Tournament Report from the 4th Badisch Conquest Game 2 Sorcerer Kings vs. Hundred Kingdoms

Overview:
Game 1
Game 2
Game 3

Hello,

after lunch, we went into the second game feeling refreshed. This time, Christian was my teammate, and he had beautifully painted, brave people armed with sticks. Christian went to the tournament to play three games in a row and practice a bit while having fun. Just like me, except I had enslaved creatures from the elemental planes.

My Armlist

 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]

Christians List:

=== The Last Argument of Kings ===

The Hundred Kingdoms [2000/2000]
Veterans

== Chapter Mage [135]: The Kiss Farewell, School of Fire, Focused
 * Mercenary Crossbowmen (3) [105]:

== (Warlord) Imperial Officer [130]: Armor of Dominion, Brace for Impact, On Your Feet
 * Imperial Ranger Corps (3) [120]:
 * Mercenary Crossbowmen (3) [105]:
 * Gilded Legion (7) [355]: Standard Bearer, Drillmaster
 * Steel Legion (3) [215]: Veterans, +1 Clash, Standard Bearer, Drillmaster

== (Warlord) Mounted Noble Lord [125]: The Flesh Cleaver, Weapon Master
 * Mounted Squires (3) [155]: Veterans, Standard Bearer, Count Palatine
 * Household Knights (5) [310]: Veterans, +1 Clash, Standard Bearer, Tourney Champion
 * Household Knights (3) [140]: Standard Bearer
 * Men at Arms (3) [105]:

Nauth and Laebby tested something similar against me on Wednesday and Sunday. I like the concept of a mixed army, although I feel there aren't enough regiments scoring points. Currently, I don't see the Mounted Squire because light units without the option to score simply have to be better. Maybe this will change with the update, but I doubt it. Otherwise, I really like the army. Solid shooting with the Crossbows and the Chapter Mage, and the Gilded Legion with Flank and Armor of Dominion was something I didn't want to charge head-on. The Household Knights Block could simply make everything it caught explode. Additionally, we played Divide and Conquer, which I haven't played much in recent weeks, but I consider it one of the better scenarios.

I had the Ghouls, and Christian had the Squire, 1x Crossbows, and Rangers. Due to the two forests and the house, I preferred to play more towards the right and placed my Ghouls on the right zone. In opposition, his Crossbows came forward along with the Rangers, and on the far right flank were the Squire. However, the most pressing question on my mind was: Aren't Veteran Squires essentially already knights, lacking only the accolade or knighthood ceremony? Well, those are things Stavros probably won't tell us anytime soon. Maybe someone should ask Leo during the next Happy Hour. His explanation about the fish gnomes teleporting from Universe 417 to Universe 425 by being swallowed by Angry Chickens that have a black hole instead of a stomach was quite entertaining. It also explained the gnome on the shark and many other previously unexplained things in the background of Conquest.

In the second round, unfortunately, I only had the Raj with Sword Dancers and the Sorcerer with Rajakur. Christian's dice also failed him, and he only managed to get the automatically chosen small Household Knights. Christian began to move towards the Ghouls and fired at the boys. Later, some of the damage was healed by the Sorcerer, who moved into the far right zone. Although I didn't score points there, I did get markers for my rituals, and if I could only start two rituals this round, then please let both of them have two markers. Of course, my fancy Sorcerer failed to cast Ignite on the Ghouls, so no points this round either. At least the Rangers weren't interested in shooting at the healed Ghouls and moved towards the markers, positioning themselves perfectly for Move-Charge range with the Sword Dancers in the next round. On the far left, his Household Knights appeared, and the round ended without anyone scoring.

Round three and my entire army made an appearance, engaging Christian's forces as well. Looking at the table, I had no idea how I wanted to build my deck. I decided to place the Ghouls at the very top and Bakasura at the bottom. The rest was a mishmash, as I wanted to wait and see and definitely did not want to go into a zone if he would jump on me afterwards.

