Backers! Mr. Black here with another fun Friday filled with some Wrath of Kings spoilers!

I have three to bring you today. You know the drill, so let’s get right down to it:

So what are “Mercenaries”? Well they’re the models that are not aligned with any one nation, and will fight for whichever side pays them- basically they’re a super cool Character anyone can field.

Currently we have three of them:

Ironeyes, the main focal point of the first Wrath of Kings novel! This deadly lady is an assassin extreme, reflecting in her rules by her Backstab, Precision(3), and From the Shadows abilities. Of course she is nimble as well, and reflects this via the use of Hit and Run… And of course she is “Ironeyes” after all, so what sense would it be if she couldn’t stare-down any threat that approached her? To show this we’ve also given herStrong Will.

It’s important to note that Ironeyes is not a butcher’s cleaver, no no. You’ll need to treat her more like a surgeon’s scalpel to use her effectively- Wait for your forced to get into position, secure the kill of an enemy model, and let Ironeyes pop out (hopefully to later activate and then go kill an enemy Leader or other high-priority target). She’s nice, but she’s also expensive, being a Rank 2 Specialist- Don’t rush her into combats, least you know she can secure the kill and get out, otherwise you’ll be wasting the gifts of this nasty assassin!

Next up…

Dame Allison, the Twilight Knight

Our cross-over miniature from the guys over at Kingdom Death (specifically Monster), we see that Dame Allison doesn’t much care for the big scary guys- Suppose that’s to be expected, she is from the world of Monster, after all, where all the terrifying creatures of nightmare not only exist, but regularly hunt the remnants of mankind.

Few can stand against such horrors, but Dame Allison was one of them, and now, shipwrecked and stranded in Arikania, she has put her skills to good use via monster-hunting. Her weapon, the legendary Quicksilver Blade, focuses her fury and grants her additional attack dice against models that are larger than her. Couple this with her unique Slayer of Monsters ability and we have a Rank 2 Specialist that seems to exist to… Well hunt Rank 2 Specialists (namely the Monsters of the various armies).

The last item in her armory is the unique Armor of Twilight, another gift from her homeland across the sea. Using this legendary shroud Dame Allison is able to nimbly dodge most incoming attacks- so well, in fact, that any Dodge result against her allows her to perform a free Sprint Action, ignoring disengage penalties along the way, thus keeping her mobile.

Remember her specialty and don’t waste her against the normal rank-and-file troops of the enemy- this girl was made to kill the stuff that instills fear into others, that’s where she thrives, and that’s where she should be!

Last, but certainly not least… A special surprise…

 So we told you up front that The Ancient King would not have any rules, but you’d get a card for him anyway… And I was happy to keep it like that. I mean, we’re talking about the being who shaped the world into the state it is today… Single-handedly.

But you guys requested it, kept asking for us to stat him out… I said over and over it was a bad idea, but alas, I’ll always try to give you guys what you want!

So, let’s take a look at the non-sense that is the Ancient King’s stats.

First, he has no Strike results and no Over results, because you can’t touch the Ancient King.

Next, he has Resilience: 20… If you were to somehow penetrate that then he still has 20 Wounds.

Movement 10, because he is very spry.

Willpower 20, because you really think your head-games are going to effect the Ancient King? Seriously?

Looking at his attacks, he has two forms of “I’m Better Than You”, the first being his melee attack, Strike of the True King. It kills a wave of guys instantly… Because again, this is the guy who single-handedly shaped the world to his will. His next attack is Wrath of the True King, because he shouldn’t be forced to engage you in melee to outright kill you.

Next, let’s check out his abilities:

Awe of the True King makes it so no enemy can actually target him with an attack or ability, because they know immediately that it’s a complete waste of their time and power. And even if they did attack him (Those poor fools…) then you really think it would have an effect? This is the TRUE KING OF ARIKANIA we’re talking about!

Ironically, that’s also the name of his last ability- it causes each opponent to lose 20 morale a turn- because I want you to imagine you’re an army commander, standing in front of your troops… You look across the battle-lines at the enemy and see, oh snap, it’s the Ancient King himself standing there… Well, pack everything up and go home, we ain’t winning this war today! Nope, nope, nope!

Of course, to field the Ancient King all you have to do is pay his cost of being a Rank 20 Specialist. 

… If you guys haven’t figured it out yet, we don’t intend for you to actually field this guy in games

Well, that’s our update for this week, dear backers!

Join is next time when we’ll be showing off one of the remaining Third Infantry Types!

… Hmm, I don’t know if I’d rather show some Goritsi Ravenscar fun, or the lovely Shael Han ladies of the Iron Lotus School… Which would you guys prefer?

-Mr. Black