So I've been trying to make the Anvil Throne Warlord work, but I just can't seem to get it right.  I feel like I'm missing some basic understanding of how he functions.

Could someone (playtester/designer pref) with more experience, or a better understanding of the ATW explain how to play him best?

(Note:  I've played about 10 games with so far and I always end up at an action disadvantage.)

Any priest with half a brain runs battleforge, which means he's going to stack armor and dmg mitigation (via Vet belt, regen belt, bracers, etc).  If this happens your build is absolutely toast. 

Here are my recommendations:

1).  Consider switching to Bloodwave Warlord, he's better with the Barracks strategy (aka, smaller creatures; aka aggro) because of Veteran.

2).  If you don't want to do #1, switch completely to a Battleforge based strategy.  The AT Warlord can easily become an unkillable tank very quickly by using a forge to give you actions.  Add in eisenach's forgehammer

3).  If you don't want to do #1 or #2, at least put in some acid balls.  That 1 flank attack and 1 power strike isn't going to do much to stick damage.  You need a way to reduce armor in an efficient way or your grunts/slinger will never do damage.  Goblin Alchemists may be able to suffice in this role, but considering how fast/easy it is to stack armor with a forge, I'm not sure.

Overall, I don't agree with this build.  You -might- be able to get out Talos against a Priest since the most straightforward build for a priest is aggro-control (not heavy aggro/lots of dice), but it's far from the most obvious or optimal strategy.  I would think the most obvious strategy was one that utilized your mages abilites, not a long-shot build that could be done better by a different mage  .

The way I see your game going is this:

1) Priest stacks armor/defense
2) You summon small creatures to buy time for Talos, cast rust on enemy mage
3) Priest targets your mage consistently, dispels rust, and either ignoring small creatures and/or blocking their attacks with HA Cleric or armor
4) Lose while you spend all your mana investing in something (Talos/Altar) that never pays off in time

Even if you -do- manage to get Talos out, you're likely going to have more dmg than the other mage, and he/she can just put down Deflection Bracers to block Talos' attacks and you have no perfect strike or falcon precision to do anything about it.

My favorite mages are the Priest and Warlord so I know how these fights go down.  You might be able to pull it off, but I'm highly doubtful considering the lack of certain staple spells 

You should probably take power strike, even multiples; it works really well with level 1-2 creatures.  Also, Grimson seems pretty random and doesn't fit the strategy at all.  At that rate you might as well take out hawkeye as well.  Oh, and Gurmash likely won't have much to do without more commands. 

You might also want to consider a surging wave to put burns on your barracks, and acid balls.  Armor absolutely shuts down swarm, and I don't think alchemists can cover that job all by themselves.  Overall the build seems pretty solid, though I don't like the fact that you have no butchers, but with the added card base of DvN (acid ball) and FiF (Flank attack) higher level creatures with increased dice/survivability built in aren't as essential.

Ill take a better look later, but for now you need access to the valarium bow (not sure on spelling).  Its less expensive than hunting bow; hunting bow is near useless against necro and parts of wizard (nonliving).

Uploaded my Warlord to the Sbb.  Need help filling in the last spots with stuff like more [mwcard=MWSTX2FFI06]Defends[/mwcard], but not sure exactly how much.  Check it:

[spellbook]
[spellbookheader]
[spellbookname]The Bloodwave[/spellbookname]
[mage]Warlord[/mage]
[/spellbookheader]
[spells]
[spellclass]Attack[/spellclass]
[mwcard=FWA04]1 x  Hurl Boulder[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNA01]2 x  Acid Ball[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFA02]1 x  Hurl Rock[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKA01]1 x  Surging Wave[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Conjuration[/spellclass]
[mwcard=FWJ06]1 x  Mangler Caltrops[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFW01]2 x  Wall of Earth[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWJ02]1 x  Archer's Watchtower[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWJ04]2 x  Garrison Post[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFJ04]1 x  Armory[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWJ03]1 x  Barracks[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFJ05]1 x  Construction Yard[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MXSTX2FFJ02]1 x  Altar of Carnage[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWW01]2 x  Wall of Pikes[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFJ03]1 x  Altar of Domination[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFJ01]1 x  Harshforge Monolith[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Creature[/spellclass]
[mwcard=FWC04]2 x  Goblin Builder[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWC09]1 x  Iron Golem[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWC06]3 x  Goblin Slinger[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWC05]5 x  Goblin Grunt[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFC07]1 x  Gurmash, Orc Seargeant[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWC11]3 x  Orc Butcher[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFC06]2 x  Goblin Alchemist[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Enchantment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=FWE09]1 x  Standard Bearer[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE05]1 x  Fumble[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e27]1 x  Marked for Death[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e09]1 x  Agony[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE04]1 x  Brace Yourself[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWE06]1 x  Fortified Position[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e31]1 x  Poisoned Blood[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Equipment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFQ04]1 x  General's Signet Ring[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q15]1 x  Leather Boots[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q16]1 x  Leather Gloves[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q04]1 x  Deflection Bracers[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWQ06]1 x  Horn of Gothos[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q23]1 x  Regrowth Belt[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWQ05]1 x  Helm of Command[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFQ05]1 x  Harshforge Plate[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWQ08]1 x  Ring of Command[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Incantation[/spellclass]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFI06]2 x  Defend[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i17]2 x  Minor Heal[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i10]1 x  Evade[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i12]1 x  Force Push[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i06]1 x  Dispel[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFI04]2 x  Flank Attack[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i13]1 x  Group Heal[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i04]2 x  Charge[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWI08]1 x  Sniper Shot[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i19]1 x  Piercing Strike[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i02]1 x  Battle Fury[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKI02]1 x  Akiro's Battle Cry[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWI06]2 x  Power Strike[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i18]1 x  Perfect Strike[/mwcard]
[/spells]
[cost]Total cost: 116 pts[/cost]
[/spellbook]