Christian started, and the Squire killed a few Rajakur. It was expected, but I didn't anticipate him actually doing it. Although I wiped out the Squire with Sandstorm, Clash, and Burn to Cinder, the Crossbows still inflicted some damage, and only thanks to Hardened did the regiment survive with three lives. Argh, yet another person targeting my character models early. I didn't like that, as I need them for the rituals. Well, at least two characters in zones and five rituals were started. That should make a lot of noise if I don't foolishly give away my Sorcerer. Therefore, I first thought about putting Wind Girl in front of it, but then decided to put one regiment on each flank, since the ones with the rituals could theoretically come into one of the back zones. Christian probably won't give me that, but with already one regiment less, maybe he won't have a choice. When he marched centrally, with the last Crossbows followed by the Steel Legion and flanked by the two big blocks, I was already quite happy. Then unfortunately, Man-at-Arms ran into a zone on the right, and his little Household Knights into the left middle zone. Annoying, but the Ranger stood too far forward, and nothing from his army could threaten my Sword Dancers if they now moved to the Rangers with Move-Charge. Of course, they only remained with one life, but at least I was more than 11" away from the Gilded Legion. Then only Bakasura, who set himself up randomly, was left, so that he could charge things going to the left middle zone, if they have a character. I didn't score, but the brave people had a zone, so unfortunately I fell behind, but got two conflagrations as compensation in my deck.

Round four and it was crucial to move the Rajakur with the Sorcerer out of the line of sight of the Crossbows. After that, I wanted to have a few less relevant activations, so I placed all the characters at the top. Normally, characters are super relevant with the Sorcerer Kings, but they had few good targets, and I wanted to activate as many things late as possible. So after them came the Ghouls, more Rajakur, Sword Dancers, Maharajah, Flamecaster, Sword Dancer, Wind Girl, Ritual, more Wind Girl, Ritual, and the hefty Bakasura. Christian started and used Move-Charge of the small Household Knights into my far-left Wind Girl. He didn't want them to come to him, and I agreed to let them stand there. This allowed the Flamecaster to shoot Torrential Fire into their flank. Therefore, the Household Knights died much later due to the Flamecaster and the girls

Before that, my Sorcerer was still running for her life, and the Sword Dancer block in the middle took a bunch of bolts to the face. That hurt, but for once, the Raj managed one of his spells and healed two of the damages. This gave the regiment Aura of Death, and later the Ranger died from it. This freed the Sword Dancers, and they fell back. The Crossbows in the zone were tied up by the Ghouls, and the brave people with sticks marched towards me. Two Conflagrations later, the Crossbows in front of the Ghouls were dead, and my Wind Girls on the right messed up the charge against the Man-at-Arms. Christian was happy, until the Bakasura showed that he could charge the flank of the Household Knights from his position. It's not as devastating as against Hoplites, but it was still 14 damage with Resolve. Christian scored a zone, I did not, and I got two more rituals into the deck.

In round five, I aimed to secure a ritual for the Sword Dancers and another for the Wind Girls. The Wind Girls were supposed to run into the left rear zone, while the Sword Dancers would engage the Steel Legion. With the Ghouls blocking the way, the Gilded Legion was effectively harmless. Additionally, I had an Intrusive Thoughts in the deck. Since the Household Knights still had six lives, the Bakasura also wanted to act fairly early to potentially devour the Crossbows with Impacts and Aura of Death, while the other elements could be neglected or had time.

I got to start, and through Conflagration, I acquired Molten Blades on the large Sword Dancer block. These caused the Steel Legion to explode, and the Raj managed to persuade the Chapter Mage to botch her spell against the Bakasura. Despite the magic failure, the shooting inflicted serious damage, as I rolled a handful of sixes for Deadly. Fortunately, he was up next, dispatched the remaining riders without Inspire, and moved on to the Crossbows. The remainder was focused on movement and securing zones. The Wind Girls moved left into the zone, dispatched the Man-at-Arms on the right, and I positioned the Maharajah in the path of the Gilded Legion to prevent them from turning effectively. The Flamecaster moved into the central zone, and thanks to Intrusive Thoughts, only the Sorcerer Kings scored in two zones this round.

Round six brought the characters and Bakasura first, followed by the heavy hitters, and finally the Ghouls. However, Christian made the charge into the Ghouls, resulting in their demise. In return, the Wind Girls dispatched a few Man-at-Arms, and the others settled on the left in the zone. Bakasura then cleared out the Crossbows and positioned himself defensively. Next, I maneuvered the Maharajah into the already activated Gilded Legion. This move made him the hero of the game, even though he was ultimately overwhelmed and perished in glory. As a result, the Gilded Legion once again failed to score, and the Sword Dancers were able to contribute as well. Two or three rounds later, the Gilded Legion eventually fell, but by then, I was consistently scoring in three zones and securing the objective, which didn't matter.

In the end, it was an extremely bloody game that ended well for me. I had underestimated how aggressively Christian would engage me. Later on, Christian demonstrated the resilience of the Gilded Legion, and if it hadn't been blocked, it would have made my life much harder. Overall, it was a beautiful and very exciting game. I particularly enjoyed the discussions during the game about lore and mechanics. Battlereport for Game 3 is now ready, here is the link