In the final, I faced Old Dominion in the Melee scenario, and when I saw David’s list, I felt like vomiting on the spot. But step by step: first, my army list and a cool picture that a friend created using a mobile app.
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]:
Game 3: Sipherion with Old Dominion on Melee
I had already faced David several times as an opponent, and at the last Lübeck tournament, things had gone anything but well for me. He struck my Sorcerer Kings with full force and dealt heavy damage. When the game seemed already decided and I had mentally resigned myself to defeat, something happened that no one could have expected.
The Mahut, which until then had behaved more like Benjamin Blümchen, friendly, almost sluggish, and seemingly harmless, finally got into the mud. It donned its war paint and transformed instantly. A roar shook the battlefield so violently that even the attacking Apex stumbled. With brutal force, the Mahut tore the Apex’s legs out from under it, hurled it to the ground, and left a horrifying scene as it strangled the Apex with its own intestines.
To the horror of my Rajakur, who were standing above on the Mahut, the corpse was finally flung across the field, burying a few Blooded and a Hunting Pack. Even some uninvolved Thunder Riders witnessed this unleashed frenzy. Yet the Mahut, blind with blood and rage, pressed on. Due to legal considerations, I will spare you further details here. In the end, I won the game. After this display of power, I ceremoniously introduced the Mahut to my army as the new Disciplinary Officer. From that point on, all regiments rolled above average, and I secured the tournament victory.
Reports on the Mahut’s failures can be found under Defeat under the Royal Banner. Unfortunately, I did not write a detailed report on the tournament win a few months later. However, the little anecdote above captures the event quite well.
== Archimandrite [140]: Unholy Sacrament
* Legionnaires (3) [115]: Optio
* Moroi (3) [180]:
* Moroi (3) [180]:
* Cultists (3) [90]:
== (Warlord) Xhiliarch [120]: Sanctified Labaron
* Centaur Prodromoi (3) [150]:
* Athanatoi (3) [170]:
* Athanatoi (3) [170]:
* Varangian Guard (4) [255]:
== Theokrator [310]: Eternal Discipline
* Legionnaires (3) [115]: Optio
David played the same nonsense as everyone else, but unlike Nino’s list, he had Unholy Sacrament on the Archimandrite and Eternal Discipline on the Theocrat. The latter Nino had omitted on principle because he considered it a mistake in the book. David, however, had seen the combination with Nicki, and these Chios tournament players exploit every opportunity mercilessly. Personally, that would have been too expensive for me, but for tournament lists, I am generally more frugal when it comes to equipment.
In the first round, I had a unit of Raptors on the field, while David deployed the Cultists together with the Archimandrite and both Moroi. The start looked rather modest, so I decided to pull back a bit. I placed the Raptors in my small zone because there was water there, which would provide them some protection against the Moroi if necessary. I positioned one unit of Moroi on each side, and on the right flank, the Cultists provided additional support.
In the second round, each of us received a whole row of new units. I got both Hunting Packs, two Winglords, and a Quatl, while David deployed both Athanatoi, the Prodmoroi, and the Legionnaires. That meant I had six cards, but David had ten. That was uncomfortable, and like Nicki, I preferred to disable the opponent, but with this list, that was rarely possible in the early game.
Anyone counting carefully will notice that the Old Dominion list contains a total of twelve cards, including two heavy regiments. Therefore, it was suspected that the Xhiliarch was with the Athanatoi. I noticed that too, and David confirmed it. All three of my flyers therefore went straight to the bottom of the deck. To win the game, I had to hunt and kill the Warlord before Supremacy destroyed my entire army.
Luckily, the Athanatoi moved onto the battlefield, alone on the left flank, also using the water for cover, before a single Flap Flap even needed to enter the field. So I deployed my entire army on the flank, sent a Quatl into the zone, while David secured the other three zones with the Prodmoroi and Legionnaires, plus one Legionnaire regiment in the small zone. This gave Old Dominion an eight-point lead.
A true leader leads from the front:
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In the third round, my remaining units appeared, while for David, all units except the Varangians came onto the field. This was different from Nino, who almost always activated the Varangians first. That suited me, and my flyers began shooting at the Athanatoi. Two stands were destroyed, but the Archimandrite healed them after the Athanatoi had retreated.
David considered charging my Winglords with the Moroi, but without teleport, that wasn’t possible. He was only Tier 1, which meant he couldn’t strike again without the Archi spell that increased his tier. That option was therefore off the table, and the Winglords splashed around alone in the water. After David briefly went into the side room to get tips from Nino, he placed the Theocrat in front of the Athanatoi. Since monsters could also charge the corner of other monsters, David wanted to take advantage of this, but he overlooked that the other Winglord would reach the Xhiliarch no matter what he did.
