A Veteran Wargamer’s Journey Into Kings Of War Part 6: First Tournament Preparation & Panic!

Zoidpinhead returns for the next instalment of his Kings of War army project and this week he explores the competition scene and some more in-depth player resources, as he builds towards entering his first Kings of War tournament with the massive Clash of Kings.

Follow The Entire Getting Started In Kings Of War Series

Will all of those plans survive contact with the enemy and what is all this panicking about?!

Organised Play

There is a well-established tournament scene across the world with events on a regular basis in the UK, North America, Europe and Australasia. The Mantic Companion carries a list of some of the larger ones, with local clubs and stores running many others. Perhaps there is something near you soon?

After finishing the last article, I submitted my army list for Clash of Kings. This is done via the Mantic Companion, a matter of a couple of clicks.

Attending Clash of Kings 2026

Clash takes place in Nottingham in early September. There is a website for the curious [editor: the organiser and some friends will also be livestreaming the top table throughout the weekend so you can join me in the chat looking for Zoidpinhead].

Clash Of Kings Livestream // Death By Dragons

The organisers send out a newsletter via email about once a month with useful information and reminders of deadlines. I did contact them asking if they had any advice for a newbie, and Steve was very helpful and reassuringly said they were used to having new players there. I’m travelling a long way and needed accommodation. They negotiated a deal with a local hotel, which is worth doing if you just need the Saturday night. I was able to get my accommodation a little cheaper at a no-frills chain, as I am going up for the Mantic Games mini open day on the Friday before and needed an extra night. I’ve seen the full Mantic Open Day coverage and am keen to get a tour. For those not at Clash, the next Open Day is coming soon:

Mantic Open Day 2026

Essential reading for any tournament is the Event Pack. This is a document with all the information a player needs, featuring useful links and the schedules for the day(s). It gives expectations for your army, the equipment needed and the table set-up and the rules in play. They also set out how games will be scored and how issues will be resolved by the TO (Tournament Organiser).

In the final email from the Clash of Kings organisers, they gave out the draw for the first round games. I’m up against Ratkin. It’s a horde-heavy build with Mother Cryza, wretches and shock troops as well as four war engines. 39 Unit Strength is going to take some working through, and there is a Brood Mother with Eat the Weak that will make that even harder.

Solo Practice

I’ve played most evenings with the Ogres against the Abyssal Dwarfs. I’ve tried a range of different deployments and tactics. The Ogres are pretty flexible and cope with changes quite well. The Abyssal Dwarfs don’t, and it seems they are best deployed exactly as designed. Although a few games were close, the Dwarfs generally carried the day. The Ogres could get pressure in one part of the line or defeat a flank, but the Dwarfs always won on the opposite side and then had the numbers to win.

Safe Army Transport

I’d not really given much thought to safely moving an entire army around for many years. My friends and I tend to play in one another’s homes and generally use the host’s collection. If we do bring minis, it is often just a skirmish force, and I usually travel with those in the Really Useful Box they are stored in.

Now I need to securely move my Kings of War army across the country, so I’m going to need a better solution than a storage box. I have an old Citadel Carry Case with foam inserts, but that’s no good. They were designed to carry individually based miniatures and don’t have enough space for the multi-based Abyssal Dwarfs.

Having done some research, I happened on a range of army bags by Green Stuff World (GSW) that have removable magnetised shelf trays. That should work well. I looked at both the Medium and Large sizes and bought both. Medium has four shelves with a height of 60mm. Large has a backpack option and also has four shelves with 90mm height.

I built the internals of each case with a bit of PVA in the joints to keep everything stable. Instructions are provided, and it took less than an hour. I fitted, but didn’t glue, the tray runners so I could change the heights if needed. I laid out the army on the trays and measured my tallest miniature on each tray. This combined height was taller than the Medium, so I knew I’d need the Large for this army. The tallest miniature was the Greater Obsidian Golem, which is 120mm tall. I therefore needed to change the heights of the trays to suit, easily done as mine weren’t glued in.

I adjusted the tray heights and checked that everything fitted. Next I started to fit the magnetic self-adhesive sheets. GSW supplies these for the trays but none for your minis. There are two grades of magnetic strength available, and from testing them, it looks like GSW used Standard rather than High grip. I ordered a set of ten High strength A4 sheets from Amazon.  This size is bigger than the tray footprint, so I’ll have plenty spare. In total, the project only needs eight sheets. To help with the round-based tokens, I added a set of hole punches with a 25mm round to the order.

When fitting the sheets, I noticed that the magnetic attraction is strongest in a specific direction. This meant I had to pay attention to which way I was cutting out from the sheet for the miniature bases to make sure it matched the direction it would be placed on the tray. [editor: I made the same mistake when I first used magnetic sheeting; instead of two magnetic sheets, use one metal and one magnetic to avoid this and give a better pull.] I punched out the round bases from offcuts. You can buy these on pre-punched sheets from GSW and Warmag if you like, but hammering on your own punch is much more fun. Once the magnets are fitted, everything goes into the case (see above).

