Revision 1

Overview

One of the most visually striking aspects of Kingmakers is the sight of modern military hardware rolling across a medieval battlefield. Vehicles are not just cosmetic; they are fully functional gameplay tools that give the player an enormous tactical advantage over forces that have never seen anything more advanced than a horse-drawn cart. At Early Access launch, three vehicles are directly drivable by the player, and several additional military assets can be called in as support. The game also features armored ground vehicles that appear during missions and engagements.

Vehicles interact with the game's destructible environments in dramatic ways. Driving a tank through the wall of a castle, crashing a motorcycle through a wooden barricade, or ramming an armored SUV into a crowd of infantry are all possible. The destruction is not scripted; it is driven by the physics system, which is one of the reasons the developers chose Unreal Engine 4.27 for its processing speed with these calculations.

Drivable Vehicles

Motorcycle

The motorcycle (sometimes described as a dirt bike in developer footage) is the fastest ground vehicle in the game. It allows the player to cover large distances across the battlefield quickly, which is useful for responding to threats on different flanks, scouting enemy positions, or simply getting from one end of the map to the other without spending several minutes on foot. The motorcycle can crash through wooden structures and fences, though it offers no armor protection. The rider is fully exposed and can be hit by arrows and other projectiles. It is a speed tool, not a combat platform.

Convertible Car

The convertible car is more combat-oriented than the motorcycle. Its open-top design allows the player (or co-op partners riding as passengers) to fire weapons in a full 360-degree arc while the vehicle is in motion. This makes it an effective mobile firing platform for drive-by attacks against infantry formations, outposts, and retreating forces. The convertible offers more protection than the motorcycle but less than a tank. It can ram through lighter structures and obstacles.

In co-op sessions, the convertible becomes significantly more effective. One player drives while others fire, creating a moving gun platform that can circle an enemy force and pour fire into it from multiple angles. The coordination required makes it one of the more rewarding co-op experiences in the game.

Tank

The tank is the most powerful ground vehicle available. Its main cannon can destroy fortifications, walls, buildings, and clusters of infantry with a single shot. Its armor shrugs off arrows, swords, and most other medieval weaponry. Driving a tank into a castle siege is about as one-sided as combat gets in Kingmakers, which is part of the appeal. The tank is slower than the other two drivable vehicles, and its size makes it less maneuverable in tight spaces. It is a blunt instrument, best used for breaking through heavily defended positions where other approaches would cost too many soldiers.

Air Support

Air support in Kingmakers provides devastating firepower from above. While the player cannot directly pilot aircraft at Early Access launch, they can call in air support that arrives on the battlefield to deal heavy damage.

AH-64 Apache Helicopter

The AH-64 Apache is an attack helicopter equipped with the M230 Chain Gun, a 30mm automatic cannon capable of shredding ground targets. When called in, the Apache orbits the designated area and engages enemy forces from the air. Medieval armies have no anti-air capability, which makes the Apache essentially untouchable during its attack run. The Chain Gun's rate of fire allows it to sweep across formations, cutting lines through massed infantry.

The Apache represents one of the biggest power advantages the player holds over their medieval opponents. It is especially effective against large, slow-moving formations of heavy infantry like Men-at-Arms, who cannot scatter quickly enough to avoid the sustained fire. Balancing the use of air support against whatever resource or cooldown system governs it will be one of the strategic decisions players face in longer engagements.

F-16 Airstrikes

The F-16 airstrike functions as an area-of-effect bombardment that the player designates on the battlefield. The developers have compared it to the airstrike mechanic from Helldivers 2: the player marks a location, and after a short delay, the strike arrives with devastating force. This makes it ideal for destroying clustered enemy formations, siege equipment, or fortified positions. The delay means the player needs to predict where the enemy will be, not just where they are right now, adding a layer of skill to its use.

Other Military Vehicles

Armored SUVs provide a balance between speed and protection, functioning as transport vehicles that can also serve as improvised battering rams against lighter structures. The Humvee, equipped with the M2HB Browning heavy machine gun, is a more dedicated combat vehicle. The .50 caliber rounds from the M2HB have extreme penetration potential, capable of punching through walls and armor that would stop lighter rounds from small arms.

Vehicle Destruction

All vehicles interact with the game's physics-driven destruction system. Running a tank through a building does not trigger a canned animation; the building collapses based on where and how it was hit. A motorcycle clipping the corner of a wooden shack will knock out that corner, while a tank driving straight through the center will bring the whole structure down. This physics-based destruction creates emergent moments that differ every time, and it also has tactical value: using a vehicle to punch a hole in a wall can open a new path for your medieval units to flood through.

Planned Additions

The post-Early Access roadmap includes pilotable helicopters and planes. The developers have confirmed that they want to eventually let players fly these aircraft directly rather than just calling them in as support. This would add a full aerial combat dimension to the game. No release date has been set for these features; they are part of the longer-term development plan alongside other additions like flamethrowers, combat drones, and PvP multiplayer.