Overview
Game 1
Game 2
Game 3
Hi everyone,
after two rounds, Wadrhun, Old Dominion, and Sorcerer Kings (twice) remained undefeated. I could win two out of the three matchups, but currently, facing Old Dominion with Sorcerer Kings is extremely challenging. Luck of the draw matched me up against Old Dominion, and on Off Balance, no less. Additionally, Nino led Old Dominion into battle, who has had several test games against Sorcerer Kings under his belt. Overall, quite difficult.
Here's my army list again, for which I detailed my thoughts in the first match report.
Sorcerer Kings [2000/2000]
- Raj [160]: Shu'laat, Bound to the Elements
- Efreet Sword Dancers (5) [270]
- Ghols (3) [110]
- Steelheart Djinn (3) [190]
- Steelheart Djinn (3) [190]
- (Warlord) Maharajah [120]: Court of Fire
- Rajakur (3) [120]
- Sorcerer [130]: Eye of the Blazing Tempest, Court of Fire
- Efreet Flamecasters (3) [160]
- Efreet Sword Dancers (3) [170]
- Rajakur (3) [120]
- Rakshasa Bakasura (1) [260]
Nino himself played a variation of his usual AoD (Army of Darkness) list with cavalry. Mostly because he's currently just in the mood for cavalry. The advantage: With only one Archimandrite, the matchup for me is no longer nearly unwinnable, but only very, very challenging.
Old Dominion [1995/2000]
- (Warlord) Strategos [160]: Legio I 'Primigenia', Aventine Armor, Eternal Discipline
- Legionnaires (3) [100]: Standard Bearer
- Praetorian Guard (5) [275]: Profane Reliquary
- Archimandrite [110]:
- Legionnaires (3) [100]: Standard Bearer
- Legionnaires (3) [115]: Standard Bearer, Optio
- Bone Golems (3) [210]:
- Bone Golems (3) [210]:
- Mounted Strategos [155]: Skofnung, Gladiator
- Kataphraktoi (5) [360]: Standard Bearer, Hetairos
- Legionnaires (3) [100]: Standard Bearer
- Legionnaires (3) [100]: Standard Bearer
The army list or concept should be familiar to most, and I've also written an article about it that you're welcome to read: "Hazlia's Hand: The Old Dominion Aura of Death Army List."
As mentioned earlier, the scenario played was "Off Balance." Only two zones, centrally located, with very fast troops from Old Dominion benefiting from the Reinforcement advantage against my Sorcerer Kings, who are slow and succumb to the Aura of Death. Additionally, I had to be positioned in the zones for ritual markers.
Round one, knowing that Nino had the Praetorians with Strategos in the deck and I only had the Ghols, it was clear the Praetorians would be set up against them. I chose the right flank because I had a hill there and would need the forest on the left against the cavalry. As expected, he set up accordingly.
In round two, I had all three characters with their corresponding regiments while Nino only had two units of Legionnaires, but no Archimandrite. He knows time is on his side. One unit of Legionnaires appears on the left and the others behind the Praetorians. This is typical of Nino, as he intends to charge his Praetorians into me to push me out of the zone, while the Legionnaires easily hold the zone, counting up to 7 stands. On my side, the Raj appears on the left behind the forest and the other two characters with the Raj on the right. Additionally, space is left between them because I intend to move the Ghols into the zone this round and back out next round. This means I'm denying points, but that's okay. No one scores, and I have three rituals active with 2, 1, 1.
Round three, I have everything available, and Nino is missing only one unit of Bone Golems. According to the plan, the Ghols move first from the top, followed by the Wind Maidens, Raj, and the rest very conservatively. I start by pulling the Ghols out of the zone, ensuring Nino's Praetorians can't reach with a Move Charge. The Wind Maidens move into the zone, and I begin rituals, initiating a new ritual and placing two markers. Now, I face the dilemma of needing the Maharajah in the zone, but after much hesitation, I decide against it. Instead, on the right side, the second unit of Wind Maidens, Bakasura, and Flamecaster appear. This is especially crucial since the Archimandrite with the cavalry appears early on the left flank, giving me hope to quickly dismantle the Praetorian block. Later on, the D5 units have 6 rerolls and Teneacois, reducing to D4 in round four. Therefore, they'll likely perish. We both score one zone and round each, and I have four ongoing rituals with 2, 4, 2, 2. The current score is tied at 2:2.
