UPDATE 13/05/05 : Thanks a lot for input, especially for pointing out Force Bash, which is a shame. I've switched out both of those copies, as there are still 2 Knockdowns, which accomplish basically the same goal, which should mostly be used on Flying creatures. Instead I've added 2 Force Holds. Speaking of Flying creatures, I've got the permission to reveal Gravikor conjuration, which forces the creatures withing 2 zones of it to lose and not gain Flying trait. Finally, I've removed Purify and added an additional Hurl Boulder attack spell. Will have to test this new build out today or the upcoming weekend and provide additional, bigger update! Keep the comments coming, offer new ideas or variations or even post your own builds (unless you want to start your own topic, then please point the link on your comment). Thanks!

... or as an acronym - TG! Honestly, I do not visit this part of forums a lot (and shame on me, I am a playtester in the end ) But after playing for the first time Warlord with some Golems, me and my friend thought of how cool it would be to have these lovable lunkheads move around with great mobility. Throw in this ability for the Earth Elemental and we have something bubblin' here! I've tried to design this as competitively as possible, some great hours used to mold it perfectly. Perfection is an absurd description, as this build still really needs  tweaking (like an idea to use Poison Clouds, but that will be discussed at the bottom of the post).

Alright, let's sing this!

Mage: Wizard (Earth)

*Format goes like this [Type:Cost]

Conjurations: 5

Mana Crystal x3 (3)
Gravikor (2)

Equipment: 11

Arcane Ring (1)
Enchanter's Ring (1)
Mage Wand x2 (4)
Moonglow Amulet (1)
Mage Staff (1)
Elemental Cloak (1)
Wind Wyvern Hide (2)

Creatures: 19

Iron Golem x3 (9)
Earth Elemental (5)
Blue Gremlin (2)
Huginn, Raven Familliar (3)

Incantations: 53

Teleport x4 ( 8 )
Force Push x2 (4)
[strike]Force Bash x2 ( 8 )[/strike] *removed
Force Hold x2 ( 8 )
Dissolve x4 ( 8 )
Knockdown x2 (4)
[strike]Purify (2)[/strike] *removed
Dispel x3 (3)
Seeking Dispel x2 (2)
Minor Heal x2 (4)
Heal (4)
Battle Fury x2 (4)
Charge x2 (4)

Enchantments: 26

Decoy x3 (3)
Chains of Agony (2)
Reverse Magic x2 (4)
Nullify x2 (2)
Mind Shield x2 (4)
Block x2 (4)
Teleport Trap x3 (3)
Hellfire Trap x2 (4)

Attacks: 6

Hurl Boulder x3 (6)

By taking a look, you and me can agree to one thing - it seems somehow vulnerable to swarm builds. And I can agree, which brings me to this point: some of these cards need to be added, instead of the others

Poison Cloud (preferably 2 copies)
Hail of Stones (1 or 2 copies)
Suppression Cloak (probably to switch out Elemental Cloak)
Earthquake (2 copies)

And if you will be trying out this build or anything similar - feel free to switch them out, you could let loose one Teleport or even the Hellfire traps, but I see traps quite an interesting and potential tactic.

The whole construction seems like this: this is heavily influenced by incantation spells. When I get a hold of a second copy of Huginn, I'll mostly add 2nd copy of it. Huginn is very important in the game and plays one of the major parts in tactics - setting the field for control. He could even be responsible for mobility.

As I am very tired as of this writing, I will ABSOLUTELY write up some possible openings for each of the opposing mage's and builds.

But here's how I see the build.

Basically and foremost - Iron Golems are awesome (and so are Earth Elementals!). They get whooping 6 dice quick attack, have psychic immunity, are nonliving (great to use them with Poison Clouds), which grants Poison Immunity. They can't be set on fire, which seems very annoying to me at least, when I have to face these conditions. Not to mention he has 5 armor. Yes, he is very resilient, but this comes with a price: he is Slow, has Finite Life (cannot be healed) and is vulnerable to Lightning +2. Also, being Nonliving comes with more severe news: you can't use any of the Nature enchantments, which is basically: no extra armor, health, damage and no flying, fast and elusive. This is bad, bad, bad. Fortunately, there are some awesome War school incantations, which affect Corporeal creatures (yay!), so I've added 4 of them. The final neutral perk of this guy is Unmovable. I call it neutral, because you can't Push him, but so does the opponent, so it can avoid mobility manipulation and wall bashing. Operating this lovable lunkhead around the field is a joke, since he is Slow. Most of the times, the opponent Mage will just move back one space and avoid its attack. The same goes for Earth Elemental, which is somehow similar to Iron Golem, except he has a lot more health (35!), but does not have and cannot gain armor, is actually Lightning -2 and Tough -2. Again, very  resilient creature.

