Practice game Paper Sorcerer Kings against W'adrhŭn

Hi,

here's the second-to-last game report from the Paper Sorcerer Kings, which was added relatively spontaneously because some were curious about the progress of the game against the W'adrhŭn

On Easter Monday, we were invited to my mother-in-law's for coffee and cake. Nino suggested playing a round beforehand. Since he lived only five minutes away from her, we could squeeze it in just before. Uziel was parked on the sofa with his Switch.

Feuer 🔥 [1990/2000]

== Raj [160]: Jadoo Kavach, Bound to the Elements
 * Efreet Flamecasters (3) [160]:
 * Efreet Sword Dancers (5) [270]:
 * Ghols (3) [110]: Born of Flame
 * Efreet Sword Dancers (3) [170]:

== (Warlord) Sorcerer [120]: Parivartan, Court of Fire
 * Rajakur (3) [120]:
 * Ghols (3) [110]: Born of Flame
 * Rakshasa Bakasura (1) [260]:
 * Rakshasa Bakasura (1) [260]:

== Sorcerer [130]: Eye of the Blazing Tempest, Court of Air
 * Rajakur (3) [120]:

No changes to the list. In the next and final game with the paper army, the same list will be used. I have to admit that after dozens of games with the Sorcerer Kings, I'm feeling more drawn to the Hundred Kingdoms again. Especially since I'm in the mood for the rule changes. The Sorcerer Kings are currently definitely pretty low in the current power ranking, to be precise, at the bottom. However, they are still a lot of fun, and I simply love my list because it's so thematically pleasing. One more note on something I noticed in this game and something I got wrong last time: Parry doesn't work against impacts. Very annoying.

The W'adrhŭn [2000/2000]

== Matriarch Queen [110]: Death, Sacred Censer, Apex Master
 * Warbred (3) [190]:
 * Warbred (3) [190]:
 * Apex Predator (1) [190]:

== (Warlord) Thunder Chieftain [160]: Death, Violence of Action
 * Thunder Riders (3) [250]:
 * Thunder Riders (3) [250]:

== Predator [100]: Famine, Ceaseless Hunt
 * Hunting Pack (3) [120]:
 * Hunting Pack (3) [120]:
 * Slingers (3) [160]:
 * Slingers (3) [160]:

In the past few days, someone in our WhatsApp group mentioned that they don't like to publish their lists because they could be copied. I couldn't help but smile when one of my W'adrhŭn lists popped up on the other side. As usual, it's kept as slim as possible on upgrades, and the plan is quite simple: bombard the opponent with the slingers and force them into the range of the Warbread and Thunder Rider to clean up. Since I'm currently playing a list without the archers of the Sorcerer Kings, unfortunately, I had no choice. To make matters worse, Echelon was also set up on the table, so the W'adrhŭn didn't have to split up.

In the first round, two slingers and a hunter advance into the deck of the Dino friends, while two ghols appear on my side. I march forward first and perform two movements each, but I refrain from the third action due to Bloodlust. Essentially, I position one regiment on the left and one on the right, making sure to use the left ghols to reach anything related to the objective. On the other side, my opponent's slingers advance, and at a distance of 9" from the marker, the first small glass rabbits, also known as the Hunting Pack, appear.

In the second round, I was lucky and got both Rajakur with Sorcerer and the Sword Dancer with Raj. For Nino, there was only a regiment of Warbread. This gave me a slight advantage, but I suspected that I would lose both ghols. Nevertheless, I positioned them far down to avoid having to come closer too early and to have the characters on the field beforehand and start the first three rituals. The Fire Sorcerer came on the right, the Wind Sorcerer on the left because I also wanted to have the Sword Dancer block there. This block was supposed to break through to the opponent with a ritual in round four; before that, I couldn't perform any ritual meaningfully, and maybe I could take out the objective marker in the meantime. Nino shot on the objective on the right, and on the left, the Hunting Pack went for the marker. Then the slingers shot at all but one of the ghols, but thanks to Bloodlust, the last one could attack the Hunting Pack and dealt 7 damage. The other ghols were instructed by the Fire Sorcerer on how to score in zones, and I took the lead: 2:0.

In the third round, I received a Bakasura and the Flamecaster, while Nino got the two Thunder Riders, the Apex, the second Hunting Pack, and the second Warbread. I decided to place the ghols up top, then the Rajakur, and the rest a little mixed. This resulted in the last dino from the Hunting Pack dying immediately. Then the right slingers dealt a mighty three damage to the right ghols, but I simply healed two of them back up. On the right side, the Bakasura and the Flamecaster marched forward, while the Rajakur went into the zone. My three mages began their rituals, and things were going solidly. I could even heal the left ghols back almost completely, but then the left slingers shot at the Sword Dancer block. Slinger things happened with resolve tests, etc., and I took 14 damage. Nick would call it karma, and maybe he'd be right. Well, at least I still had both units of ghols. It could have been worse. At least the Sword Dancers dealt two more damage to the objective. Then a regiment of Thunder Riders marched forward in the center and left, and the second Hunting Pack ran in front of the slingers to protect them from the ghols. Score: 4:2.

In the fourth round, I was able to put my last Bakasura and the remaining Sword Dancers into the deck, along with three nice rituals, but no Farsight. This was intended as preparation for the next round, and I pondered how to salvage the situation reasonably well. My plan was to place the Sorcerers up top so that both regiments could be healed. Then I wanted to put the Charge Reroll on the Sword Dancers and use the Rajakur as a follow-up activation. They would then take out the objective, followed by the ghols. I had my rituals prepared for the Bakasura and once for the Sword Dancers. The last ritual was the bottom card for the next round. I started my turn, and it went exactly as planned, except that a regiment of ghols on the right side had been shot down earlier. Then the ghols took down the second Hunting Pack.