Round four, and I'm threatening the Praetorian block with the Wind Maidens on the flank and Bakasura perfectly positioned. Both are within auto-charge range, and I consider building on this advantage to initiate an attack. However, I decide against it, as Nino would likely just push the Praetorian block backward. After contemplating the situation for a while, I opt to activate Raj, Rajakur, Sorcerer, and the rest. The Wind Maidens on the left were irrelevant because Nino wouldn't charge into them; he wanted the zone without stretching his line. As expected, my Sorcerer managed to reduce the Praetorian's defense with Sandstorm. Subsequently, I launched an attack on the Praetorian block with my entire flank. Only the Wind Maidens failed to charge, but Ghols, Flamecaster, Burn to Cinder, and Bakasura together inflicted 12 damage. This resulted in two dead stands, despite almost a thousand points being pounded onto them. On the left, I withdrew the Maidens and conceded the zone to Nino there. I simply wanted to play in the forest, hoping he wouldn't redirect anything to the other flank and, most importantly, leave the objective marker undisturbed. By the end of the round, I had completed five rituals with 4, 5, 3, 2, 2, and another token for the nearly finished ritual. This completed two Conflagrations. The score is now tied at 4:4.
Round five, and I wanted to go all out. So, I started with Conflagration at the top, followed by Bakasura, realizing I didn't need another ritual for this round. Oops. So, that went all the way to the bottom. Next came the Flamecaster, then Rajakur and Maharajah, followed by Raj, Sorcerer, and the rest. Then came his Supremacy, and I looked worriedly at the left flank. If the cavalry spread out, they could easily kill me even with just Clash 3 without impacts. Luckily, Nino overlooked this and only sent the Bone Golems with Move Charge into the Wind Maidens, who slowly died from the Aura of Death. They didn't win the duel against the Bone Golems, so the Sword Dancers attacked the front, and one Golem died. At least something. On the other flank, things got interesting. Because I hadn't started, the Praetorians were protected with Bastion, and I only managed to kill one stand. Too much armor + no morale + 6 rerolls + Teneacois. My Ghols died before striking due to the Aura of Death, and then Nino brought the Legionnaires into the zone and denied it. Meanwhile, my second unit of Wind Maidens on the right was pounded by Legionnaires, and two stands died. D3 and R2 due to Terrifying is not good. At least the second Sword Dancers then killed those Legionnaires. I had four rituals with 4, 3, 3, 3 and could add an extra token from a zone. So, for next time, it should be Intrusive Thoughts, which turned out to be a mistake. The score is now 4:6.
Round six, and besides having the wrong ritual, I also had the insane idea that I had to start it. If I had Conflagration, Bakasura could have pulled it off, but not this time. Nevertheless, I wanted to use all resources as efficiently as possible. Bakasura went first, followed by Wind Maidens, Sorcerer, Flamecaster, and the rest. Nino started; the Praetorians went to D5, Bakasura initiated a duel, he declined, and nothing happened. Then came the Sorcerer, who failed the Sandstorm roll, so I decided to attack the Legionnaires with the Flamecasters instead. Torrential Fire and Aiming are pretty good. Almost like Slingers in a regular activation. Why do they even have Volley 3? Just asking for a friend. Anyway, 19 dice and 16 hits with Torrential Fire were good. The Legionnaires died, and on the other side, the cavalry charged into the Sword Dancers. That's what I feared, and two Sword Dancers fell. In return, I struck down two horses, but the Archimandrite resurrected one. The flank was lost, and things looked grim on the other side. At least Intrusive Thoughts was at the bottom, but Nino had two units in the zone on the left, rendering it useless for me. I had four rituals with 4, 4, 4, 3, and had one token. I definitely should have completed two rituals here, but as a thrifty person, I like to keep something in reserve. The score is now 6:8.
