WARDOGS vs Arma
WARDOGS grew out of the Arma 3 mod King of the Hill. Three teams fighting for one area, a head count that decides the score, and money you keep between rounds were all in the mod; the studio calls its game inspired by it, worked with the people who made it, and says it never set out to copy it exactly. Arma Reforger is a different thing altogether: Bohemia’s own sandbox, where King of the Hill exists only as community mods.
- The host gameArma 3Bohemia’s military sandbox, $29.99 on Steam.
- The modKing of the HillA multiplayer mission by a programmer known as Sa-Matra. It won the multiplayer category of Bohemia’s Make Arma Not War contest.
- The standaloneWARDOGSBULKHEAD’s game, in Early Access for $39.99, built with the mod’s creators.
What the studio says about the mod
The announcement that introduced the connection put it plainly: “Our Design Team has spent years collaborating directly with the original ARMA mod creators.” From Steam announcement — Evolving the King of the Hill Mod A developer said the same on the Steam forum when players pointed out the resemblance:
“We’ve actually worked with the original KOTH Mod creators for years now, they’ve helped our Design Team by sharing their experiences and providing feedback!”
From Steam discussions — developer reply on the King of the Hill mod creators In the video above, one of the mod’s founders goes further and says their experience with the project is one of the core reasons BULKHEAD hired them. The studio’s own pitch is that the game mode lets it sit “that perfect spot between Milsim and arcade shooters”, which is its wording; the Arma-and-Battlefield line is the press’s.
KOTH terms, WARDOGS names
If you played the mod, most of WARDOGS will feel familiar. The left column is the mod’s own description; the right is the nearest thing in WARDOGS. The studio has not mapped them one to one itself; the resemblance is in the rules.
| In King of the Hill | Nearest thing in WARDOGS |
|---|---|
| Three teamsBlufor, Opfor and Independent, per the mod’s rules page. Later versions also allow two-sided games. | Lonestar, Valkyra, ManticoreAlways three. The factions. |
| The AOA town-sized area of operations. The team with most players inside gains points; a tie gains nothing; first to 100 wins. | The Control ZoneA randomised 2×2 km zone, same majority rule, first to 100. Scoring. |
| Priority AreaA marked area where each player counts as two towards the head count. | The Hot ZonePlayers inside count double, and it pays double cash on top. Towers move it. |
| Spawn VehicleA truck your team drives into the AO and parks, so everyone can spawn straight into the fight. | No squad spawnThe studio says you cannot respawn on your friends; getting there is the job of helicopters, trucks and FOBs. |
| Money and levels that lastThe mod describes a persistent levelling and money system, and its changelog talks about buying weapons permanently. | Cash that carries between matchesYou unlock an item on a role track, then still pay for it every life; the balance persists until the season resets. The economy. |
What the studio points to as new is destruction and building: in its King of the Hill video it talks about elevating destruction and bringing base building to the game, alongside role tracks that level from the gear you use. It also added a kill cam, and said missing death information was always an issue in the mod.
WARDOGS or Arma Reforger?
Most people asking this are deciding what to buy next, so here is the comparison on the things that decide it. Reforger’s facts come from Bohemia’s site, its FAQ and the Steam store.
Money
WARDOGS: every loadout is bought with cash that carries from match to match, so dying costs you. From the WARDOGS Steam store page
Reforger: gear comes from base armouries rather than a wallet, your rank lasts only for the session you are in, and Bohemia’s FAQ answers no to in-game purchases.
Where you can play
WARDOGS: Windows PC on Steam; consoles are planned for later. Console plans.
Reforger: PC, Xbox and PlayStation 5, with crossplay.
Mods and modes
WARDOGS: one mode, and mod tools have not come up in the studio’s announcements. Community servers run through approved hosts. Servers.
Reforger: Conflict, Game Master, Combat Ops and more, a single-player campaign, and a Workshop on every platform (mods can only be published from PC). The King of the Hill mods there are made by other community authors, not by the original mod’s team.
Players on a server
WARDOGS: up to 100 across 3 teams.
Reforger: Bohemia gives no figure for Conflict; a server update set the limit at 128 with 64 as the default.
Anti-cheat
WARDOGS: kernel-level, named Elytra on the store page. Details.
Reforger and Arma 3: BattlEye, also kernel-level on their store pages.
Price and state
WARDOGS: $39.99, Early Access. What that includes.
Reforger: $39.99 list price, a full release that Bohemia describes as the first step toward Arma 4.
What players who know both say
On the Arma Reforger forum, the advice that comes up most is simple: if King of the Hill was the only Arma mode you played, WARDOGS is the better buy; if you want the sandbox and its mods, stay with Arma. The same thread splits on gunplay, with one player finding WARDOGS’ guns snappier and another saying enemies soak up whole magazines. Bear in mind where it was asked: a Reforger forum leans Reforger.
On the WARDOGS side, former KOTH players like the three-team structure and worry about how many rounds of one mode they will want to play, a worry the studio shares; it lists a content shortage among its own reasons not to buy. Whether it is a faithful copy or something new depends on who you ask: one thread has both views a few replies apart.
Two creators are worth a look. OperatorDrewski points out that the three-team structure had been tested in Arma 3 for about a decade before WARDOGS used it, and Ironbeard, a long-time Reforger player filming during a pre-release test, says he felt at home except that every piece of gear now comes out of your own wallet.
Which one fits
- WARDOGS if you loved King of the Hill and want it with modern destruction, building and a persistent economy, on PC, and can live with one mode for now.
- Arma Reforger if you want a milsim sandbox with several modes, a campaign, mods and console crossplay, and do not want a death to cost you money.
- Arma 3 with the mod if you want the original: King of the Hill runs on community servers.
The other obvious comparison is WARDOGS vs Battlefield 6, and if you are still deciding whether to buy at all, the refund page has Steam’s two-hour rule.