Overview
Game 1
Game 2
Game 3
Hey,
As promised, here’s the match report from the second game at Kelpie Con! This time, I faced off against Lars, which is always an interesting challenge for me. Just a quick reminder of my army list beforehand:
Sorcerer Kings [2000/2000]
== (Warlord) Maharajah [140]: Shu'laat, Court of Air
* Dhanur Disciples (3) [140]:
== Sorcerer [130]: Jadoo Kavach, Court of Fire
* Rajakur (3) [120]:
* Efreet Sword Dancers (3) [170]:
* Rakshasa Bakasura (1) [260]:
* Rakshasa Bakasura (1) [260]:
== Maharajah [150]: Niyantran, Court of Fire, Lord of Conflict
* Efreet Flamecasters (3) [170]:
* Efreet Sword Dancers (3) [170]:
* Rajakur (3) [120]:
* Efreet Flamecasters (3) [170]:
Lars was very pleased with the latest update and made only minor adjustments to his "standard" tournament list. The Huscarls have now been shifted to support the Volva, which provides them with additional backing, and he slightly reduced the size of his Valkyries to make room for a second smaller unit of Bow Chosen. So instead of one large unit, there are now two smaller ones, with Lars integrating the Konungyr into one of them. It's not exactly my personal favorite, but interestingly, another tournament participant made a similar choice.
Nords [1990/2000]
== Shaman [80]:
* Raiders (3) [130]: Captain
* Mountain Jotnar(1) [210]:
== (Warlord) Volva [140]: Ty Jokull, the Rimeheart, Ancestors' Blessing
* Huskarls (5) [250]:
* Valkyries (3) [150]:
== Konungyr [120]:
* Bow-Chosen (3) [210]:
* Bow-Chosen (3) [210]:
* Ice Jotnar (1) [250]:
* Sea Jotnar (1) [240]:
We’re playing the Off-Balance scenario, and Lars’s list wasn’t quite what I had expected. So far, most games against him with Sorcerer Kings have been mixed, and for the upcoming tournament in December, he’s also planning to add a Seidr to his list. For me, that means more monster spam and fast units that can score points—a real nuisance, but it’s a problem for December. Still, Off-Balance against Nords is far from ideal, and every one of my plans heavily depends on my reinforcement rolls in the second round.
The battlefield, however, offered a small strategic relief: in the center was a hill, flanked by a house and a forest, all partially blocking lines of sight. With my longer range, it could be possible that I’d only be exposed to the Bow Chosen’s shooting for a single round. It’s not ideal, but with Opportunist, V3, and Barrage 5, even a single round of their attacks can be brutal and cost me regiments.
In the second round, Lars rolled successfully for his second medium unit, adding both the Valkyries and the Huscarls to his deck—luckily, though, not his second Bow Chosen and the Konungyr. On my side, I had a fortunate roll and got all three mages and a regiment of Sword Dancers into play. This gave me plenty of options, possibly even an early hunt for the Bow Chosen. I put them right at the top of my deck since I planned to position them centrally anyway. Then, I alternated between deploying Rajakur, Dhanur, and my other characters. My main focus was positioning my Sorcerers near where the Huscarls were.
Lars began by moving his Raiders just far enough into the zone to score points. My Sword Dancers also advanced but stayed within 12 inches so he couldn’t shoot at them. Lars chose to hide his Bow Chosen behind a hill, which surprised me as I expected him to position them on top, but this setup worked as well. I positioned Dhanur to take advantage of cover, making them a less appealing target for Lars’s shooting next round. To their right, I placed the Fire Maharajah, while on the opposite side, the Sorcerers positioned as planned against the Huscarls.
The Nords led 2 poitns, while I prepared three rituals: Conflagration with one and two tokens, and Intrusive Thoughts with one token.
In the third round, the Bow Chosen, Ice Jotnar, and Sea Jotnar entered the field for the Nords. On my side, two Flamecasters and a Bakasura appeared. I considered whether I could prevent Lars from scoring this round. There were a couple of options, but I’d have to risk one of my important mages either way. My main plan, however, was to minimize damage and prepare for the next round. I placed a Maharajah at the top of my deck to begin another ritual, with the Sword Dancers, Rajakur, and another Maharajah waiting below.
Lars started by moving his Huscarls into the left zone, positioning both Jotnars behind them. I accepted that, at least for this round and the next, the left side belonged to the Nords. So, I placed the Bakasura on the right and stationed a regiment of Flamecasters on each flank. Lars’s Valkyries advanced past the Raiders to secure the zone, while the Raiders spread out with Reform 2, giving me the choice of targeting either the Raiders or the Valkyries with the Dhanur. I chose the Valkyries since the Fire Maharajah could follow up, inflicting 6 damage, leaving only 2 more needed from the Maharajah to deny the zone. However, there was still the inactive Bow Chosen regiment, which I was wary of approaching.
At the same time, Lars was hesitant to get too close to my Sword Dancers, so when they held their position, his Bow Chosen shifted slightly to the side instead of advancing. He hadn’t factored in the Maharajah; otherwise, he might have activated his second unit first. He knew how much I valued my mages and assumed I wouldn’t sacrifice the Fire Maharajah just for a ritual token. The problem was that if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have a ritual set up for next round, and I really wanted that. So Rajakur entered the zone. The second Bow Chosen moved toward the center, and my Burn to Cinder inflicted the needed 2 damage to break the Valkyries.
Lars took the lead at 4, but I earned one ritual and prepared two Conflagration spells along with Intrusive Thoughts.
