after Nino and Nauth practically conspired at the last tournament not to face me, Nino just didn't enter the zone to reduce the difference, I was finally able to get my well-deserved revenge on Nauth. This time, however, he didn't bring a Spire but the Hundred Kingdoms, and we played the Melee scenario. Before I get into that, here’s my army list as a reminder:
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]:
Nauth played the revised Hunter Cadre and only one unit of Ashen Dawn. Marcus, also known as Pommesmann/Bremer, the other Hundred Kingdoms player, even opted to forgo the Ashen Dawn, as they had become too expensive for both players with the latest update. Instead, they relied on the Crimson Tower. Both had a similarly sized block.
The Hundred Kingdoms [2000/2000]
== Chapter Mage [105]: School of Fire, Focused
* Mercenary Crossbowmen 3 [105]:
* Mercenary Crossbowmen 3 [105]:
== Warlord Priory Commander Sealed Temple [145]: Olefant's Roar
* Order of the Sealed Temple 3 [205]: Standard Bearer
* Order of the Sealed Temple 3 [205]: Standard Bearer
* Order of the Ashen Dawn 3 [260]:
* Order of the Crimson Tower 5 [375]: Standard Bearer
== Warlord Imperial Officer [90]: Brace for Impact, On Your Feet
* Men at Arms 3 [105]:
* Mercenary Crossbowmen 3 [105]:
* Hunter Cadre 3 [195]: Veterans, +1 Volley, Standard Bearer, Null Mage
We essentially see a standard list here. The only special feature is the Commander with Olefant's Roar in the Crimson Tower. This significantly increases the damage potential of the regiment and is enough to wipe out almost any opposing regiment in the Charge Clash, provided you manage to get the Charge Clash. Otherwise, nearly a quarter of the army's points become irrelevant. In the first two games, the Crimson Tower performed excellently for Nauth against the Nords and also against the Wadhrun Tontorr, and in this game, they were supposed to disrupt my plan and give him a true Gandalf moment like at the end of The Two Towers.
We played the Melee scenario, and the terrain was anything but favorable for me. In the center was a body of water that didn't restrict the movement of cavalry, while the forests at least offered some protection against ranged attacks. Nauth got the side with an unfavorably placed house in the corner. However, thanks to his Imperial Officer as Warlord, he could already claim three zones in round 2, while I had no corresponding options. Perhaps Nauth overlooked all this and set up his army with its back to me; then it might actually work out. In that moment, I truly wished for a different opponent, maybe even Nino's Old Dominion Rush list. However, as became apparent a few days later, Sorcerer Kings stand little chance against such Old Dominion lists, which can overrun you by round 4 at the latest.
The knights were therefore the lesser evil, but still a difficult matchup in an unfavorable scenario and on a table that was not advantageous for me regarding the terrain. In short, it was once again time to ask my patron Arioch for assistance.
In round one, the Hundred Kingdoms played alone and were able to deploy all three Crossbow units. The Chapter Mage positioned himself centrally, while the other two regiments were placed slightly to the left and right of him. In round two, I was allowed to enter the game as well and rolled for three additional medium regiments. Naturally, I chose all my mages and also opted for a regiment of Sword Dancers. Nauth was only allowed to place his automatic regiments: Man-at-Arms, Sealed Temple, and the Hunter Cadre in the deck.
As a Sorcerer King, I had to first bring my regiments onto the battlefield before I could use the character cards. After all, I want rituals. After a brief consideration, I decided to place the Sword Dancers far down the field to set them up as far from the Hunter Cadre as possible. This way, I might eventually be able to target the Sealed Temple. Since Nauth had eight cards and I had seven, I hoped for a correspondingly favorable positioning.