I've added Blue Gremlin to take care of such threats as hidden Blocks, Reverse Attacks. Also he could be used to take down low health conjurations.

Huginn as I've mentioned before, is very important to cast spells such as Force Hold, Force Push, Dissolve, Knockdown, Dispel and even to detect some hidden enchantments.

Looking over at the equipment, I am not sure if I should keep the Arcane Ring, because there aren't too many Metamagic and Mana spells (most come from Enchantments), but it does save mana. Enchanter's Ring seems essential, as to reduce cost of enchantments. Two copies of Mage Wand seems not a great number, might want to add the third. Most of the times, I would bind on it Teleport,Dissolve,Dispel or Knockdown. Elemental Cloak and Wind Wyvern Cloak provide some resilience against most of the elemental attacks in the game, as well provides 3 armor. Mage Staff should be used only when facing Incorporeal Creatures.

Here we come over to the most meaty and important part - Incantations. It was quite hard to choose between them and from most of the times I will probably switch out few them to see how it would work in a different angle. 4 Teleports seem right, as this build is heavily based on them. Most of the times I use this spell to pop out the Iron Golem near the enemy mage, very early in the game. This is an aggressive approach. Force Push is mostly used to pull back the mage or bash it against the wall, if you want to pull out some damage on it. Force Hold seems as a good way to hold the mage in the same spot(great, because Iron Golem can pull out one clear attack). Dissolve is there to battle those pesky Equip builds, bind it on Mage Wand if there's a feeling of running them out. Knockdown is a quick to produce Stun on the enemy Mage, to get the Earth Elemental or Iron Golem to land some attacks. I am not sure about only one copy of Purify, might need more. Also, 3 copies of Dispel are also quite insecure to have and leaves you to trust it more than anything. Fortunately, there are a couple of Seeking Dispels ( if you don't like them, switch them out for more Dispels). Minor Heal and Heal to obviously - heal yourself. Finally, we have Battle Fury and Charge - this is bread and butter to cast on the creature to deal some awesome damage.

Enchantments are mostly very traditional with a twist - traps!
 We have Chains of Agony to punish the retreating mage. Reverse Magic, Nullify to cast on yourself or creatures. Block and Mind Shield should be used for yourself or Huginn - protect this little guy with all the cost! Finally, Teleport Trap should be used for some positioning of the enemy mage. Here come's the fun part - I've thrown in Hellfire Traps and Decoy to mess with the opponent's mind if he tries to trigger these enchantments with his creatures - they will either suffer or earn your invested mana back. Most often I put my opponent in paranoia mode, which is awesome to see (and quite sadistic).

In the end, there are Hurl Boulders, which can be switched between Hail of Stones or even added!

So these are the very basics of the build, more in depth look will be provided in the coming week. I will try to put up more information and suggestions on how to work with the build, what openings are good to begin the game with, taking into account which build and mage you are facing.

But most important of all, I want to hear your opinion and ideas of this build, Maybe you hate it or see it completely weak. Maybe it seems not fun for you. I personally love the idea of mobility. Not to mention, by playing this build, I've noticed the nice flow of mana income and the disposal of it.

Please add your opinion and thank you!

Well that's awfully bad tactics then. Thanks for the help!

Can Reverse Attack only be used against ranged and melee attacks from creatures and equipment or do fireballs and other attack spells can be Reverse Attacked aswell? Also, can Block only be used against melee attacks or ranged attacks aswell? (does that mean, can you block fireballs and other attack spells aswell?)

Thanks!

"Magic is but a word, that causes so much confussion in our realm, that a simple toy with an enchanted speaking spell is considered magic... But who are we to judge how magic looks or feels like. It is enough for us to understand it, that it exists to be used for greater or worse purposes. Magic does not understand whether it will create harmony or reign destruction, it will only serve the one who commands it. We never cared or invested our time to know, if what we do with it is right.Good or Bad. We think that all the engines and mechanizations with magic is considered a great feat.We even think Magic is enough to elect somebody as powerful as Autokrator and consider it our spokesperson, who stands and talks for all of us wizards.

I am here to tell you, that I do not want to belong to this shallow community. I am here to tell you, that... I finally understand the meaning of it... Decades of research and travelling has gifted me with an insight like no other. It  actually exists at some plane and powers us all : creatures,plants,breathing,flying,sky,existence...

I want all of you to know, that we have to supress and understand for what purpose we should use it.