Round seven, the plan was to start with Bakasura using Conflagration and then proceed with the rest. Nino started; the Praetorians moved up to D5 but suffered some damage from the Aura of Death, leaving them with 2 life. The Sandstorm from Conflagration followed by Bakasura then killed the Praetorians, and I managed to kill the Warlord with Bakasura. This extra point put me narrowly in the lead, and Bakasura positioned himself strategically. The Golems then finished off the last Wind Maidens on both sides, and my Sword Dancers also fell, but not before Raj started a ritual. Then Nino moved the Archimandrite and Legionnaires toward the central objective, dealing one damage to it. With no better options, the Sword Dancers on the right engaged the fully stacked Bone Golems guarding the marker but didn't make much progress. We didn't accomplish much, but I secured two rituals for the next round and have two at 4. The score is now 11:10 in my favor.
Round eight, and I had to start to push the Sorcerers into the Legionnaires. But that was a mistake in thinking. I definitely should have just moved them straight ahead toward the cavalry to prevent them from gaining ground, especially since they could currently reach Rajakur with Move Charge on the 5. Nino had to get into my zone, or else I would win. I didn't see this, just like how Nino didn't see the situation with the horses and Sword Dancers earlier and acted foolishly as a result. The first ritual went to the Flamecasters so they could use Move, Move Volley to shoot at the central objective, and the second ritual went all the way to the bottom. Nino started; my Sorcerer died from Rajakur, and the Archimandrite dealt another point of damage to the objective. My Bakasura engaged the Bone Golems, but it wasn't enough. Even after using two Burn to Cinder later, only one Golem was left with six life. At least I completed two rituals and was leading, albeit narrowly. The score is now 13:12 in my favor.
Round nine, Nino begins, and the objective holds. Shortly after, my objective falls due to the actions of the Flamecasters. The Bone Golems perish from two Burn to Cinders, and I position the Rajakur so that Nino has to attempt a difficult charge to reach the 5. Before that, the Bakasura moves, and since blocking doesn't make sense, I use three actions on the objective, destroying it, and then I can turn around. Unfortunately, Nino succeeds with the charge and secures the zone, holding both. The score is now 21:20.
Round ten, Nino starts and destroys the objective. My Bakasura attempts to kill the cavalry but fails, leading to Hazlia's servants prevailing over the Sorcerer Kings. The final score is 21:30..
The game against Nino was closer than expected, but only because he held back the Kataphraktoi for so long, which allowed me to perform more rituals. If he had simply used Supremacy on the Sword Dancers, the 21 attacks at Resolve 3 with the Strategos on Gail would have been enough to eliminate my unit in just two rounds, especially considering the Aura of Death hits from the Bone Golem. That would have disrupted my entire ritual production. Nonetheless, it was enough for him, and in the end, I was completely wiped out except for the Bakasura. He still had the horses, two units of Legionnaires, the Golems, and the Archimandrite. Nino was thrilled with his second Conquest tournament victory, and I ended up in fourth place.
Post-Tournament Review of Army Composition
- Raj [160]: Shu'laat, Bound to the Elements: He did exactly what he was supposed to, and in my opinion, he's still the best carrier for Shu'laat, at least the way I play him.
- Sorcerer [120]: Eye of the Blazing Tempest, Court of Fire: Felt like the most important character we had, especially when playing with Court of Fire. I can't understand why I didn't like them at some point. The spells are good, but unfortunately, they have to roll for them. Eye of the Blazing Tempest + Court of Fire isn't the best combination for me since I prefer using them in different parts of the deck. Except in Game 1, it wasn't relevant, but it felt like it won me that game. Probably will swap it out for Jadoo regardless.
- (Warlord) Maharajah [120]: Court of Fire: Burn to Cinders is simply good, the rest not so much. If he didn't have his Warlord ability, I wouldn't currently play him. He's just not strong enough with Court of Fire. I wish the other two spells were cooler, like with Court of Wind, where you want to use all of them.
