Kings of War/Tactics/Northern Alliance

A faction made from an alliance of the northern tribes of Dwarves, Elves, Naiads and Humans (including from Kingdoms of Men, Brotherhood and Varangur), formed during the Edge of the Abyss to fight the onslaught of the Forces of the Abyss.

Why Play Northern Alliance

Because you want to play what is effectively an entire army of good guy vikings, Ice Elf Waifus, Ice Naiads, Snow Trolls (Yes you can field Snow Trolls, they even have their own Hero Unit), Ice elementals, etc. If that's your thing, these guys are for you. There is also a Hero unit named the Ice Queen, and since [Kings of War] is a model agnostic game, you have the perfect excuse to have Elsa lead an army of Vikings Ice Elves, Half-elves, and Ice Naiads (Brigade games has a nice Frostgrave miniature that can be used for such a purpose).

Army Rules

Snowfox: The unit has +1 Attack, only one a few heroes.

Wild Charge is pretty common on your infantry, which means your units project a slightly larger threat than expected. Most of your heroes have Very Inspiring instead of Inspiring so you can deploy a little more spread out.

There is the "Frostbound" keyword which a few units have for support from your Ice Queen heroes. Its not entirely feasible to go deep on this synergy but makes for a themed army of snow witches and their minions. If you find you're taking several Frostbound units, consider an Ice Queen and deploying them as a group.

Heroes

Named Heroes

• Serakina, the Ice Queen: Not quite the deluxe version of the Ice Queen, Serakina only packs Surge (8), Wind Blast (6) and +1/+1 nerve. But what makes her standout apart from being 5 points less than an Ice Queen with the same but no Icy Breath, is Radiance of Life (Frostbound only) meaning she will make those Ice Elementals, Frost Giants, and Ice Naiads hold a lot better. Also helps generic Ice-Queens with her abilities, but honestly you should not need to be healing Ice-Queens. Overall not the best pick for a hero unless you build around her support for Frostbound units.

• Hrimm, Legendary Frost Giant: A 30 point upgrade on your giant, worth taking every time; makes your Ice Giant into a big Very Inspiring hero with -/20 Nerve and Icy Breath (12). This is combined with the standard Ice Giant's CS (4), Brutal, Slayer (Melee -D6), Strider and Defence 5+. Basically you have no reason to take a Giant without upgrading to big daddy Hrimm, and big daddy Hrimm, while your second most pricey Hero, is a damn strong pick. He's not the bar all your other hero picks should be compared to, but he's certainly the bar all your combat heroes should be compared to.

• Orlaf the Barbarian: Not a hugely attractive option, works for buffing human clansmen in the special formation, but can use his once-a-game ability to swing 12 attacks on target.

• Clarion: Basically acts as a Skald thats competitive with the other heroes in the 105-130 point bracket instead of being too cheap to merit the stats/abilities to compete like the regular Skald. Probably the 3rd most fielded named character.

Generic Heroes

• Ice-kin Master hunter: You get her in the Shadows of the North starter set for your Northern Alliance army, coming at 115 points her main shtick is being sneaky; having the Pathfinder, Scout, and Stealthy traits along with Elite (because she's an elf) and individual (what did you expect to see in this list?). She is generally a stronger version of the regular Ice-kin hunter stat-wise. Good for hiding in wooded areas with your fellow pathfinders and moving around obstacles with no problem.