Round four, and we both received our remaining units. At the top, I placed a ritual and the Bakasura, followed by all regiments on the right flank. There was nothing within range on the left, and I hoped he’d give me a good shot with the Flamecasters. Despite the bonus, I couldn’t go first, and the Bow Chosen opened fire on the Rajakur of the Fire Maharajah, who survived with only three health points left—lucky for me and unfortunate for Lars. I sent the Bakasura into the Bow Chosen, which burst as expected. The Sorcerer wanted Ignite for Conflagration to trigger Jadoo. Due to the positioning of the Valkyrie, Lars couldn't move the Raiders well, and I realized that this zone would definitely be mine. We’d also forgotten to remove the penultimate Valkyrie model from the table, so into the figure box it went.
Since the Raiders had already acted, my Wind Maharajah attempted to grant the Dhanur rerolls but failed. Still, I activated them immediately afterward, leaving the last Valkyrie with only one health point. Later, the Fire Maharajah finished off this last point in close combat, especially since the Shaman failed his Hoarfrost spell. When the Bakasura took only 6 damage from the second Bow Chosen, I already considered this round more successful than expected. Toward the end of the round, the Mountain Jotnar appeared on the right flank and, under cover of the building, moved toward the marker. Why he didn’t place it to support the Raiders and Bow Chosen is something we discussed afterward. At best, it wouldn’t become a threat for three more rounds, even if it destroyed the objective—by which time the right flank looked very grim for Lars.
On the left flank, the Jotnars hesitated to advance, and we faced off in a standstill. Lars’s Jotnars weren’t eager to push forward, which suited me fine, though the forest was a bit inconvenient. But when the Huscarls moved forward a bit, I decided it was time for some fun with the Flamecasters and Torrential Fire. I sent them into the water and took down one stand of the Huscarls. Lars realized he’d have to move forward soon, and I scored for the first time. I also gained two extra markers for the Bakasura and the character, leaving two Conflagration spells ready for next round. The score was now 2:6 for Nords.
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Round 5, and once again I had a ritual and a Bakasura at the top, followed by a Sorcerer with Rajakur, Maharajah, another Rajakur, Flamecaster, and a ritual. At the bottom, I placed the Sword Dancers and the last Bakasura.
Finally, I got to start, but my Sorcerer failed to cast Sandstorm. Since the Volva was so close, I was forced to attempt a spell despite the interference. Now I had to decide which of the two Bakasuras to activate. Going after the Huscarls risked one of the Jotnars getting me if I killed too many, and I didn’t want to be fighting in the zone. I saw no such risk with the Bow Chosen, so I decided to eliminate them instead. This worked, though the Konungyr dealt 8 damage to me as he died, leaving the creature nearly dead—but in Conquest, it doesn’t matter if a monster has 1 or 16 health for its output. Incidentally, those Bow Chosen were at the top of his deck as well, with his Huscarls up next. They weren’t fond of my Flamecasters and came to meet them in the water, killing one.
Things were going according to plan, and the Sorcerer managed to cast another Sandstorm, while on the flank, the Rajakur took down two stands of Huscarls. That was a welcome bonus, but a bit too greedy, as Lars's Raiders, with Impact hits, took out my Rajakur in the right zone. On the bright side, the Fire Maharajah managed to take down a stand of Raiders as it died. Unfortunately, the remaining Raiders moved to the edge of the zone, forcing me to make a play. Then the Ice Jotnar activated, and I would have bet money that both Jotnars were at the bottom of his deck—Lars also grimaced when he saw the revealed Jotnar card. After a moment’s thought, the Ice Jotnar turned and marched toward the nearly-dead Bakasura, killing it with magic. In its final move, the Bakasura cast Last Word on the Huscarls, reducing them to just two or three health points. Lars had misunderstood the range of this ability, thinking it was limited to 8 inches from the Bakasura rather than from any mage.
With the opportunity clear, I got greedy, and my Flamecasters, with Inspire Clash, killed the Huscarls and moved into the zone. On the other side, the same thing happened—Torrential Fire and Arcing Fire took down the Raiders. Jadoo saved me in both cases, and in the end, the Sea Jotnar emerged from the forest and killed a Sword Dancer. Unfortunately for him, this positioned him poorly, and the Sword Dancers attacked him from the flank as well as from the front, leaving only his corpse behind. The Mountain Jotnar failed to inflict damage on the objective marker with Impact hits, leaving me with both zones, the Warlord kill, and Lars down to just his two remaining Jotnars. Score: 9:6.
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Lars wasn’t ready to give up and still had some hope. If he started executing his plan, he could catch my Flamecasters with the Ice Jotnar. Although it would only be a Move Charge, he counts as 4 stands in that charge. Of course, he also managed to score 10 hits with his spell, and two stands of the Flamecasters simply died from the impacts and the spell. Additionally, there were two damage dealt to the Mountain Jotnar’s objective, so I quickly moved my army to the right flank to stop this Ice Jotnar. The Dhanur were able to inflict 8 damage on the Ice Jotnar at close range, meaning it probably wouldn’t survive much longer. Plus, I had an important ritual prepared for the next round. The score was 11:8.
In round 7, I placed my ritual and the Sword Dancers at the top. They could definitely reach the Jotnar with a Move Move Charge. They likely wouldn’t kill it, but he couldn’t split his attacks and therefore wouldn’t score points with Intrusive Thoughts. That’s exactly what happened: The Jotnar killed the Flamecasters in front of him but failed with his spell. Then the Dhanur moved in and killed the Jotnar, and I pushed figures forward to damage the first objective. The Mountain Jotnar destroyed the marker and turned, but since I secured the objectives in the following rounds and controlled all the zones, that became irrelevant.
At the neighboring table, Nino was defeated by the Spire, but he still had enough points to maintain his lead. The new Old Dominion Rush proved unexpectedly strong, so I prepared for that. Next to us, Nauth also won, and the draw decided that I would face him and his Hundred Kingdoms. Link Game 3
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