Kingdoms of Men: The Captain

The Captain for Kingdoms of Men has caught the eye of many a player over the years, only to be unceremoniously dropped after testing. His stats weren't great and his special rule was hard to get good use out of, making him a huge, ineffectual points sink.

However, Clash of Kings 2019 has revamped the legendary guy. Is he worth taking now? Maybe? Let me walk you through my thinking over the last few months...


Previously, the Captain was in a weird place with stats, being mostly just an expensive Hero. The additional 100 points allowed him to Inspire and use his Master Tactician rule too, but overall, he just wasn't worth the 150 points cost. 

In Clash of Kings 2019, his stats are now that of a General Plus. Stat-wise, he is the best we get for our leadership. His 50 points over the typical general nets him 1 attack, Rallying 2 and the Master Tactician rule again. 

The combat upgrades are meh. Our characters can't really go toe-to-toe with much or for long, so I'm usually going to try to keep him out of combat. Rallying is a great include though, and is easy enough to use. 

Still, for half the cost you can get a similar (if lesser) effect with an ASB and the Banner of the Griffon. While 150 points isn't a huuuge ask for most lists, to justify including him, I think you will really need to get use out of Master Tactician. Which, unfortunately, is still hard to do.

For background, Master Tactician allows you to redeploy D3 of your (non-allied) units after normal deployment, but before any Vanguard moves are made. The deployment phase is very important for Kings of War, and not much lets you mess with it. On paper, this is a very potent rule. So why is it so hard for Kingdoms of Men players to get use out of?

First-up, the obvious. The rule hinges on a variable! Only D3 units can be redeployed. Deployment can be a huge part of the game, and redeployment is a potentially huge advantage, but it’s hard to plan around a variable. (I would have loved to have seen this changed to redeploying a number of units equal to the number of Inspiring sources you take, which would have made it easier to plan around and further emphasize the KoM leadership, an supposed strength of the army. Oh well.)

Second-up, army synergy. Kingdoms of Men units are generally quite cheap. This is epitomized in our Militia Troops, which are fabulously cheap, simple chaff. If the KoM want, I think they can generally out-deploy most opponents. If you can out-deploy, you generally don’t need to redeploy too.

Third-up, another army synergy point. I and others have argued that the KoM army really requires a concerted combined-arms approach, utilizing numerous different units to get the job done. While we do have some decent-hitters, even our best hammers still need supporting units to survive and do their jobs well. If everything we have needs a supporting unit or two, Master Tactician and redeployment becomes less desirable, due to the D3 limitation.

Forth-up, the ability is just hard to use. Deployment can be a mini-game all on its own, but rather than simply react and counter-deploy, good generals generally stick to some kind of plan of their own. Master Tactician is cool, but its value depends a lot on your opponent and what they do.


Given all the above, I'm still not sold on him for most lists. For the base stats, he's still expensive, and to justify running him, I think you need to have a plan for using Master Tactician.

Fortunately, Clash of Kings 2019 lets KoM run Giants and Colossal Giants. If your list has those, particularly the latter, then the Captain may very well be for you!


Giants, have pretty decent stats, as shown here. They've got alright Speed, good Defense, a pretty high Nerve... With Brutal and lots of Crushing Strength, things they connect with will generally feel it, even if their Melee score is only a 4+.

Overall, their stats can allow them to operate with a little more independence than a typical KoM unit. 

That independence gives them more synergy with the Captain. While they benefit from supporting units, they don't need dedicated screeners or chaff or partner anvils nearly as much, making redeployment of Giants way easier for you and way scarier for your opponent.

I just finished up two Colossal Giants myself, and am looking forward to seeing them in action. I'll see if I can add in a Captain as well and put some of this theorycrafting to use. Thanks for reading!