• Ice Queen: Basically the Mantic equivalent to Kislev's Ice Witches. Cheaper than the Master hunter above, coming at 80 points. Comes with a Defense 4 which in Melee becomes a 5 with Ensnare's effect on enemy melee, the usual bonuses to being an individual unit, but only gives inspiring to Frostbound units, luckily the Very Inspiring trait doesn't seem to be affected by this limitation. She also has the Master of Ice trait which allows her to reroll 1's on spells targeting friendly Frostbound units or Frozen enemy units. Her starting spell is Icy Breath(10), so you can say she'll "blow" you away (NO! NOT LIKE THAT!), the effect of the spell is and I quote "Roll to damage as normal. If 1+ damage is dealt, the target Enemy unit is now Frozen. (KoW3 p54)" so it's your basic ice attack with a range of 10 inches. For extra spells, you get Bane Chant for +20 points (like every spell caster apparently), Blizzard for +30 points (an indirect spell with a 30 inch range and Piercing 1 that lets you roll a D3 for every successful hit landed), Heal for 35 points (making her your main healer), Wind Blast for 25 points (I already made the blow you away joke), and you can either pair Icy Breath with Surge or replace it with Surge.

TLDR: She seems like a cheap choice for a healer, especially if you field Frostbound in your army with the Master of Ice trait.

• Lord: Your standard combat hero character, having CS(2) makes them hit a little harder. You can mount them on a horse which drops WC(1) for Speed 8, but honestly lets cut to the chase: This isn't going to be your beatstick hero, you should be taking them for the 10pt upgrade that gives them an Aura of Wild Charge (+1, Infantry & Heavy Infantry only) which stacks with existing WC on those units, your next choice is what support item to stick on them, think of these guys are punchy Standard Bearers. If you want a beatstick, take Hrimm, if you want a wizard, take an Ice Queen, you want to support some infantry blocks take a foot/horse Lord with Horn of Winter. That said, you can use one with Wings of Honeymaze to hunt down squishy wizards and warmachine crews.

• Lord on Frostfang: Now this is someone who's out to clap some cheeks. Crushing Strength (3), 3+ Melee and 8 attacks is the basics for a beatstick. The catch here is that a Frostfang Lord lacks Individual, so they can flank units and slap hard, but they can also get flanked themselves. Now for the Hrimm test; for 70 points less than big icy daddy you get a hero who has a slightly larger threat radius, less CS & Nerve, but better Melee and Artefact options. We take the Frostfang Lord as either mobile support to a Frostfang unit hitting flanks, or as a hunter-killer missile trying to get behind screens to hit missile units or war machines. Sending

• Lord on Chimera: Mobile, deadly, pricy. The Lord on Chimera is the most expensive unit in Northern Alliance, its a fast hammer with CS3, Fly, Icy Breath (10), Nimble, Very Inspiring and Elite(Melee). Stats are great, better than the Frostfang Lord, which they should be for being just shy of 3 times the price. But here comes the real question: Why pick a Chimera Lord over Hrimm who costs 50pts less and has CS4? The answer is simple, the Lord on Chimera is better than Hrimm if you're being aggressive and using his mobility to pick off priority targets and swing deciding fights in your favour. You can sink more points for artefacts to really pimp out this hero, and you should. You need to be abusing Fly and Speed 10 to justify the pick over Hrimm. If you're playing defensive and holding back with a 310+artefact point Chimera Lord, you're objectively playing worse than just slapping a 260 point Hrimm behind your front line units and spending the spare 50 points elsewhere. Lord on Chimera is still good if you do play defensively, don't get me wrong this isn't a bad unit it is just that like every combat hero in this list, in the shadow of Hrimm, Ice Giant.

• Thegn: Hot. Fucking. Garbage. You will only ever see this hero, if you ever see someone field this hero, with the Talanaar's Standard upgrade that gives it Rally (1) and even still a Lord built as a support buffer is higher priority pick. If we rounded up the points and say fielded six of these as one unlocked slot against a single Hrimm, it would still be big icy daddy winning that match-up. Avoid taking without the Rally upgrade, and mock anyone who takes him as anything other than a Rally aura caddy. If you're taking artefacts on this guy, its because you're trying to buff another unit in his range, eg wings of honeymaze for the mobility to support Frostfangs etc.

• Thegn on Frostfang: Actually not the waste of space as the foot version. For 65 points less than the Lord on Frostfang you go down to regular Inspiring, 3 less attacks, -2/-2 Nerve and only CS2. Has a role in a Frostfang heavy list where you want to have cheaper heroes to support or hunt down exposed units. Running two Frostfang Lords in such a list would be pricey, but 1 Lord and 1 Thegn, or 2 Thegns gives you some flexibility on the points budgeting for your whole list. Not a first pick hero, but cheap enough to throw-in and do something.

• Snow Troll Prime: Thanks to its pricing, very much comparable to a foot Lord, the Prime trades Very Inspiring for Inspiring, Regeneration (5+), Speed 6 and Vicious (Melee). It does lack Individual being a Monstrous Infantry model, as well as some customization options, but this means he does heavy damage in the flanks. The Prime is better for flanking support for an anvil than a regular Lord.

• Skald: Nominally the standard version of a dedicated Standard Bearer, the Skald costs half of a foot Lord and brings some throwing axes for range harass. The downside is that the Skald will fucking die if charged and paying twice his cost for a Very Inspiring character that will clap back, the skald is only going to be seen at low point level armies, in the 1,000 or less category. The Skald's weakness is that its bringing only a bubble of Inspiring, some very light range harass to the table for 50 points, in an army where at roughly 100-130 points you can get either the same bubble or the better version, plus decent utility in another field and also be reasonably resilient to targeted attacks. I like the idea of these warrior-poets following the army, but I can't justify taking one really. If you really want to take one, take Clarion instead, despite the cost increase he suddenly becomes more usable for the points.

• Ice Blade: Squishy melee duelist assassin type of hero. Relies on speed 6 plus Wild Charge (D3) to get into position, and Duelist and CS(1) to threaten targets with her 6 attacks. Good at picking off necromancers and other squishy surge casters. You don't ram this hero into the flanks of an enemy unit to break tarpits, you use her to murder supports.

Infantry

• Human Clansmen: Has Wild Charge 1, Crushing Strength 1 on a 4+ Melee. You can leave them as sword'n'board for 4+ saves, or give them two-handed weapons to go to 3+ Def but Crushing Strength 2. Also one unit can be upgraded to Norj-Bik Clansmen with Def 5+ for +10/+15/+25 but cannot take two-handed weapons. All-in-all a very average unit, could be made into a budget can-opener but you probably should rely on the more expensive units for that role.

• Dwarf Clansmen: The cheapest unlocks in faction, these guys have a nice 5+ Def for being an anvil, but weirdly Wild Charge (1) too... Not much to say as they don't have any upgrades or any synergy support. Come on Mantic, give us some kind of Dwarf Smith hero.

• Elf Clansmen: Cheapest ranged infantry, they Move 6", 4+ rng, 24" range, good Nerve and Elite (ranged). The downside is Mel 5+, Def 3+ and no Wild Charge, which isn't useful for shooters but just worth noting they're one of the few units that don't have it.

• Ice Naiads: Similar to your human clansmen in terms of stats and having Wild Charge 1, but they pack some abilities (Ensnare and Regeneration 5+) and interactions (the Frostbound keyword), gives them a bunch of defensive utility over H-Clansmen. Taking Naiads means you should be building around their synergy with Frost Queens to create tarpits rather than expect any kind of damage output.

• Half-Elf Berserkers: Just like all berserkers, glass-cannons using thunderous charge (1) and wild charge (D3) to hit in the flanks. Lacking CS means they might need bane-chant support to crack heavier infantry, as they rely on their volume of attacks.

• Pack Hunters: Human sneaky snipers with Pathfinder, Thunderous Charge 1, Scout & Stealth. Did you guess Wild Charge 1? Because they have that too... These are your moderately priced sneaky skirmishers compared to the elite Elves. Careful how you use them as they will die to stiff breeze.

• Ice Kin Hunters: Elven sneaky snipers, Pathfinder, Scout, Elite, but no stealth. These are the more elite skirmishers with 3+ Melee and... 4+ Rng..? Like regular elves, no wild charge. Again, careful how you use them as they will die to stiff breeze.