Units:
- Rajakur (3) [120]: I like these guys. Resolve 3 is what my Man-at-Arms always wish for, and Hardened is nice too. I wish there was an Officer or something to boost them further, but overall, a solid mainstay choice and currently the best transport option for characters.
- Rakshasa Bakasura (1) [260]: He didn't die in any of the games, but he performed exceptionally well in each one. I understand why many players field three or four of these guys. They are currently the best choice we have, although a bit too expensive. Honestly, in my opinion, he could be 20-30 points cheaper and receive a free duel action. The other monster should also be significantly adjusted.
- Steelheart Djinn (3) [190]: They provided some variety in the army, but they didn't convince me again. While they were decent against Steelforged, they simply have too few attacks. If they had Movement 8, Fluid, and 3 impacts, that would be worth considering because they could then run directly into zones. That would immediately make them a staple in every list because they could reliably score in round 2.
- Efreet Sword Dancers (3) [170]: It felt like they were always there just to die, clean up leftovers, or hold points. They did that job fairly well overall. However, the large block of them doesn't work anymore. I think it's because I rarely have a ritual available for them. If all rituals only required four markers, but that's a discussion for another time.
- Ghols (3) [110]: Born of Flame: Besides moving the reinforcement line forward and blocking, they couldn't do much. In my opinion, still 30% too expensive for this task. They're not worth more than 80 points, and it's understandable why nobody plays them.
- Efreet Flamecasters (3) [160]: Okay, these guys really put in a lot of work in two games. However, they always need a ritual and are still just poor slingers afterward. I still believe that they can be easily swapped out for Archers without losing much, but I'll test that later. For now, let the poor slingers aka Flamecasters bask in their brief moment of glory.
Conclusion:
In the week following the tournament, I conducted several more test games with the Sorcerer Kings and have now reached about 40 games. Unfortunately, my overall conclusion is not positive. In my view, the Sorcerer Kings are currently the weakest faction in the game. The units are about 20% too expensive compared to their performance, which limits their effectiveness. Additionally, they suffer from anti-synergies – for example, the Sorcerers require support from the Flamecasters to effectively apply their debuffs to the enemy, while the Flamecasters, in turn, need the Sorcerers' Sandstorm to deal damage. These inefficiencies often prevent the optimal use of their abilities.
Another weakness lies in the rituals, which are hardly feasible with only two magicians. Seriously, if you're playing against Sorcerer Kings, target one of the magicians and watch as only one or two rituals happen throughout the entire game. This limitation significantly restricts tactical options and almost obliges the Maharaja as the Warlord choice, as he is the only one who can effectively support the rituals.
Furthermore, we are extremely slow in the scenario, similar to Dweghom, but with D3 R3 or in other words: we are quite fragile on the way, without any regiment that can hold its ground. Since none of our regiments move more than 14", we always have to use tricks with the reinforcement line or rely on spells just to avoid letting the distance become too great. We also lack access to flanks or similar tactics, and I'm not sure why Para Bellum decided against it, but it makes it really challenging.
When it comes to factions, it heavily depends on how well the opponent already knows the Sorcerer Kings. Initially, there are many "gotcha" moments with the rituals, but after several games, the tables turn. I have not been able to win against Old Dominion in any test game so far, and against Spire, it has mostly been catastrophic once my opponent understands what's happening and simply targets one of the wizards with the VCI. Nords can overrun us unless we have excellent reinforcements. Dweghom are usually fine, but mostly because apart from Uziel, no one else plays Dragonslayer or the Ironclad. Against typical shooting castles, we can make some impact on most scenarios. That leaves Wadhrun, who just do everything better than us with Slingers and Chosen of Conquest, as well as Hundred Kingdoms. The latter are manageable if the Ashen Dawn units are not larger than 3 stands. Otherwise, the damage simply isn't enough, or the echo that comes back is too great.
What are your thoughts on these observations? Have you had similar experiences or ideas on how to overcome the weaknesses of this faction?
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