Slim Armybook: Kingdom of Equitaine 2023.3.0.0

Here is Beta 3 of the KoE book. Enjoy.

With colourcoding and strikethroughs.

Here comes the may 2023 Hotfix for KoE.

The KoE designer's notes are here:

Our approach with Beta2 involves dedicating more attention to perfecting the book rather than embarking on sweeping redesigns. Feedback from stakeholders suggests that the book is close to being release-ready, prompting us to utilize the extended summer public testing phase as a final assessment. We're also optimistic that the forthcoming testing period of Beta2 version will offer more balanced data, unlike Beta1 which was heavily influenced by characters riding Hippogryphs.
My explanation of price changes this time will include a more thorough exploration of the underlying factors, particularly for items where the rationale may not be immediately obvious. Any changes that were not specified were made based purely on data analysis and taking into consideration that currently KoE are is higher tier army. The Army netlist stood out as top-tier, as most players adopted the same entries. Our objective, as directed by the Lead Game Designer and Head of Pricing Team, was to hike up the costs of this netlist by about 100 points.
Daring
We've decided to get rid of the Daring Special Rule. While the rule had its appeal, it only affected 3 units, and we found that we could resolve these issues with standard Rulebook rules.
Ordo Minister
The complaint was it was over nerfed so we returned Raising Rank&File models for free. The Folk Hero Cleric option also needs more help as it almost completely vanished from lists.
Banner of Roland.
Pricing this item would pose a challenge in the future, especially for Core units, leading to a substantial price hike. The options were to either nerf Aegis 5+ or restrict the Banner to Special units only. Given that we already have a Special unit Banner, we went with the Aegis nerf. Not nerfing the Banner would have likely raised the price to 70 or more. It's worth mentioning that the present version was used in over 2/3 of the lists and was the most used Magic item choice.
Fey Steed mount
We reverted back to bonus Aegis working all the time. Mainly to give the mount a slight eliteness boost and to alleviate the pressure from Prayer Etched enchant being the only source of pure Aegis 4+.
Hippogryph mount
The Relentless Rule was removed. This rule gave the mount a feeling this is a tank mount. While we want this mount to be the offensive one due to being the only one bringing high-quality attacks. Fey Steed should be the tank mount.
Another thing, all Forbearance Principles were on Hippo mount, because it combos so well with being a good tank.
Since this mount is overly taken, 79 Hippos in 61 tournament lists we have in the dataset since Beta1 update, a slight nerf was welcomed too. If there would not be a design nerf to Hippo, its price could easily go above 235, which is something we don't want.
Equitan Lord
Bastard Sword and Lance options as the only two currently being used 5 points up. This makes everything requiring Two Hand Weapons cheaper. The lower price of Panoply should also make this type of weapon more attractive.
There was discussion if any Knightly Principles need to change in roles, especially since we have 3 of them heaving the same role in helping a joined unit grind (Justice, Generosity, and Faith), but was no consensus.
Paladin
Here we kept Bastard Sword and Lance cost the same as base price of Paladin was made 5 points cheaper. Again goal was making stuff that requires two hands a bit cheaper. Then another 10 points were transferred from Paladin to Sainted, this was driven by data.
Folk Hero
Here the base price drop is mostly tied to internal balance, where on-foot Minstrel should cost closer to on-foot Damsel Apprentice. The price was offset by increasing the price of most playable mounts.
Core
We are happy with Feudal Knights. They come in all shapes and sizes and Feudal Knights represent 80% of points players use for their Core section. No one is playing more than minimum Core so no price increases are needed.
Non-Feudal Knights choices are still less attractive. Ordo Saergents should get a boost with free R&F raising and the least-picked Core unit, Lowbown Archers, got cheaper.
Men-At-Arms
It is nice to finally see some action from them. In the data all the variants are played, but only in max or close to max unit sizes. So some price was shifted from Base cost to Additional Models.
Knights Resplendent
Played enough, but only in sizes of 9 or more. So a price shift was done to promote smaller sizes more, while max sizes got a price increase.
Knights of the Quest
Still, the most popular Knight unit (by a very small margin!), but not so much played in small unit sizes, so the price was shifted a bit.
Knight Penitent
Popular too, but only in small unit sizes. Removal of Daring was offset by giving them Fearless. This is a good buff for something that is Stubborn (helps in Break tests against Fear) and in combination with the majority of players playing minimum sizes of Knights Penitent, the base price was increased while price of additional model stays the same.
Overall the trifecta of Resplendent/Quests/Penitents are all played equally, so internal balance between them is roughly okay. This is why all of them got a slight price increase due to army being higher tier.
Hedge Knights
With the removal of Daring they got Minimized (Panic test), so it is the same as before but they can now Flee! Together with a price decrease on them, and the price increase on other cavalry, this could very well bring them back on the field.
Enlisted Outlaws
This was the only bigger redesign this time around. This unit now starts as Enlisted Outlaws and upgrades to Hooded Men. Daring was completely removed. Hooded Men now count in Shooting Cap for Core Archers. Crossbow got aim lowered to 4+ and the 0-1 limit was removed. Crossbow was still by far the most popular pick, without lowering of Aim on Crossbow the price of Crossbow could easily become 6 points per model or more, which would become absurd in the relative price of the model. Additionally, this army shouldn't be the one that has such good Turn1 alpha strike potential like it has with 3+ Crossbows with Scout.
The longbow option also got Quick to Fire to be more attractive, these are, after all, Robin Hood's man.
Pegasus Knights
We asked ACS if the community would rather have them as is, or better armor but lower HP to 2. Unanimously the second option was more liked, so here they are. A unit of 5 of them with ARM5 HP2 is slightly worse than the current ARM4 HP3 ones in a unit of 5; they are much better against AP0, almost the same against AP1, and worse against everything with higher AP. But, we increased the unit size to 6. Basically, these are the old slim Army Book Pegasus Knights.
Friar's Lantern
There was extended discussion if we just change it to Fey chaff, but decided to give it one last chance at a big price decrease. Since the AB is in Beta, we will not remove this unit from the book. That can happen during Alpha, but not in Beta.
Courtier
Flying version is very popular, hence the price increase. By data, he is in every second KoE list and part of the top tier netlist.
For the spellcaster/adept version, we were told to streamline with other similar units in the game, as in giving him access to 4 spells. So we chose two Druidism and two Witchcraft spells. Overall this should probably be a stronger model now so we need to monitor. Conceptually, Courtier should be around 450 points, we don't want him close to 500 or above.
Fey Knight
Just a slight internal point change. Due to other options getting pricier, they could become more attractive again. If that is needed at all since Fey Knights are already present in more than one-third of lists.

2023 Beta 1 Hotfix 1

• Black Knight’s Tabard: + One use only
  
• Ordo Sergeants: 30 ↘ 20
  
• Heraldic Steed: Harnessed moved out of Devastating Charge
  
• Honour, Relentless, Sacred Relic: wording streamlined
  

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2ed_KOE_2023_beta1_EN

T9A-FB_2ed_KOE_2022_alpha4_hotfix1_EN

Alpha4

Alpha 3 HF1