyone rolls a die. I am less interested in trying to predict the winner from an army list. There is far too much player skill, matchup variance, scenario play, and general Kings of War nonsense involved for that. The real question is much simpler: what does a massive room of 160 competitive lists tell us about how people are actually playing Fourth Edition?

There are 160 armies across 26 factions, totaling 2,236 units. Full list report here:

The field at a glance

Northern Alliance leads at 16 players (10.0%), followed by Orcs at 15 (9.4%), Twilight Kin at 11 (6.9%), and Forces of the Abyss at 10 (6.3%). At the other end, Salamanders, Trident Realm, and Free Dwarfs brought two players each; Forces of Basilea brought one; and Varangur brought zero.

When 160 wargamers write lists for the same event, the combined data shows what the community thinks is top-tier, what’s fun to play, and what people actually have painted on their shelves. But popularity doesn’t mean everyone is copying the exact same list.

Three ways to build Northern Alliance

Northern Alliance is the most played faction, and looking across all 16 lists shows three distinct archetypes. All of them share a few common pieces (Ice Naiad regiments show up in 14 of 16 lists, and Frostclaw Riders appear in 11), but how players surround that core varies considerably:

The Combined Arms Core: Nine players built balanced forces around Ice Naiad regiments and Clansmen hordes, supported by Frostclaw Rider troops for harassment and Ice Queens for Surge/Bane Chant support. These lists average 14.1 units and 27.2 Unit Strength. They aren’t trying to blow anyone off the board in one turn; they are playing the scenario grind.

The Heavy Hammer: Four players went heavier, pairing Ice-Blade hordes with Lord on Chimera or Lord on Frostfang Snow Beast. These lists drop to 12.5 units on average but push their calculated damage threat higher. They are gambling that the extra punching power offsets the lower Unit Strength.

The Wide Field: Three players went wide: 16+ units, multiple Pack Hunter regiments, Snow Fox troops, and minimal heavy investment. One list hits 31 Unit Strength. That is a lot of scoring footprints for an opponent to remove in six turns.

Seeing which of those three builds actually survives the meat grinder in Nottingham is going to be a blast to watch.

Orcs: High damage, but what about the scenario?

The 15 Orc lists average the highest calculated damage of any faction with five or more players, at 71.8. Greatax hordes appear in 12 of the 15 lists, and Gore Rider regiments appear in 10. These armies hit extraordinarily hard.

The question mark is Unit Strength. The Orc field averages 24.1 Unit Strength, which sits near the bottom third of the tournament. Only one Orc player brought more than 27 US. In scenarios with multiple objective tokens or Loot counters, that lower footprint could be a vulnerability, especially against armies designed to trade pieces.

Shooting in 4th Edition: The field has opinions

Across the entire field, 41% of units carry some form of ranged attack (including spells). That is consistent with what we saw at US Masters earlier this summer. But the distribution is heavily skewed. Six factions account for more than half of all shooting units in the room:

Pure gun lines are basically dead—only seven out of 160 lists went all-in on shooting. Instead, almost everyone is running combined arms: punchy melee blocks backed by 3 to 5 shooters to clear chaff, hunt Inspiring characters, and force the other guy to come to you.

Items to watch

Sir Jesse’s Boots of Striding is the most taken magic item in the tournament by a wide margin, appearing in 68 of 160 lists (42.5%). Brew of Strength is second at 41, and Brew of Sharpness is third at 33. Getting jammed in terrain is still the easiest way to lose a game of Kings of War, and nearly half the field is gladly paying the item tax so their star hammer doesn’t get hindered.

Post-event questions

• Does Northern Alliance convert its 10% representation into a top-table finish?
• Can the Orcs overcome their lower Unit Strength in scenario play?
• How do the few low-representation factions (Basilea, Salamanders, Trident Realm) fare against the meta favorites?

I’ll be running the full post-tournament analysis once results are in next week. Good luck to everyone rolling dice in Nottingham!