Tournament Battlereport from Conquest im Sidequest #3 Game 1 Sorcerer Kings against City States

Overview
Game 1
Game 2
Game 3

Hi everyone,

Two weeks after Lübeck, the next tournament in the North took place, this time at Sidequest Bremerhaven. Since I had been only moderately impressed with the Sorcerer Kings so far, I wanted to lead the brave people with sticks onto the field. However, Stephan from Hildesheim challenged me to face him on the field of honor with the Sorcerer Kings. Self-flagellation sounded like a good plan, and the Sorcerer Kings figures are really pretty. So, I packed the Sorcerer Kings after all.

My army list hasn't changed since the last tournament, mainly because I was too lazy in those two weeks and preferred to go swimming instead of painting.

 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]

My detailed thoughts on this list and why I chose what I did were written in the report for the third Lübeck tournament. Link to that: https://bravehumanswithsticks.blogspot.com/2024/05/tournament-battlerepor-from-victorum.html

The City States [2000/2000]

- (Warlord) Aristarch [130]: Blades of Eakides
 - Selinoi (3) [130]:
 - Thorakites (4) [205]: Andromachos, Minotaur Thyrean Auxiliary
 - Agema (3) [195]: Andromachos <-- Aristarch
 - Promethean (1) [220]:

- Ipparchos [100]:
 - Companion Cavalry (3) [160]:

- Polemarch [120]: Atalanta's Spear
 - Hoplites (3) [145]: Lochagos <-- Polemarch
 - Thorakites (4) [205]: Andromachos, Minotaur Thyrean Auxiliary
 - Minotaur Thyreans (3) [190]:
 - Satyroi (3) [200]:

Stephan's list is unusual. No big block, no vanguard, no option to score early. In short: It looked doable. Sure, the two Thorakitai want to hunt, and they can do that quite well, but isolated I can usually keep them under control. I just couldn't forget about the Satyroi. They are pretty devastating against the Sorcerer Kings wrapped in cloths.

The game was played on Maelstrom. Players were allowed to distribute the terrain themselves on the boards. Basic equipment was available on the tables, with additional materials found in the dozens of crates at Sidequest.

The game was played on Maelstrom. Players were allowed to distribute the terrain themselves on the boards. Basic equipment was available on the tables, with additional materials found in the dozens of crates at Sidequest.

In round 2, I got the Sorcerer in Rajakur and the Raj in Sword Dancer. At least Stephan only brought out the Promethean and the Hoplites with the Polemarch. Due to a lack of alternatives, the Sorcerer went to the Forest of Ghols. They went into the zone, and once again, the Sorcerer failed their spell. So, the Ghols wouldn't score this round. To the left of them, I placed my Sword Dancers, and in the center, the Titan appeared, with the Hoplites on the far right. Two rituals were initiated, and no one received any points.

Round 3, and the Satyroi on Stephan's side weren't eager to join in just yet. On my side, I got a Wind Maiden and a Flamecaster. At least I had enough units like the Bakasura, another Wind Maiden, the Maharajah, and small Sword Dancers that could work. Stephan got to start and immediately shot down two stands of Ghols. They regrouped and retreated. I didn't want to give the Titan a charge, and otherwise, there was nothing on the whole field where we could reach each other. So, I first moved the Maharajah behind the Ghols, healed them with the Sorcerer, and laid down some rituals. Then his Titan moved into the middle zone, followed by the Agema behind and the Thyrean beside. I positioned my second Sword Dancer on the right side, where the Thorakitai immediately took position. I placed the Wind Maiden right next to them for fun in the next round. Then he had to move the left Thorakitai and placed them a bit too close to my large Sword Dancer block. They were allowed to cause three damage with a move charge and, most importantly, control the zone. So, I held at least one zone, and Stephan had two. His Hoplites also ran into the right zone, and my Bakasura positioned slightly to the right to threaten both flanks. I only had three rituals: 2x Conflagration with 4 markers and once Intrusive Thoughts with one marker. Since I was in a zone, I wanted to have a Conflagration for the next round and put it into my deck. 1:3.

In round 4, we received our remaining cards. Since it was clear that Stephan would trigger his Supremacy, deck building was quite straightforward. Even if I start, I'll get hit first and hope he overextends a bit. So, I shouldn't go to the middle, except maybe later with the Ghols to block the path. Therefore, Raj and a regiment of Sword Dancers moved upwards. If I don't start, I'll just activate the other and wait on the other side. Stephan didn't know where the ritual was, all the way at the bottom above the Bakasura, so he would constantly have to anticipate some shenanigans. Beneath the Raj and the Sword Dancers, I placed all my troops not on the field: the second Wind Maidens, the Sorcerer, the Rajakur, the Ghols, the Maharajah, the second Sword Dancers, and the ritual with the Bakasura. As expected, I didn't start. On the left, the Thorakitai killed a stand of Sword Dancers and did some damage, but on the right, they had Flurry, and my Wind Maidens went home. I stuck to my plan, not pushing the Sword Dancers into the Thorakitai, as it would have been a move charge without impacts, but I pulled them towards the middle. On the left, I then brought out the second Wind Maidens, and opposite, his cavalry appeared. His cows positioned themselves for a potential counterattack if anything attacked the Titan. At least in this round, I didn't plan on that. Then I activated my Sorcerer with the Rajakur. In the shooting phase, there was at least two damage on the Titan. As expected, he left the zone and went into the Wind Maidens. There, he felt safe, and I could bring my Ghols to the outer edge of the zone. This prevented the Agema from entering the zone. My Rajakur with the Maharajah ran into the zone, and the screen of Ghols broke under the onslaught of the Agema. The Maharajah burned one of the cows to cinders, his Hoplites took a step forward, my Sword Dancers without Inspire killed the Thorakitai and turned slightly. Then the Satyroi appeared behind my ranks on the left flank. So, the Bakasura got to choose where to play now. Before that, another Burn to Cinders against the cows through Conflagration, and a second cow fell. Originally, the Bakasura wanted to devour the Thorakitai, but the Hoplites were within 18". And they had a character. Unfortunately, I left them with two lives, but I had all three zones. Additionally, two mages in the zones and three rituals with 4, 4, 3. So, I put two more Conflagrations into the deck. 5:3.

In round 5, there were numerous issues to address. I had given up on the Bakasura and wanted to focus on the middle and the left flank. With the two rituals, I should be able to clean up nicely there, and hopefully, the Titan would also have respect for the Cleave-2 Wind Maidens. So, my deck was structured as follows: Ritual, Sword Dancer, Ritual, Sword Dancer, Bakasura, Wind Maiden, Rajakur, Sorcerer, Flamecaster, Rajakur, and Maharajah. I started, Burn to Cinders did some damage to the Agema, and the small Sword Dancers finished the job. Stephan's cavalry failed the charge against the right Sword Dancers, so they got to pivot and fall into the Titan's side. Since I used Sandstorm beforehand, it burst as expected.

So far, everything was going excellently, and the Bakasura survived the onslaught of the Thorakitai with three lives, then easily wiped them out in the counterattack.

His cow regrouped and charged into the Sword Dancers, which gave my Wind Maidens time to regroup and then be healed by the Sorcerer. There was a fancy new stand, which was promptly slain again by the Satyroi. My Flamecasters attempted a Move Volley against the Hoplites, but I only managed to inflict one damage. At least they perished to the Aura of Death, but the Polemarch also took down the Bakasura. Thanks to Last Will, the last cow died, clearing the way for the Maharajah to enter the Selinoi. 8:3.

In round 6, with a ritual in the deck, I got to start and cleared out the riders. The rest was just cleanup, and I scored all zones until the end.

Stephan had been considering starting with the Sorcerer Kings as his sixth faction. However, before the game, he wasn't sure and wanted to see them in action first. Gameplay-wise, they didn't quite convince him, but the models are simply stunning. That's also why I started them. Consequently, Stephan decided to grab a five-year box of Sorcerer Kings right away. Next Game 2