Nauth started the round with his characters. Meanwhile, I moved my Dhanur and the Sorcerer centrally onto the battlefield. Then, Nauth placed his Man-at-Arms in the left zone, and I wondered why he didn’t put the Hunter Cadre or the Sealed Temple there. He explained that he didn't want these units in the small zone because he needed the space for later moves, and the Sealed Temple could threaten a larger area from the small zone. This reasoning was sound, but it allowed me to place my one-man army, the Muscle-Fire Maharajah, directly opposite him. Of course, Rajakur was there as his bodyguard, so he wasn’t really alone. Since even having two doesn’t create a Skar round, I also placed the Sword Dancers out of courtesy. On the other flank, his Hunter Cadre finally appeared, allowing Nauth to solidly collect ten points with two large and one small zone. I, on the other hand, had three rituals again: Conflagration with one and two tokens, and Intrusive Thoughts with one token.
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In round three, Nauth brought the Crimson Tower and the second Sealed Temple into play. It seemed that the Lord of the Seven Darknesses was favoring me, as I was allowed to place all my cards into my deck. I placed the Wind Maharajah and the Flamecaster at the top. I wanted to use these three for alibi activations before the important units followed: the Sword Dancer, the Sorcerers, Rajakur, the second Sword Dancer, both Bakasuras, Dhanur, Rajakur again, and finally the last Maharajah.
Nauth began again and reformed his Man-at-Arms widely to trigger Bastion. After that, the proceedings stalled for a while: I set up my units while Nauth positioned his Crossbows. In addition to the Sorcerer and the Fire Maharajah, a regiment of Flamecasters also entered the game. But suddenly, the Sealed Temple moved forward and performed a Move Charge into the Flamecasters on the right. One Flamecaster died in the process. Now I could cast Sandstorm on the Sealed Temple and attack their flank with Rajakur. The attack initially caused only minor damage, but later the Dhanur shot at the Sealed Temple before they entered the zone, leaving only a battered knight behind. Nauth made this move to position my Rajakur such that they were showing him their flank. One regiment of Crossbows took advantage of this and shot at the Sorcerers from their movement. However, after only two hits and one wound, I was quite satisfied with that.
One Bakasura appeared on each flank, and on the right, I deliberately positioned him slightly further away than the Hunter Cadre could reach. The Hunters therefore moved a little closer, while the Crimson Tower positioned themselves to the right of the small zone. The second Sealed Temple entered the zone to score points. On the left flank, everything went as planned: I sent my Sword Dancers against the Man-at-Arms with a Move Charge, followed by the Fire Maharajah. While I couldn’t claim the zone, I was able to deny it to my opponent, thus generating an additional token. With that, I had scored my first two points, bringing the score to 2:17. Additionally, since I had two characters in zones, I received two Conflagration cards for my deck. One Conflagration and Intrusive Thoughts were still there, both with one token each.
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In round four, I had the bonus for going first and several important targets to take care of. My focus was on the Man-at-Arms as the primary target, so I placed Conflagration and the Sword Dancer at the top of my deck. Following them were the Maharajah, Dhanur, the Sorcerers, Rajakur, Flamecaster, the second Sword Dancer, Rajakur again, the Maharajah, the Bakasuras, and lastly another Conflagration. I contemplated for a long time whether I would need the second Conflagration earlier, but ultimately decided against it. The threat posed by the two Bakasuras should deter Nauth from making overly aggressive maneuvers, and I wanted to avoid overextending my army. After a quick prayer to Arioch, I began the round and activated Conflagration, which achieved ten hits against the Man-at-Arms with a Burn to Cinder. Immediately afterward, the Sword Dancers attacked, defeated the last survivors, secured me six points, and then executed a Move Charge into the flank of a Crossbow regiment, which was left with only two hit points.
Nauth wanted to start with the Man-at-Arms to grant them D4 and hoped to potentially eliminate a Sword Dancer. However, the combination of Niyantran, Burn to Cinder, and the Sword Dancers finally achieved the desired effect, and dark memories returned to Nauth. That is THE Fire Maharajah with all the hits! Correct.
