Round two of the current TTS Conquest tournament was something of a redo for me - as for while I playing against a different opponent, I happened to be matched against another Sorcerer Kings player who was also running a Court of Fire based list. I was somewhat unsatisfied with my performance in the first round - both in terms of how I dealt with the specific eccentricities of the Sorcerer Kings, and in more general terms. I was pretty keen to give the match up another shot, and see if I could play a better game.
That all aside, it's worth discussing the scenario for this round - Divide and Conquer.
I think Divide and Conquer encourages a Declined Flank approach even more than Maelstrom, as a dominant push on one of the two flanking thirds of the table at a minimum ensures parity in scoring. The objective markers that run down the middle of the table feel like something of a later stage goal by my estimation - something for an element of your flank to pivot to after successfully pushing into your opponent's side of the table. I also feel like Declined Flank is something of an aggressive mission that encourages a very determined push.
=== The Last Argument of Kings ===
TTS R2 [1995/2000]
Sorcerer Kings
== (Warlord) Maharajah [150]: Shu'laat, Court of Fire, Court of Water, Elemental Feedback
* Dhanur Disciples (3) [140]:
* Efreet Sword Dancers (3) [170]:
* Efreet Sword Dancers (3) [170]:
* Rakshasa Bakasura (1) [250]:
== Raj [120]: Court of Fire
* Efreet Sword Dancers (3) [170]:
* Efreet Sword Dancers (3) [170]:
* Efreet Flamecasters (3) [170]:
* Rajakur (4) [160]:
== Sorcerer [105]: Court of Fire, Bound to the Elements
* Efreet Flamecasters (4) [220]:
My opponent's list. From what I understand, this list - or at very least it's archetype - is much closer to what is considered to be the most optimal Sorcerer Kings set up, at least for the moment. The Maharajah warlord ability to generate two rituals a turn opposed to one effectively doubles the faction's ability to unleash one of it's most powerful plays - Conflagration rituals into Efreet/Bakasura triple activations. The Court of Water does have some relevant rituals, with the specter of an automatic six armor piercing one hits potentially weighing heavy on any enemy units that dare enter water. But for the most part, the Court of Water seems to be picked here for the ability to grant Aimed Shot to the Dhanur and to potentially further power up the Efreets and Bakasura by letting them ignore hindering terrain.
The sheer threat range of this list is worth nothing. With the easily applied Inflamed state present and when activating with three actions from a conflagration, Efreet Sword Dancers have an automatic march-charge-clash threat range of 17". Efreet Flamecasters can march-aim-volley 20". When targeting a regiment with a character, the Bakasura under the same conditions has an automatic march-charge-clash threat range of 22".
Playing around this threat explosive threat range - and the frequency with which it can be utilized - I think is the main puzzle for Spires when playing into this list. When set up with the Inflamed status and a triple activation, the Efreets are across the board capable of having a greater threat range than anything in my list aside from my Marksman Clones, and have the damage output to cripple or outright destroy any of my units in a single activation, with the exception of perhaps the Siegebreaker. Once my opponent is able to get two rituals a turn consistently flowing as well, this list is capable of equalizing my list's activation card count.
It's not all bad, however. I think in my previous game, I underestimated the Siegebreakers ability to tear through MSUs of Efreets. Unlike the previous game as well, there is no Mahut or similarly durable unit. My list also still has an advantage in terms of the number of regiments on the table. The idea I had going into this is that playing against this list would require a very tight and well set up formation where I could offset the superior threat range of Sorceror Kings by constantly threatening counter charges.
This is the table we utilized for this game. I figured it was wise to commit to fighting around the left flank, as there is less obscuring terrain present to hinder my Marksman Clones, and it would be easier for me to set up a formation where my units could cover each other. The two pieces of water terrain are worth noting as any unit within them are at risk of being targeted by water rituals.
With my opponent having no lights, this was the board state at the end of the first turn. I brought on two MSUs of Force-Grown Drones. The center-most MSU was positioned to try and claim the central left zone in round two. The Stryx and other Force-Grown Drone MSU were positioned on the far left. For the Force-Grown Drones, I was mostly content with using them to sit on and deny the scoring zone, while for the Stryx, I felt any more central position would be too easy for my opponent to counter either with Flamecasters or especially Dhanur Disciples. I figured on the far left, it either forced a committed response from my opponent, or would give me the ability to disrupt my opponent's backline.