• Huscarls: Your "elite" heavy infantry, Crushing Strength 2, Fury, and of course Wild Charge 1. These guys are your can-openers, your big-boys, use them to clap cheeks and take names.

Monstrous Infantry

• Snow Trolls: The tankier of the two big infantry choices, has Regen (5+), CS (2), Vicious (Melee) and Wild Charge (1). They do suffer from the typical "Troll Nerve" issue where that extra point of difference between their nerve values means they will spend more time wavered.

• Ice Elementals: Pretty standard big shambling elementals, CS1, Frostbite, Shambling and Ice Shards range attack (10", Piercing (1), Steady Aim) for when you're unable to wholly close the distance. Frostbound keyword and shambling means they NEED Ice Queen support. Shines with the Double Whammy Surge combo; don't Charge in the movement phase advance instead, shoot their Ice Shards at a target, then Surge them into melee with their target. Easy 18/36 attacks in one turn for your Ice Elementals unit.

Swarms

• Snow Foxes:* Irregular chaff units, move 8, nimble, stealthy, vicious (melee) and pathfinder means you can get them anywhere to block charge lanes and possibly do a tinsy bit of damage. Just be aware, they're Def is 2+ and nerve 9/11, so you're paying 80 points to block a flank charge for a turn. Think of them as an 80 point upgrade for unit that denies say those berserker brock riders a flank charge. Could possibly tarpit troop sized archer units with bad melee, but anything regiment sized or with at least melee 4+ will probably break them in one round. That said if they magically hold for two turns, they've earnt their value back and then some, while your opponent has spent way too long trying to clear them.

Cavalry

• Tundra Wolves*: Its a beginner's mistake to mix these up with Snow Foxes. Tundra Wolves can be used as expensive chaff, but what they bring is thunderous charge (1) and Melee 3+. The Snow Foxes exist to take hits for better units, the Tundra Wolves exist to prey on infantry Troop units or lone Standard Bearers. TC(1) means they can kill smaller chaff and skirmisher units, but their just below average nerve means you need them to win those fights with chaff. Also irregular so no unlocks at the Regiment level.

Monstrous Cavalry

• Frostfang Cavalry: Your real cavalry, your universal hammer unit, the big pricey hammer that deletes whatever it flanks. Move 7" means they're kind of slow compared to traditional cavalry, but they have Strider and Wild Charge 1 which means they're just 1" short on the charge. Packing CS2 and 5 attacks per model (15 at Regiment, 30 at Horde), and Defence 5+ makes these things mean. Their main downside is that they're only swinging on 4+ so focus on patching that with artefacts or flanking for more attacks. A secondary weakness is their nerve is average so a mobile Inspiration bubble (Lord on Horse/Frostfang, or Thegn on Frostfang) should be near if they're operating away from your frontlines. If you're being very reactive with them, they should be in range of the heroes supporting your infantry. Use Snow Foxes or Tundra Wolves for risky dives into the backline if you're not planning on a mobile hero to provide them morale support.

Monsters

• Cavern Dweller: 20 points less than the giant but less offence power with CS3, has Melee 3+ for more consistency. The Cavern Dweller can survive ok with Life-Leech (3) to hold out in protracted combat.

Titans

• Ice Giant: He's big, he slaps hard (CS4, Brutal and melee Slayer ), he's... not Hrimm. Unless you're playing with some ban on named heroes, take daddy Hrimm before one of these. That said still a decent choice for crushing things. Take one if you already have Hrimm, but otherwise you could do worse with your points.

Warmachines

• Ice Kin Bolt Thrower: Your one-and-only artillery piece. Ra 4+ and Elite (ranged) means you're looking at one of the more consistently hitting warmachines in the game.

Formations

• Orlaf's Raiders: 2x Human Clansmen Regiments (must swap sword & shield for two-handed weapons), 1x Orlaf the Barbarian. All units gain the Berserker keyword, the clansmen get Vicious (Melee), and Orlaf gets Inspiring and Aura (Slay (Melee - D3) - Berserker only).