Podcast Review

Now I’m feeling a bit more comfortable with the language used by the Kings of War community; I’m ready for some longer-format content. Podcasts are great, and I often have them on in the background when I’m hobbying. I’m sure our esteemed editor knows plenty more, but the ones I’ve found helpful are:

• Bane Chat – A relatively new podcast from UK players Tom, Ged and Glen, who is Mantic’s studio painter ‘Gonders’. Some interesting takes on army development and the UK tournament scene.
• Counter Charge – One of the longest-running Kings podcasts based in the US and covers the competitive scene there thoroughly, particularly the recent Masters. Some excellent interviews, including a recent one with Sean Jones, the new US Masters champion, on list building in 4th Edition.
• Tales from the Warriors Hall – A very conversational chat between a couple of UK players about Kings and anything that takes their fancy.

Their latest episode featured a rundown of the list stats at Clash. There will be 160 players, and the most popular armies are Orcs (16) and Forces of Nature (12). The least popular (no, not Halflings, Gerry) [editor: I didn't say they aren't popular; I just said they're not any good!] are Abyssal Dwarfs (only 3 players, including me), and Basileans are the lowest, which is a surprise, as they just got their book update.

Painting Ogres

I’ve settled on a painting scheme for the Ogres and have decided to go for some bright orange warpaint on the bodies and faces. I’ve finished the test model. My Berserker Bully, which is the excellent Conquest W’adrhun Aberration miniature...

I was trying to get them finished before submitting this article, but I had a bit of a panic!

Last Minute Panic

Happily listening to a podcast whilst painting, I had a last-minute panic. Apparently, a thing to do in the tournament scene is to have a display board for your army. Had I missed something? The Clash tournament pack mentioned using a tray to transport the army between tables, but nothing about a full-on display board. I’ve seen plenty of tournament armies as I go to quite a few wargames shows every year, and I don’t recall ever seeing one on a display board. It seems to be something that has come in from the Warhammer and 40,000 tournament scene. I’m aware of display boards for skirmish and small army collections shown online, but nothing for a big rank-and-file army like this.

The podcast that was responsible was Bane Chat – Making a Display Board, and they recommended listening to Counter Charge 781 – Portraits of Pannithor. This was an intimidating listen, as in the US they often have to build theirs into a suitcase or two as they fly them to the big tournaments. Painting and display are worth tournament points there, sometimes up to a third, so that level of effort is justified.

No tournament points at Clash for painting, but there are plenty of prizes to go with the £10 voucher for having an all-Mantic army. I checked out a quick video showing a review of some of last year’s Clash armies:

Lazy Pirate Paintings Tournament Showcase

Most didn’t have a display board. A few had the basic framed, single-level type, and then there were the fancier ones with a painted backdrop and/or multiple levels. Some of them are huge, several feet high. Presumably, they break down into sections for transport. They are impressive. I spotted the Ratkin one with the LEDs and smoke machine that one of the Bane Chat gents did. It’s amazing; check it out at 8:12. I’ve only got a few days, but I should be able to manage something simple.

Making A Display Board

The Counter Charge guys recommended starting with a framed board 18” x 24”. I looked around the house and found a wooden tea tray that is about that size. Next I laid out the army on it to see if it fitted. It seems to, and after a bit of tinkering with some leftover scenery items, I’d got a basic layout sorted:

As you can see, I’ve inverted the tray to give the edge the look of a frame. I used two slightly different basing mixes, so I needed to group the Abyssal Dwarf figures on one side and the Ratkin and Orc Slaves on the other. I’ve divided the board with Terrain Crate mine cart rail track, and Golekh is in the middle of that. The board needs to focus attention on him, as he’s the star. Not only the eponymous army general but also the miniature that has the most time spent on it with the conversion and extra painting effort. The track helps draw the eye back to him, delineates the divide between Dwarfs and Slaves and sets the scene at the stolen mine.

One technique described in the podcasts is to inset the unit bases into the board’s top layer so they lie flush and make the ground look seamless. I can have a go at that. I’ve only got a week left, so I’m in a rush. Onto Amazon for 3mm foam pads. They are self-adhesive, and I’ll line the base of the tray and then cut the base inserts out of a second layer that goes over them. Between these layers, I’ll put the GSW magnetic sheets that I didn’t use in the carry bag. The bases should fit snugly into the cutouts, and the magnets will ensure the units are more stable and won’t fall off if bumped into when moving between tables.

The base layer was cut to size and stuck down. The magnetic sheets were stuck down over that. Then the top layer pieces had the base cutouts traced onto them and then were cut out and stuck onto the magnetic sheets. A bit of testing and trimming, and we have this:

Finally, the top layer was covered with PVA and the rail track and other painted scenery bits were stuck down, and the scatter was applied. The Abyssal base mix is to the left of the railway, and the Slave mix is to the right. The edge of the tray makes a good wide frame, and I’ve put a label on it so folks know what they are looking at. Done. Phew!

Next time…

I brave the white-knuckle ride that is my first Kings of War tournament. Will I regret picking the biggest tournament in the world as my first experience? I’m also at the Mantic HQ pre-Clash activity day.

Article by zoidpinhead