Nauth activated the Commander’s Supremacy and revealed the Sealed Temple after the Man-at-Arms, which attempted a Move Charge against the Dhanur. The attack was successful and caused eight hits. With D2 and R3, the Dhanur should survive, and since no other enemy units could apply pressure, my triumph seemed inevitable. But Arioch was apparently displeased with my hubris. I failed both armor and morale rolls, and my Warlord went to an early grave. This forced my Fire Maharajah to activate earlier than planned and he could only apply Aura of Death 4 to the Sword Dancers. Nauth moved forward, shot at the Sword Dancers and Flamecaster, but the results were mixed for him. Then I was allowed to use the Sorcerers, who placed Sandstorm on the fresh Sealed Temple and fired at the wounded Sealed Temple through Rajakur’s regiment, which promptly fell. Shortly afterward, the second Sword Dancer defeated their brothers, and the remaining Crossbow also fell to Aura of Death. Four dead regiments in exchange for my Warlord. I was only somewhat pleased with that.
Nauth conceded the left flank and placed the Ashen Dawn behind the small zone, as they couldn’t enter it without a banner. Now lacking scoring regiments, he had to place the nearly 500-point block of Crimson Tower in the zone. Naturally, I was very pleased with that. I thanked Arioch for having placed the second Conflagration at the end of my deck, and my patron seemed to honor this: The Hunter Cadre achieved ten hits against a Bakasura, which, however, only suffered three damage. With a score of 19:24, I had made good progress, having two rituals, both with three tokens each.
In round five, I placed a Bakasura on top, which was positioned high due to the ritual from the last round. This created the opportunity to attack the Crimson Tower from the flank. Although they had many hit points, with Jadoo, Aura of Death, and the Ashen Dawn—who might not be activated early—this could be a good plan. Luckily, Nauth started and spared me from making this mistake. The Ashen Dawn moved in between and blocked access to the zone. So instead, the Bakasura attacked the regiment of the Chapter Mage and defeated it, earning me four points. However, after a few alibi activations, I noticed a flaw in my calculations: my second Bakasura was protected from the Crimson Tower by two Flamecasters, but they were in range of the Hunter Cadre and the last Crossbows. They shot and eliminated them. Then the Crimson Tower targeted the Bakasura, which at least took one knight with it thanks to Last Word. This was a setback, as I suddenly faced many knights and had no clear plan on how to effectively fight them. I knew I had to bind them to prevent them from slaughtering a regiment from my army every round, but of course, that would also cost me points. So I needed to find a solution to push them back at least somewhat.
I concentrated my army on the left flank and cast Sandstorm on the Crimson Tower. Then the Rajakur engaged in melee, but they achieved only limited success. Ultimately, I faced the decision to either attempt a risky flank attack on the Crimson Tower with a Sword Dancer regiment or to score points. I chose the attack and managed to defeat another of the Crimson Tower. This prevented the Crimson Tower from potentially wiping out both regiments next round with a Clash Charge. I positioned the other Sword Dancers so that the Ashen Dawn could only attack my troops if they left the zone. Thus, we moved into the next round. Unfortunately, I only held one zone and could only complete one ritual. Another remained for round seven. The score was 27:35.
It would have been ideal to start, but Nauth thought the same and began the round. The Crimson Tower wiped out my Rajakur, and the Hunter Cadre only managed to take down one of my Sword Dancers. Pleased, I took this opportunity to position the Maharajah's Rajakur, and with a later double Burn to Cinder into the flank, I was able to wear down the Crimson Tower. 4 hits + 1-8 is just great. This brought me much-needed six points. Something similar happened at his small zone: The Ashen Dawn were forced to do nothing. Only then did the Sword Dancers attack, followed by the Bakasura on the flank. I killed enough to advance and bring the monster into the zone. Nauth still had one Ashen Dawn, two Stand Crossbows, and the Hunter Cadre. I started in round seven, and his army died. Nauth insisted that we count up, and scoring four zones over four rounds was already quite valuable. Enough to finish the awards ceremony with five points more than Nino and thereby narrowly win the tournament ahead of him.