On the flank, everything went according to plan. My Hunting Packs prevented David from controlling the zone, and the fourth Flap Flap also supported the position. On the right side, David advanced slowly but more aggressively, so I had to deploy an Apex and the Thunder Riders. I was wary of the Moroi and let them advance because he liked to push them forward individually, and I hoped he would overextend. Old Dominion had a comfortable lead of 15 points.
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In the fourth round, the Winglords were on top. I went first and led the first Winglord in a Move Volley Charge into the flank of the Athanatoi. They exploded immediately, and the Theocrat attacked the other Winglord, which also died. This reduced my deficit to 13 points, but the round was not over yet. Since we were playing Melee and David no longer had Supremacy, the goal was clear: I had to destroy his army and secure all zones from round six onward.
David had no idea about this plan, which didn’t matter much, as he probably wouldn’t have agreed anyway. On the right flank, he sent the Moroi against the still unactivated Thunder Riders, who killed two Moroi in retaliation. At the same time, he positioned the second Athanatoi and the Prodmoroi within Move Charge distance. I had expected him to advance further, but I found this preferable. This allowed me to attempt a greedy Charge with the Apex against the 6 Legionnaires. Of course, it didn’t work.
On the left flank, the Raptors dealt 11 damage to the Moroi, and a Quatl delivered the final blow. The Legionnaires in the zone lost one stand to the Hunting Pack and were almost entirely destroyed in retaliation. My last Quatl, standing right in front of the Theocrat, left its zone and flew over him, which David had confirmed from the side room. Flying is a nasty rule, but it allowed me to threaten his backfield on the right flank in the next round.
To ensure this worked, the Varangians moved so that they could automatically charge one of the two flyers on his side. To secure the position, I sent the second Hunting Pack into the water. There they were well placed to provide support wherever needed.
At the end of this round, I controlled one large zone, but David controlled two zones and led by 18 points.
In the fifth round, I placed the Quatl on top so as not to give up any advantage. I devised a plan that, in hindsight, was unnecessary, as David made moves I had not expected. I had played too often against the Old Dominion players from Bremerhaven, who copied their tactics from Nino, and was therefore surprised.
David went first and killed the Quatl on his side with the Varangians. My second Quatl killed the Legionnaires in the large zone on the left, and David’s point lead grew to 22 when the Theocrat performed a Charge Clash against my Apex, which died exactly to the point. David cursed, and I was relieved that the Apex hadn’t been left standing earlier. It had already taken six damage, and I was now able to perform a Charge Clash with the Raptors and Thunder Rider, both with Chant. It happened only at the end of the round, but the Theocrator died.
On the right flank, the small Thunder Riders killed the Moroi in front of them and then attacked the Prodmoroi, reducing them to a single stand. The Old Dominion’s lack of Resolve was once again frustrating; all comparable troops at that price point would have died. Well, never mind. The Athanatoi charged into the flank, and my Thunder Riders died, but this meant the Athanatoi couldn’t see me for one round.
In the rear, my Hunting Pack, together with the Winglord, crushed the Varangians. They learned why it’s better to have an odd number of stands per regiment. With that, the left flank was finally secured. David scored two zones again, I only one, and he maintained a lead of 20 points.
In the sixth round, David still had five cards, and I had six. He didn’t want to leave the zones, and I wasn’t under any time pressure. First came the alibi activations, then my Hunting Pack attacked the Legionnaires, leaving them at two health. Annoying, but the Winglord finished them off with a Volley and then went on a Move Charge into the Cultists. He himself was still standing with one wingtip in the zone.
The lone Prodmoroi moved to be able to charge the Winglord in the next round, and the Athanatoi pulled back slightly. I decided that controlling two zones would be enough and pushed the Thunder Riders and Raptors forward on the right flank. This reduced David’s lead to only 14 points.
In the seventh round, my Winglord was about to die from the Archi spell and a Clash with the Cultists, which made me flinch for a moment. However, he defeated them, and the Hunting Pack devoured the Prodmoroi. The Athanatoi pulled back slightly and had an unpleasant encounter with the Raptors, who lost a stand while charging across the field. Afterwards, the Thunder Riders performed a Move Charge against the remaining Athanatoi. With that, the Old Dominion force was wiped out, and I was able to hold three zones for the remaining rounds, winning the game.
Nicki narrowly lost with his Spire against Nino, and Morten also won his game with the Nords. Thus, the tournament ended with three undefeated players, and the winner was decided by tiebreaker. My expectations were low, but Sven from the first game had scored two wins with the City States. This gave me a decent Strength of Schedule and 205 VP, which ultimately secured me first place, along with the loyal flyers from next door.
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