For those that do not frequent Facebook here’s the release from the US Masters Council regarding which edition they will use for the 2020 US Masters.
As most are already aware, Mantic Games has announced that Kings of War 3rd Edition will begin shipping October 21st with the Armies of Pannithor (the expansion with the armies not in the main rulebook) to be released six weeks later.
This publishing schedule created a (hopefully) unique situation for the U.S. Masters Council - namely whether to use 3rd Edition Kings of War for the 2020 U.S. Masters, or to keep using Clash of Kings 2019. Both sides of the dilemma have their merits.
Using Clash of Kings 2019 for Masters would allow players accepting an invitation from their region to use the armies with which they qualified for the event. However, this would also create a situation where a large number of very active members of the community are either ignoring 3rd Edition entirely for five months, or are using the new rules to engage with the wider community and show up to Masters rusty under the “old” rules.
Alternatively, using the 3rd Edition rules allows masters players to fully engage with the future of Kings of War and drive participation in their home regions. However, using 3rd Edition would create a compacted timeframe for players to develop their armies under the new rules, and is heavily reliant on Mantic meeting its publication schedule.
After a long deliberation of the merits of both sides (including many points not included above), significant input from every region, the U.S. Masters Council voted to employ 3rd Edition Kings of War for the U.S. Masters 2020. We’re aware that this won’t please everyone, but we’re doing what we feel is best for both the US Masters and for Kings of War as a whole. We hope that all players invited to the 2020 Masters recognize this as a continued opportunity to develop and spread the game that we collectively love.
One important caveat. In the unlikely event that the publication schedule of 3rd Edition slips, and the Main Rulebook and Armies of Pannithor are not released by January 1, 2020, the U.S. Masters Council reserves the right to re-evaluate this decision. The last thing we want is for players to be scrambling with only a handful of weeks to prepare new armies under an entirely separate ruleset. We do, however, have full confidence that Mantic will meet and exceed our expectations.
We are incredibly excited about the future of the Kings of War community that we have the privilege to be a part of. The North East group has organized a fantastic event for us Feb 22-23rd in an amazing casino resort in Nichols, NY. They’ll have 6000 sq/ft of gaming space allowing us for the first time ever to run a side event in conjunction with the main Masters event. This will allow people who do not qualify to come and enjoy the Masters experience!
If you have any questions about this decision, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your regional reps.
Sincerely,
US Masters Council