The end of the second round. My opponent had a rather poor reinforcement phase, rolling on zero units to accompany the Raj and Maharajah alongside their respective units. On my side, my last Force-Grown Drone MSU arrived, alongside the Desolation Drones and Brute Drones with their respective mancers. My Marksman Clones also arrived. I brought in my last Force-Grown Drone MSU on the right as a defensive measure to ensure my opponent couldn't just freely walk onto the nearby scoring zone. My Desolation Drones and Marksman Clones were centrally located, with the Desolation Drones in a rather safe location behind the objective marker.
I think I needed to plan a bit more ahead and ensure that my Siegebreaker had room to deploy centrally where my Vanguard Clones ended up. Leaving that aside, I think pushing my Vanguard Clones to the position they ended up in was a mistake. A single MSU of Vanguard Clones is not that much of a threat to the Rajakur on it's own, and setting up a more complex engagement with the Siegebreaker and the center-most Force-Grown Drone MSU would have ended up exposing the Vanguard Clones to much fire from the Dhanur Disciples. I also think that my Marksman Clones could have taken advantage of my opponent's conservative positioning to push past the water terrain.
On the left flank, I felt as if I needed to push in and take a fight where I could nullify the threat range advantage of the Sorcerer Kings. I think the idea was solid, but I needed the left-most Force-Grown Drones to push as well and screen for my Brute Drones.
The board state at the end of the fourth round. My final Abomination arrived, while my opponent brought on the rest of their list as well. My opponent responded to my pressure on the left flank, bringing on an MSU of Sword Dancers, Flamecasters, and the Bakasura in response. While the Bakasura deployed after the Brutes made their move, I was able to lock down the Sword Dancers with the Stryx. This is where I really needed my Force-Grown Drones as a screening element, as the Brutes vs Bakasura fight would essentially just come down to activation order. On the right, my opponent dived the Force-Grown Drones holding the right-most scoring zone, as there was nothing left in my reinforcements that could try and counter their push.
In the middle of the table my opponent initiated the battle by march-charging their Sword Dancers onto my Force-Grown Drones, with the Vanguards started to take chip from the Dhanur and Raj. I think my decision to utilize my final Abomination to assist in the middle of the table was fine enough, but given the situation it might have been better to utilize my reinforcement line to bring it up on the table to assists on the left flank.
In the middle, the Force-Grown Drones traded out with the Siegebreaker for the Sword Dancers, while the Vanguard Clones would get blown up by the Raj and Dhanur. The Abomination charging the Rajakur was absolutely not the ideal, but I figure at this point I needed to do something to stop the Rajakur from collapsing onto my Siegebreaker. Maybe this could have happened next round?
On the right, the Sorcerer and Flamecasters killed the Force-Grown Drones, but not before they took a decent amount of pain from the Force-Grown Drones courtesy of buffs from the Biomancer. In retrospect I think this was a waste of Biomancies, as I wasn't in a position to really capitalize on the damage I caused - the extra output could have been better used elsewhere.
But with the Siegebreaker surrounded and heavily wounded in the center of the table, this game is obviously over for the Spires.
We played out rounds seven and eight, but nothing much interesting happened - the Abomination and Force-Grown Drones on the right barely lost the fight against the Flamecasters, while the Siegebreaker, Marksman Clones and Desolation Drones were collapsed in on and destroyed. We calculated the final score as 45-18 in favor of the Sorcerer Kings.
While after the game I felt as if I played this better than my first round game, I'm not as sure about that now. I think both games positional mistakes on my behalf - although I guess in this game the mistakes were more minor? I think having a single defensive Force-Grown Drone MSU on the right was a mistake, even if they over performed in delaying the Flamecaster's capture of the objective zone. I should have either had something more or nothing at all. In the middle, I think my set up of the engagement was sloppy. The Siegebreaker should have been facing down the Rajakur, and the Abomination and Vanguard Clones should played around the center-most Force-Grown Drone MSU. Still, nothing here was as disastrous as myself leaving an entire flank open and exposed in the first round.
I think comparatively the way I took my engagements in this round was weaker than how I did so in the first round. Specifically I think the way I took the engagement on the left flank was poor, but I'm unsure of exactly how I could have played it better. An obvious way would have been to bring along the extra Force-Grown Drone MSU as a screen for the Brute Drones. My Marksman Clones also needed to get themselves into the forward position earlier - I think I psyched myself out too much at the threat of the water rituals.
Regardless of the outcome this was an interesting and enjoyable game and I think my opponent played with a lot of patience and care. As always, I'd appreciate insight and feedback - be that on the game or the batrep.
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