Then the Sword Dancers attacked the slingers, but without the ritual, as they hadn't activated yet and I feared they might just shoot me down. Nonetheless, due to the impacts, there was at least 8 damage dealt.

So, most likely both units would disappear simultaneously, and if the expected changes were to come, I would approach it differently in the future because I could work better with the rituals. My hope was that Nino would hopelessly mess up his positioning, but he already knew how to do it and pulled the Warbred back to make room. Then the Thunder Chieftain was allowed to land in the flank of the Sword Dancers and cleared them out. Shortly after, the other Thunder Raiders attacked the ghols.

Unpleasant and almost dramatic. But in between, the rest of his units also activated, and my right Bakasura was still able to destroy an objective safely. I placed the other one on the left to apply pressure and perhaps work with both of them next round using rituals. Thanks to Farsight, that was a constructive option.

Towards the end, I brought in the second Sword Dancer and launched an attack against the Apex. However, I forgot that it had received an update to its hit points at some point and now had more than 12. Therefore, my joy over the 12 damage was short-lived. Score: 14:4.

In the fifth round, Nino got to start, and the slingers on the right dealt 9 damage to the Bakasura and advanced. Since my last card in the previous round was a ritual, he could pivot and perform a charge clash into the Warbred. I left one with four life remaining, so at least I could hope for Aura of Death. Next, the Apex devoured the three Sword Dancers, and my second Bakasura attacked the Thunder Chieftain with a ritual.

The regiment also remained with 4 life, and there were some token activations. My Fire Sorcerer got to reduce the armor of enemies twice, naturally those in contact with the Bakasuras, but Aura of Death hardly helped me. Nino's second Thunder Riders attacked the Wind Sorcerer with Move Charge, and because I had positioned them wrongly, the regiment died. The Trample resolve tests angered me as always and, in my opinion, are simply outrageous. Then I left the zone with the other Rajakur to flank the Thunder Riders and killed one of them. Next, my Flame Casters attacked the right slingers and dealt 13 damage with the impacts and melee attacks. My last card was again a ritual. Score: 14:6.

In the sixth round, at least I had a ritual, and if my deck is built wisely now, I might be able to turn things around. Unfortunately, I put another Bakasura up top instead of activating the Flamecasters, and Nino saw the greed in my eyes. He smashed the first Bakasura with the Warbred, causing one of the injured Thunder Riders to die next to the Sorcerer. Then I slew the Warbred in front of the right Bakasura and dealt two damage to the objective. The three Flame Casters were attacked by the Chieftain and the last Thunder Rider with Death 1 and succumbed to the 8 impact hits. That was more than enough damage to destroy them. Then my Rajakur prevailed against the last Thunder Rider on the left side, and the Apex began to gnaw at the objective. Score: 14:8.

In the seventh round, I managed to secure the far-right objective, while Nino secured the far-left one. Then the Predator shot down the Bakasura, and with Conquest Tier 1, the Chieftain entered the zone and scored six points for four rounds in a row, winning the game dominantly for the Dinos. Defeat for the Paper Sorcerer Kings.

Post-match Analysis:

Of course, it's not helpful to be overly greedy and rely on everything going according to plan. Despite the defeat, I'm satisfied because this game highlighted some significant flaws in my tactics and serves as a good incentive to continue improving my skills and not always rely on the same strategy.

Raj [160]: Jadoo Kavach, Bound to the Elements:

• I was only able to use Jadoo once. Additionally, I neglected the Raj once again. Perhaps next time I'll consider swapping it out for a Maharajah.

Sorcerer [120]: Parivartan, Court of Fire

• Parivartan was mostly ineffective again, as I could only apply the -1 armor to the opponent and not the Aura of Death to my troops, at least not across the table. Otherwise, I still believe she's the most sensible Warlord.

Sorcerer [130]: Eye of the Blazing Tempest, Court of Wind

• With the Eye, she provided a reasonable amount of healing this time, but I wasted her because of poor positioning. I really like the double Sorcerer setup; it's a nice combination. I think a Wind Maharajah with the standard that removes Bloodlust and the Eye could also serve as a good replacement for her. Let's see, it's something to consider for the future, especially once the archers are available.

Units:

• Rajakur (3) [120]:The Man-at-Arms remain the issue. Man-at-Arms with Hardened 1, but against an attack from the Thunder Riders or the slingers' shooting, they're simply dead.
  
• Rakshasa Bakasura (1) [260]: D3 R3 makes them very fragile, and in my opinion, already too fragile for their point cost. They should ideally be significantly cheaper, even though they are currently the best beneficiaries for rituals.
  
• Efreet Sword Dancers (3) [170]: My current favorites. I really like the rule combination, apart from Bloodlust. Maybe because they are Household Knights who trade their shield for an attack. I look forward to the time when they don't have to roll for Bloodlust anymore.
  
• Ghols (3) [110]: Born of Flame:In the fight against the Hunting Pack, they were able to show what they're capable of. Against a D1 R2 W3 unit... at least.
  
• Efreet Flamecasters (3) [160]: In direct comparison with the slingers, they're simply worse. Maybe I'll swap them out for ghols; I never have any expectations with them, so I'm never disappointed. On the other hand, I have to blame myself for this today; I could and should have put them up top in the second-to-last round.