The first thing we should do as the wizards of Sortilege is to banish the Mage Wars ! This vile arena keeps using mana for no purpose at all than to prove something that is not worth proving. Something so useless, that it makes a magic wielding creature look like an ignorant and ungrateful towards Magic itself. ALL I ASK FOR YOU IS !... ! .. ack........" - Sparrowhawk, professor of Philosophy and Magic, at Bastion of Wonders

Sparrowhawk was murdered the day he showed his face in public and announced these ground-breaking news. However, after so much time he had invested in magic, this wasn't really something that could stop him.He was not murdered, he simply placed a powerful replacement body, filled with magic, which could be  considered as a clone. He wanted the response and he got what he was expecting. So he hid from society and those who hunt him for years and learned all new magic, that gave him powers beyond the scope of Autokrator. Now, he has promised that in the name of Magic, he will step into the Mage Wars arena and slay anything or anyone, for the sake of saving Magic's limitation that lets exist everything. This is the first thing of many that he will try to achieve and reduce the usage of Magic. He bears grudge at those who use Magic at the Mage Wars arena. He is the Wizard, whom everyone will fear and his name will be remembered as: Thesius...

Indeed, I would always pick a necromancer first too.

Arcanus,

I like to think of curses as something, that is not there to hinder you physically all the time( I don't disagree to remove it either, it is just that there are so many times that a game repeats it over and over again and there is almost nothing new entirely, that it has gained popularity and acceptance of the community of players.) but to actually make you say "Sh*t, now I am cursed" and think of how miserable your game has just become. Warlocks inflict despair, pain, horror , so taking this kind of feeling and presenting it towards the player who plays it against is the supreme purpose for me, that should be achieved. An example curse I would like to see is:

Adramelechs Pride

Fullcast, Range 1-2, 16 mana, Dark Magic School

Target hostile creature(can also be the opponent's mage) is inflicted with a curse. If this creature moves less zones than the other of the friendly creatures combined zones that they move at the end of this Action Stage, then at the end of the Action Stage an effect die is rolled by the caster, which effects are: 1-4 Cripple, 5-10 Cripple,Rot, 11+ x3 Rot.

What this means, by moving this creature and after him an another one of your friendly creatures - you are fine.Sure you could move the cursed creature two zones and buy time, but you would lose a valuable spell or action he could do in case of trying to avoid the curse. However, if you would move afterwards one more friendly creature, you will face horrible consequences. This could be a complete game-breaker for the beastmaster, as he likes to summon more creatures than himself AND to target him with this curse, would be extremely unpleasant. I am not sure if there are cards that could Cleanse from status effects (Should be), but they could really help against it. I mean, this is really a matter of balancing. Shutting down mobility, is a grudge, because by being less mobile than the others you are greeted by a curse.

I am running out of time here, maybe later or maybe even in a different section of the forum I should post this stuff

Ok, the story sounds pretty nice so far, I almost always greet with warmth generals,liuetenants and such, when the number of them is announced. It is just a matter of time, before one of the expansions will start introducing them as warlocks new best creatures to summon ( or to be invited , hm hm). My question would be: Could you possibly tell at least one the generals names and the purpose he serves for Adramelechs scheme. Not entirely, but whereabouts one of them have theyre HQ's and how much of a threat they are. Possibly theyre favorable choice of a weapon or lifestyle ?

Other than that, Adramelech seems to be just one of many very powerful demons we will be able to summon or be greeted with. I also wonder, from the point of view from hierarchy, what spot does Adramelech has in there?

And to reply for the reason why would my warlock join the Arraxian Crown. I always considered my protagonist to have only one goal in his mind : To learn the very nature of existence. The demons seem to be an old race, possibly by joining it, I could get an access to one of the most powerful knowledge base I could have. Even if the language they use I couldn't understand, transcripts could be produced to be presented for the later generation. Other than that, he would do the bidding of those demons, follow the rules...

So I read Klaxas post and you mentioned you would like to see a Time Mage. Well, as far as I know how would he work, I once played this game on PC, called Spectromancer, which was also a game about mages and spellbooks, it worked really great, it had a really small community and I was pretty happy about it. Besides that, there was a class called Chronomancer, which in other words - Time Mage. The idea behind him was, that he could cast more times than the others, he would get more turns than the others and overall, he would be faster than you (in terms of turns).

So a Time Mage, for example, could make your opponent skip ready stage, a spell would be called Time Rift or something. He could get double action phases on his creatures or on himself, the spell would be called Haste. It is just a matter of your own imagination and of course BALANCE (which for the most, will cut your wings and drop you onto the hard and harsh floor ).

To 1unatic,

What I would love to see is Warlord to have some kind of magic banner, which could influence all the creatures in the game, e.g. give all of them +2 attack dice. Or field cards would be nice, such as a Underground Energy Cave, which on every creature that stops by, gets his hp healed by a number.
Force Master could have some kind of Voltaric Shield, just like the wizard has, but instead of preventing damage, anyone who would damage him in melee with his shield on, they would be knockbacked by 1 or 2 space. That would be annoying I guess for something, that uses melee, because to catch a Force Master, who will constantly knock you back will be rather hard and punishing

P.S. If you would like to check out the game - http://spectromancer.com/ (in the upper right corner, turn on the english language by selecting the EN flag)