Hi,
On the first weekend of February, 18 brave commanders gathered in Hamburg for the first German Conquest Tournament of 2026. The hall was cold, the atmosphere hot, and I was more than ready to put my lists to the test. With the ITC coming up two weeks later, this tournament was essentially a trial run for our lists.
My personal dilemma had been with me for weeks: W’adrhŭn or Sorcerer Kings? The decision was far from easy. Since no W’adrhŭn player had registered, I opted for the friendly Dino Air Force. After all, every army deserves its moment on the field of honor, and I would have had to convert a model for the Sorcerer Kings anyway.
So I packed the tried-and-true list that had already competed in Bremerhaven. You’re probably familiar with the epic battle reports, or you can check them out under “Wings over Bremerhaven.”
Same weaknesses, same areas to improve, but above all: cool dinos on the table. And honestly, looking at the scenarios, the W’adrhŭn grinned at me far more pleasantly than the Sorcerer Kings.
Birds of Prey [2000/2000]
== (Warlord) Thunder Chieftain [150]: Conquest
* Thunder Riders (3) [220]:
* Thunder Riders (3) [220]:
* Quatl (1) [180]:
* Quatl (1) [180]:
== Winglord Predator [220]: War
* Hunting Pack (3) [120]:
* Apex Predator (1) [190]: aka Skullgreymon
== Winglord Predator [220]: War
* Hunting Pack (3) [120]:
* Raptor Riders (3) [180]:
The list is extremely mobile and is practically fully on the field by turn 3. Ten out of eleven cards are regiments; while you can rarely completely neutralize your opponent, most 12-card lists only have nine active regiments. This often gives you the early advantage while still leaving enough regiments to work with. Thanks to War, heavily armored opponents aren’t a problem either. What does cause issues, however, are the Dweghom Sorcerer Warlord or the Old Dominion with Xhiliarch—but my plan against them is simply not to get paired with them.
Game 1: Deathwingritter with City States on Echolon
Right at first glance, it was clear: this was quite different from anything I’d seen before. The even 4-card regiments in particular looked strange and easy to shatter. On the other hand, you first had to deal 21 damage to the cows to actually manage that.
In round 1, I played solo since Sven didn’t have any Lights. A Hunting Pack never showed up for me, and I briefly considered putting pressure on the objective on his side, but I was also reluctant to lose a regiment early to the chariots. Especially since my list doesn’t reliably work with reinforcements in round 2, and I might not have been able to maintain the pressure. So, boring and conservative: one regiment per side.
In round two, I received the mandatory bird in the form of a Quatl and a Winglord, while my second Hunting Pack didn’t show up. Sven’s reinforcements looked similarly weak: a regiment of Hoplites with Warlord and the cavalry. He moved his ponies into a zone, and I placed a bird in mine. Then the Raptors and the Winglord on the left flank did some damage to the objective, and we moved into round 3.
In round three, we both received almost all our cards: I had everything except a Quatl, Sven had everything except an Auto and one cow.
Sven went first, and instead of charging the objective marker with the Hoplites and showing my Hunting Pack his flank, he moved with Move + Charge into the Hunting Pack in the forest. Smart and annoying at the same time. I hadn’t measured and just placed it on a hunch, which now backfired. Many activations later, my Hunting Pack did two damage to the Hoplite regiment with Warlord, which prompted me to move my Warlord with Thunder Riders onto the same flank. Once the Hunting Pack was gone and the block emerged from the forest, it was set to become a nice fountain of blood.
The Apex moved into my zone, while on the same flank the first Auto, the Phalangites, and the Titan appeared. Mathematically, I could simply take the objective marker next round, so the Quatl went forward and shot at the marker—ready to either secure it next round or charge an Auto. Either option would have worked for me.
On the left flank, however, much more was happening. At first it was quiet: I destroyed the marker with my second Winglord, Sven placed his first cows far to the right, and I sent my second Winglord forward to shoot at the ponies. I had originally planned to pull back afterward, but after dealing seven damage, I decided to go directly into the yet-to-be-activated ponies. The impacts were enough to completely wipe out the regiment and secure both zones for me. On Echolon, this is a real disaster for the opponent, because it’s extremely difficult to hold the zone on the other side.
