Tournament Battlereport from Victorum Liubice IV Game 2 Hundred Kingdoms against Dweghom

Overview
Game 1
Game 2
Game 3

Hello,

At the moment, my schedule is pretty tight, but this afternoon I finally managed to carve out some time to write the next report on the recent Lübeck tournament. In the second game, I faced the Dweghom again, and my opponent's army was quite similar to Jens’. Jens had his first opportunity to go up against the Sorcerer Kings in the second or third round, and his Warlord had a painful encounter with the 18" Bakasura. At that point, I saw my chances of victory (SoS) slipping away, but there were still more games ahead. As a reminder in advance – here’s my army list:

== Warlord Priory Commander Sealed Temple [110]:
* Order of the Sealed Temple 3 [205]: Standard Bearer
* Order of the Sealed Temple 3 [205]: Standard Bearer
* Order of the Ashen Dawn 3 [265]: Standard Bearer
* Order of the Ashen Dawn 3 [250]:

== Warlord Imperial Officer [90]: Brace for Impact, On Your Feet
* Men at Arms 3 [105]:
* Mercenary Crossbowmen 3 [105]:
* Mercenary Crossbowmen 3 [105]:
* Mercenary Crossbowmen 3 [105]:

== Priory Commander Crimson Tower [160]: Olefant's Roar, Long Lineage
* Order of the Crimson Tower 4 [295]: Standard Bearer

My opponent was the new "Tim Prime." He hails from the quaint city of Hamburg and earned this title after defeating Lübeck’s Tim, also a Dweghom player, in the first round. This makes him the third "Tim" from the North to play Dweghom. Tim Prime brought a Hellbringer without a Sorcerer, which he affectionately named "Bätzi." Otherwise, his list was quite similar to those of Uziel and Jens.

Dweghom [1995/2000]

== Tempered Steelshaper [120]:
 * Steelforged (3) [210]:
 * Hold Ballistae (3) [140]:

== Ardent Kerawegh [100]: Memory of Breath
 * Flame Berserkers (3) [170]:
 * Magmaforged (3) [200]:
 * Hold Warriors (3) [130]:

== (Warlord) Tempered Sorcerer [165]: Cthonic Flame, Fire School, Hellbringer Sorcerer
 * Fireforged (3) [180]:
 * Fireforged (3) [180]:
 * Hellbringer Drake (1) [200]:
 * Hellbringer Drake (1) [200]:

We played the "Melee" scenario, which is always a challenge against the Dweghom, but without a Steelshaper as Warlord, it’s manageable – provided I position myself smartly and manage to pull his troops apart a bit. In this scenario, it's often the case that I take the lead in points during the first two rounds, and then I just need to maintain clean attrition control. I didn't quite manage that in the first game, but here I had a second chance to do better. The terrain played a much more important role. A stone arch on the battlefield was considered completely opaque, effectively splitting the field in two. Each of us had a forest and an open area to hide our units. Between these areas, there was a body of water, which turned out to be the perfect spot for Tim’s two toads. Another water area was at the edge of the battlefield, which I initially laughed off, as it rarely becomes relevant. Naturally, later in the game, I ended up charging my Crimson Tower, which relies on impacts, straight into it – but more on that later.

In Round 1, the Dweghom placed their ballista in an open field and secured the first token. I positioned a unit of crossbowmen on each flank, and we jumped straight into Round 2. Tim quickly rolled for both of his drakes, the berserkers, the Steelforged, the Magmaforged, and one unit of Fireforged. That was a substantial number of units entering the game. I, on the other hand, could only bring in my crossbowmen and the Sealed Temple. Since the Dweghom were focused on gathering tokens, Tim’s Ardent and Sorcerer were likely still further down in his deck. However, this only helped me to a limited extent, as I was facing eight activation cards against his ten.

Nevertheless, I was lucky that my character models were right at the top of the deck, followed by the Man-at-Arms, who had only one direction to go: straight into the small zone. After that came the Sealed Temple, all the crossbowmen, and the last Sealed Temple. The Dweghom ballista moved forward, followed by the two Hellbringers, flanked by the Steelforged. Without saying a word, he made it clear early on that the right flank was his. Still, I decided to cautiously push my first Sealed Temple to the edge of the right zone. This allowed me to minimize the risk of a move-charge from the Steelforged in the next round, as well as the potential shooting at them, since I was planning to place the riders up next. On the left flank, the Fireforged marched through the forest, while the berserkers advanced in single file next to the Magmaforged. I took the opportunity to deal eight hits from my crossbowmen’s movement, but to be fair, Tim saved six of them. Then I moved my second Sealed Temple into the left zone, securing myself a comfortable 10-point lead.

In Round 3, I got lucky and was able to bring all three of my Heavies onto the battlefield, while Tim only rolled for his second unit of Fireforged. This meant that the Dweghom Warriors had to stay in reserve for now. At the start of the round, the first unit of Sealed Temple was on top of my deck, followed by two units of crossbowmen, my characters, the Man-at-Arms, the Ashen Dawn, more crossbowmen, additional Sealed Temple, and finally the Crimson Tower.

My plan for this round was to make a larger retreat on the right flank to lure Tim's army further forward. If he positioned himself poorly in the process, I might be able to launch an attack on his Warlord's toad with the Crimson Tower in the next round. This strategy largely worked: my crossbowmen and the Sealed Temple retreated far enough on the right side to leave the Dweghom free points there. But Tim advanced his ballistas into the water and positioned the two Hellbringers next to them. However, "Bätzi" was standing a bit too far to the left, so she would need to take a small step to the side in the next round to enter the zone. She was only covered by the Steelforged – and this sparked a new plan in my mind.

Earlier this year, Uziel had experimented for a while with Hellbringers without riders, and we discovered that Hellbringers without a sorcerer only have 8 attacks with Clash 2 and Cleave 1. In other words, no threatening fireballs or destructive magma spells that could ruin my day. So, contrary to my original plan, I decided to bring the Ashen Dawn to this flank to threaten the Steelforged. A charge on 3 inches would be feasible in the next round, and afterward, the Sealed Temple could follow up with a move-charge into the Hellbringer’s flank – and the zone would be mine.

But before I executed this plan, I deployed my first Ashen Dawn on the left side to prompt Tim into sending his second Fireforged to that flank. There, the Ardent tried casting a spell to score points for the berserkers, but the spell failed, and the berserkers ended up just denying the zone. I fired a few shots at them, but the damage was minimal, and I didn’t manage to take out any stands. There was an option to attempt a charge with the Sealed Temple, but I decided against it, as they would likely just die in the following round. Instead, I opted to simply deny the zone and positioned the Crimson Tower on the left flank, behind my third unit of crossbowmen. I kept the water in mind, but with Olefant’s Roar, there should still be enough impacts to at least whittle down the Magmaforged in the next round. Score at the end of the round: 12-7 in my favor.

In Round 4, Tim’s Warriors finally entered the game. On the right flank, part of my cavalry was positioned behind my crossbowmen, which prevented me from simply moving them forward. If they had activated before Tim's units, he could have easily blocked them and taken my cavalry off the battlefield. So, I decided to first move my characters and the Man-at-Arms up, followed by the Ashen Dawn, the crossbowmen, more Ashen Dawn, the Sealed Temple, two additional units of crossbowmen, and finally the Crimson Tower.

Tim got to start the round, and I activated my Supremacy Ability to grant my units Blessed and Hardened. His berserkers charged into my Sealed Temple first, but thanks to the Re-Roll D4, my units were able to withstand even the 19 attacks from the berserkers. Tim realized he wouldn’t be able to reach my critical units otherwise, so he activated his Ardent, giving my Sealed Temple the order that they couldn’t score points. He also moved his Fireforged and other units accordingly.

Now I had to activate the first Ashen Dawn, and unfortunately, I botched their charge. A move charge would have been the better decision here, but I got greedy and wanted to win the clash outright. As a result, they ended up within range of Tim’s Steelshaper and one of his drakes, allowing the Steelforged to attack without hindrance. Thanks to Hardened, my Ashen Dawn survived the attack almost unscathed, but at least the Steelforged were now pushed out of the zone.