Post-Mortem of the Army List:
As mentioned elsewhere, the recent update for the Sorcerer Kings has hardly changed anything. The increased cost of Flamecasters is frustrating; however, the upgrade of the Wind Brutes is a positive change. The fact that monsters now generate ritual tokens when they are in zones offers a nice synergy, but in my opinion, it’s more of a "nice to have" than an element to actively play for—perhaps with the exception of the Maharajah on Mahut.
What poses a serious problem for the Sorcerer Kings (and currently for the Dweghom as well) is the meta shift. It seems that many players are now relying on a fast light rush with the Nords, Wadrhun, Spire, City States, and Old Dominion: often, there are 6+ cards in play starting from round one, and by round two, powerful units are jumping right into your face. Be it Moroi, Thorakites, Stryx, or other aggressive troops. Additionally, these armies currently have a very strong scenario game, which complicates the situation for Sorcerer Kings. Spire, in particular, is problematic because they now have various ways to weaken the opponent’s defense while activating multiple times. The Old Dominion Moroi rush also makes it particularly difficult for Sorcerer Kings to win games. Not only are they in position by round two, but they also bring interference. As long as you’re not playing in a really advantageous scenario and have very good reinforcements, I see no hope. It would also help if the opponent failed to roll for reinforcements, which would level the playing field.
Therefore, I can understand the frustration of many players with the faction. Nonetheless, I am confident that we will receive some new regiments in the first half of 2025 that will allow us to remain competitive.
Army List:
Air Maharajah & Dhanur Disciples: Their task is to annoy the opponent and deal residual damage, which they do reliably. If necessary, the Maharajah can also give them rerolls when no Flamecasters are available, which I find quite practical.
Sorcerer with Jadoo Kavach & Court of Fire: Still an indispensable element in my army. Jadoo is incredibly powerful, and Sandstorm is essential against many opponents if you want to keep up. The only downside is that the Sorcerer doesn’t have access to the Conflagration ritual.
Maharajah with Niyantran, Court of Fire, and Lord of Conflict: An experiment I tried, but I believe the Scimitar would have been a much better choice. I chose Niyantran because I thought it would also ignore Interference, which unfortunately it does not. I might play him more often if I get the box with the "Muscle Maharajah." In principle, the 30 points for these upgrades could also be invested more sensibly elsewhere.
Rajakur: The perfect mainstay for Sorcerer Kings and an excellent bodyguard for mages. With Resolve 3 and Hardened, they are convincing, and they remain my first choice for protecting the mages.
Efreet Flamecasters: A solid option for the Sorcerer Kings. I understand why many currently use them in mass, but I don't want to acquire too many of them. I hope that soon other creatures will be added for more varied lists.
Efreet Sword Dancers: In the Charge Clash with Jadoo, they make 28 attacks, which is enough to take out many enemy units, and the models look fantastic. Without a ritual, they don’t come into play as often, so I’ve tried playing without them a few times, but I like them too much to remove them from my lists. I’m even considering fielding a Maharajah in a unit of 5, but such tests will probably not happen in the foreseeable future as I'm currently experimenting a lot with Wadrhun.
Rakshasa Bakasura: My boys! I love them, even if they weren't quite as outstanding in this tournament as before. The extra Resolve suits them well and makes the Ravanar seem more interesting. In my opinion, they are still a bit too expensive, but they look fantastic, and an 18" threat range on characters is something to keep in mind.
Closing Words
The tournament at Kelpie Con was the third year in a row that we were there with Conquest: Last Argument of Kings. In the first year, we only had demo games, and now we have small but fun tournaments. I’m glad that we will again have the opportunity to host a tournament there next year. The three games were not only entertaining but also enjoyable, and I had a lot of fun, even if double kill points were a bit exhausting.
I chose the Sorcerer Kings at short notice because many Hundred Kingdoms players were present, and I personally enjoy playing against different things. For the last two tournaments this year—only two, as my schedule is already very full—I have no idea what I will play yet.
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