4 points left, need to get the most out of them.  At this point it seems like more commands would be the best way to go, or possibly some utility from more enchants.  Maybe an ele wand? Idk.  Also wondering if anyone has actually played [mwcard=MWSTX2FFJ03]Altar of Domination[/mwcard] against any legit builds.  It just doesn't seem like a valid option...

Tried uploading my Warlord book today (to the sbb) and it wouldn't let me add Construction Yard.  The error given said "You need to be this type of Mage:" but the space after it was blank. 

Kindof odd considering you need to be any particular mage to play Construction Yard (No "(Blank) Mage Only).

So, why does the Female Wizard have an hourglass? 

So, after seeing some of the new Warlord builds posted on here (LoW, Saucy's, etc), and playing several more games with the previous version,  I reworked my book a bit.  Here it is:

Creatures:
1x Gurmash, Orc Sergeant
2x Goblin Alchemist
3x Orc Butcher
1x Dwarf Panzergarde
2x Goblin Builder
1x Iron Golem
3x Goblin Slinger
4x Goblin Grunt

Enchantments:
1x Standard Bearer
1x Fumble
1x Agony
1x Brace Yourself
1x Fortified Position
1x Poisoned Blood
1x Marked for Death

Equipment:
1x Deflection Bracers
1x Horn of Gothos
1x Regrowth Belt
1x Ring of Command
1x Harshforge Plate
1x General's Signet Ring
1x Helm of Command
1x Leather Boots
1x Leather Gloves

Incantations:
2x Minor Heal
2x Power Strike
1x Akiro's Battle Cry
1x Perfect Strike
1x Battle Fury
1x Piercing Strike
1x Sniper Shot
2x Defend
1x Group Heal
2x Flank Attack
1x Dispel
1x Force Push
1x Evade
2x Charge

Attacks:
1x Hurl Boulder
1x Surging Wave
1x Hurl Rock
2x Acid Ball

Conjurations:
1x Construction Yard
1x Barracks
1x Armory
1x Harshforge Monolith
2x Wall of Earth
2x Wall of Pikes
1x Altar of Domination
2x Garrison Post
1x Altar of Carnage

The new opening looks like this:

Turn 1 (19 mana): Barracks + Construction Yard (0 mana)
Turn 2 (9 mana, 2 on Barracks): Deploy Goblin Builder (6 mana), play Signet + Command Ring (0 mana)

This book is much more focused on efficiency.  I used to deploy level 2's right away but now I don't think starting with level 2 creatures is a good idea because it doesn't give you enough mana to properly buff yourself and your board early.

Early game you make grunts/slingers while you get rings and leather equips out, and transition into slightly bigger creatures (butchers) and either of the new Altars.  The focus is on a lot of creatures, spacing them out right (with help of [mwcard=FWJ04]Garrison Post[/mwcard]), Earth Walls/Wall of Pikes for positioning, and efficient commands (Flank Attack/Power strike/Defend).

I saw a couple other frequent posters (can't remember who  ) talking about getting G. Builders out early and after trying them myself I'm now a big supporter.  I'd probably go as far to say that you shouldn't even bother using Construction Yard if you don't use Builders.  The channeling on the Construciton Yard is alright, but the more important part of the Construction Yard/Goblin Builder combination is the Builder's action, IMO.

While reading through Mr. Saucy's Harshforge Warlord post (http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=14310.0), I noticed the discussion of defenses and after recently having a relatively rough time against some big creature builds, I added [mwcard=mw1q04]Deflection Bracers[/mwcard].  (In the post s2Dougla and Saucy promote using [mwcard=MWSTX1CKQ04]Reflex Boots[/mwcard], but I decided on the Bracers instead because they're less expensive and most big attacks seem to be melee)

Sooo let me know what you guys think.  I tried to get ideas from people on the forums a bit and they seem to be working, but I think there's definitely more room for optimization.