Then the action shifted to the left flank, where my crossbowmen tried to thin out the berserkers and finally managed to kill the first stand. Afterward, my Ashen Dawn advanced with a move charge towards the Magmaforged. Since there was no longer any pesky Fireforged shooting at them, it wasn’t a problem for the Ashen Dawn to pin them down, clearing the way for the Crimson Tower to wipe out the Magmaforged in the next round. The Ashen Dawn dealt two damage with their impacts but took three or four damage back from Lethal Demise. Thanks to their high defense, they withstood most of the attacks, but there was a brief moment when my heart nearly stopped—before the re-roll, I had only one successful armor save.

Back on the right flank, my Sealed Temple were finally able to perform their reform, move, and charge on Bätzi. I saved the Blessed effect for defense since Tim had five tokens available, and I couldn’t take out the Hellbringer completely with impacts alone. Bätzi couldn’t see my Warlord, and since she wanted to stay in the small zone, she had to deal with my Ashen Dawn. The first spell killed one Ashen Dawn, and the second was out of range—perfect for me. Additionally, Tim’s Warriors marched up on the right but couldn’t bring enough stands into the zone to deny it from me. With that, the right flank was secure.

On the left side, my Sealed Temple continued to fight bravely, supported by the Blessed effect, and freed themselves from their precarious situation without needing Inspire. They charged the Fireforged and managed to eliminate a stand through impacts. While the second unit of Fireforged could shoot into their flank in the next round, I’d survive as long as they didn’t land 12 hits.

Finally, I wanted to send the Crimson Tower into the Magmaforged with a move charge, but I had to roll for it. Since the risk was too high, I decided to simply march forward and secure the zone. The score at the end of this round: 24-7.

In Round 5, the Crimson Tower and both units of Ashen Dawn were up next. Since Uziel had only tested smaller units of Magmaforged until now, I had overlooked that this unit only had 13 hit points left. While I hoped to thin them out with a charge and clash from the Crimson Tower, I didn’t expect them to be quickly crushed—especially since my killer ponies were standing in water. But to my surprise, the impact from the Crimson Tower was enough to completely eliminate the Magmaforged, causing his entire left flank to collapse. The remaining Fireforged could still shoot into the flank of my Sealed Temple, but my Commander was over the riders in the deck and could gather them. The now-free Ashen Dawn took the opportunity to attack the Fireforged in the flank, who were engaged in close combat with my Sealed Temple. Then, the Sealed Temple pushed into the flank of the last Fireforged using Fluid Formation. In the end, only one stand of the Fireforged remained, and the second unit of Sealed Temple took hardly any damage from the Warriors that fell on their backs. With that, the game was essentially decided. I denied the large right zone, secured two zones, and Tim failed to eliminate my crossbowmen and Ashen Dawn. Even more crucially, two fresh cavalry regiments were ready on the left side to ride behind Tim’s units in the next round and clear the field in the round after that. The score at the end of Round 5: 37-9.

In Round 6, Tim's Steelforged fell quickly, and shortly after, my three remaining units on the left flank were taken out as well. The last Ashen Dawn managed to engage in close combat with Tim’s ballista, and his Sorcerer Warlord had to intervene to push him out. However, this exposed his back to my second unit of Ashen Dawn, who overran him in Round 7. Victory for the brave humans.

Tim was a pleasant and fair opponent, and overall the game went mostly as planned. However, I was annoyed by two mistakes I made. Although they didn’t significantly affect the outcome, they could have made my life considerably more difficult.

The finals were approaching, and next to me were Cameron and Nino with Expert Scouts from the City States, as well as Max with Old Dominion, all undefeated. For all of us, it felt like choosing between the plague and cholera—either the overly strong Old Dominion, the absurdly fast City States, or me. I volunteered to play against Old Dominion since I had never faced Max before, but the tournament app decided otherwise: I was set to play against Cameron. Cameron essentially had the same list that Nino had been practicing for weeks, so I knew pretty well what to expect from the other side of the table.