.jpeg)
Round four and the last reinforcements entered the game. My Winglord was relatively safe—only a Move + Charge from the cows could have threatened him. That might have been enough to kill him, but it wasn’t realistic. Plus, the Raptors and the second Winglord could then engage the cows, so I wasn’t worried and focused initially on the other flank.
Sven realized this too and started with a chariot. The Auto didn’t attempt a volley charge against the objective and instead fired directly at the Quatl. The damage was moderate, and after quickly checking how far the Phalangites could get, I took the objective marker.
Sven’s Hoplites crushed my Hunting Pack, pushed his troops slightly forward, and used the forest as cover against my Thunder Riders. I placed my Apex in range of the Phalangites instead of sending it toward the Titan—a mistake that would come back to haunt me later. The beast ran into Autocharge range of the Quatl, and none of my regiments saw it.
On the other side, Sven placed his second cows directly in front of the Winglord, and I flew over them toward freedom—or at least out of danger. Now that the zone was free again and nothing was in range for Sven, he moved the second chariot and the first cows into the zone. Unfortunately, that was only two stands, which put me in a dilemma. Should I send in another Winglord? It would be greedy, but the points were tempting. So the second Winglord flew in while the Raptors performed a charge clash against the chariot. Only two made it, but thanks to Deadly, the Auto was taken out. At the same time, I pushed the second Quatl and the Hunting Pack along the flank. Even when the second Polemarch performed a Move + Charge against the fleeing Winglord, my triumph remained undiminished.
.jpeg)
Round five: If I made a mistake, I would lose two Quatls with no compensation. The right flank had to be secured, and I was sure he would start with the Titan—but what if he didn’t? In the end, my double-card planning paid off, as there was a Quatl on each side that could act. So I placed one Quatl up top and then a Winglord.
Sven went first, and the Quatl survived the clash with the Phalangites. Since I was sure the cows would be his next activation, I activated the Quatl on the other side and went into the cows. With a Volley Charge Clash, I surprisingly took out two cows. But then the cows didn’t appear at all, and the Titan finally removed the other Quatl from the table. I could live with that—especially because the Winglord now went into the cows, and I only had to deal 7 more damage to shatter the regiment. He failed and almost died to the counterattack from the two cows. Later, the second cows also killed the Raptors on the flank, while the Hoplites and the second Winglord engaged in an eternal fight. My second Thunder Riders didn’t go into the cows but positioned themselves 11” away for some fun with the Juggernaut in the next round.
.jpeg)
On the right side, it was more interesting. Although the Apex devoured the Phalangites despite the Pike Formation, the chariot took away half of its life. Only for my second Thunder Riders did the Warlord’s Hoplites have to activate, which allowed me to move into the Titan and kill it without penalty. So next round, I would just need to start and hold on—that would have secured the win, since the score could no longer be caught up.
In round six, I was hesitating: Should I try to play on initiative and put the Thunder Riders up top? Sven had always gone first so far; eventually, I would surely get to start. In my thinking, I skillfully ignored the Polemarch’s Supremacy. All my monsters were damaged, and I felt a bit under pressure. Then I remembered the second Thunder Riders, and the decision became clear: kill the cows and hold the left flank—my Warlord didn’t matter. On the right, Sven couldn’t score any points this round anyway, because he would first have to take out the Thunder Riders with my Warlord.
Sven triggered Supremacy and started his turn. The Thunder Riders actually survived with a few wounds, and the second Thunder Riders turned the cows into a red cloud. The other cows on the two flyers weren’t his next card, so they obediently died. The left zone was thus secured for the rest of the game.
Still, we played until round 10, as Sven wanted to score some moral victories. First, the Polemarch crushed my Warlord, and then when Skullgreymon pounced on him, he fell too—though he had casually posed for a photo beforehand.
Game one was over, and it had been against a fully painted army in purple and gold, which immediately brought back nostalgia for my Hundred Kingdoms.
Walking down the stairs afterward, I was already looking forward to lunch when I saw the plates on the counter. Only, Wuetty had just put them there and explained that he would start the grill in a few minutes. With a few sausages, I could expect food at the earliest in an hour. Well, that set the time window for game two. But then the pairings came in: Spire. That could seriously jeopardize my punctual lunch.
You can find the second Hamburg battle report here: W’adrhŭn vs Spire
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen