Rate my Warlord Strategy - Two Towers opening

[dexmark]

Let (0,0) be your starting zone and think of the 2nd quadrant as the coordinates.

Turn 1: Mana 19

Quick Cast: Tower on (0,1) = 4 mana
Move to (-1,0) quick cast barracks on (-1,0) = 12 mana

Barracks should have 2 mana (1 from tower and 1 from itself)

Turn 2: Mana 12

Quick Cast: Mana Crystal (0,0) = 5 mana (channeling = 10)
Move to (-1,1) and quick cast Tower on (-2, 1) = 4 mana

Barracks should have 3 + 2 = 5

Turn 3: Mana 13

Deployment (5 mana + 10 from mage) = Sniper
Move back to (-1,0) and save the 3 remaining mana or cast an enchantment face down somewhere (like Hawkeye to Sniper).

Turn 4: 13 mana + Barrack 3 mana

Depending where the opponent mage is - he may get worried that the Sniper is out to be too aggressive on Turn 4. If the opponent mage backs up. Send your Sniper to the (0,1) tower.

One other technique I see that is viable is at Turn 4, depending if you opponent mage is aggressive or not you may call on the Iron Golem to be moved into the Tower where your Sniper is. Or you may scare your opponent if they are coming close. If they are still building then you may call a Goblin range or fling to go to your other tower (-2, 1). The point here is that you have two towers at a zone apart so wherever your opponent may come they will get sniped by at least 4 dice unless you call for Volley +1 range.  If they come too close to your starting area the sniper will take care of them.

This is pretty much a good startup because each turn after this, you can call on major help or support with at least 13 mana to play with for soldiers.

What do you think?

What is really funny is if your opponent comes too close in range of your two towers, you can technically wall him in stone or make him get force into your barracks wherein you may have multiple enchantment and upgrades.

[Paleblue]

Sounds good. I'm not sure if I see the value in the mana crystal though, considering you have already thrown down 20 mana worth of infrastructure. I would be worried about getting bowled over with nothing to defend myself until turn 4 (sniper cant act till then).

[Intangible0]

I would suggest holding off on the towers til turn 2 and beyond because you won't have any troops to utilize them. Instead of the crystal i'd say use a harmonize on the barracks. It's one point cheaper, and although it doesn't give your Warlord direct mana your still going to be casting creatures nonstop through the barracks so the mana will get used.
The Sniper is great but ironically starting out with some beefy melee creatures might be a better way. That way by the time your ranged creatures get on the field they have something there to protect them.
If your enemy hasn't already breached your side of the field you might want to think about putting some walls down.
Some other guys had some good points in this post too:
Ranged Warlord Build

[shapeshifter]

I find the barracks a poor investment for anything other than a swarm of goblins. For a shooty build that I find it better to invest on fortifying a vantage point to shoot from.  

I have been trying this with good success:

Turn 1 - 19 mana
Move to (-1,1) and quick cast Watchtower (4 mana) in same zone.

Turn 2 - 24 mana
Summon Sniper (15 mana)
Quickcast Rouse the beasts on sniper (4 mana)
Shoot 5+ dice with sniper from watchtower turn 2

Turn 3+ - 14 mana
1) Protect location with Walls, Caltrops and Fortified Position,
2) Increase attack power with Slingers, boulders and Ivarium Longbow

[Aarrow]

Another fun strategy is the Jailer:

Turn 1- 19 mana
Quickcast the Barracks in (0,1)
Move (-1,0) and cast Watchtower in the same zone

Turn 2- 12 mana
Cast facedown on you (Nullify, Block, etc.  depending on opponent, preferably an agony on him)
Move (0,1) and cast Harmonize on Barracks

Turn 3- 15 mana (this is when aggressive builds will start to attack you)
Barracks summon Goblin Builder, and (only if opponent is attacking in the same zone as you) move (0,-1) and summon another builder

Turn 4- 24 mana (or 19 if they're in your zone)
Now you have enough mana to Teleport them from any cell on the board (except far two corners) into your starting zone, then wall them in with two repair goblins for protection! (this is best applied late turn after his attack)

From there you can keep summoning Builders and eventually a Boltstorm in the tower or drop in a flying Thorg the Warden to reprimand him when he drops the soap.

If you can trap him with a jinx, even better!

[dexmark]

I find the barracks a poor investment for anything other than a swarm of goblins. For a shooty build that I find it better to invest on fortifying a vantage point to shoot from.  

I have been trying this with good success:

Turn 1 - 19 mana
Move to (-1,1) and quick cast Watchtower (4 mana) in same zone.

Turn 2 - 24 mana
Summon Sniper (15 mana)
Quickcast Rouse the beasts on sniper (4 mana)
Shoot 5+ dice with sniper from watchtower turn 2

Turn 3+ - 14 mana
1) Protect location with Walls, Caltrops and Fortified Position,
2) Increase attack power with Slingers, boulders and Ivarium Longbow

This exact build was played by the other player up against my Mana suppression Wizard. Sniper + Rouse the Beast helped take away 4 points of life from me. The Walls he put up delayed his demise though. The game was pretty much over after turn 6~7 where my wizard has 2~3 mana suppression + 15 channeling + Elemental Wand (Boulder). The game went longer but it was just to break down his walls, take down his army of grunts (by my Earth Elemental) and chipping away his health after he healed about 13 of them (2 Minor heal) from my initial attack.  The only thing that save him was that new conjuration card that helps you if your Mana is being taken away. For some reason, he was lucky he had that in place or else the game will end sooner with him only having 7 mana per turn + upkeep of 3 per turn (gave his sniper the +2 upkeep) + the conjuration that gives all non mage upkeep. My build was pretty much a super Wizard (Elusive + Fast + two Elemental Wands + Mage Wand with either Teleport, Knockdown, Minor Heal + Hawkeye and others) By the time the game finishes with all my buff/Equipment I have 8 armor. I can do 16 dice of rolls with two boulder attacks.

[Tacullu64]

I find the barracks a poor investment for anything other than a swarm of goblins. For a shooty build that I find it better to invest on fortifying a vantage point to shoot from.  

I have been trying this with good success:

Turn 1 - 19 mana
Move to (-1,1) and quick cast Watchtower (4 mana) in same zone.

Turn 2 - 24 mana
Summon Sniper (15 mana)
Quickcast Rouse the beasts on sniper (4 mana)
Shoot 5+ dice with sniper from watchtower turn 2

Turn 3+ - 14 mana
1) Protect location with Walls, Caltrops and Fortified Position,
2) Increase attack power with Slingers, boulders and Ivarium Longbow

This exact build was played by the other player up against my Mana suppression Wizard. Sniper + Rouse the Beast helped take away 4 points of life from me. The Walls he put up delayed his demise though. The game was pretty much over after turn 6~7 where my wizard has 2~3 mana suppression + 15 channeling + Elemental Wand (Boulder). The game went longer but it was just to break down his walls, take down his army of grunts (by my Earth Elemental) and chipping away his health after he healed about 13 of them (2 Minor heal) from my initial attack.  The only thing that save him was that new conjuration card that helps you if your Mana is being taken away. For some reason, he was lucky he had that in place or else the game will end sooner with him only having 7 mana per turn + upkeep of 3 per turn (gave his sniper the +2 upkeep) + the conjuration that gives all non mage upkeep. My build was pretty much a super Wizard (Elusive + Fast + two Elemental Wands + Mage Wand with either Teleport, Knockdown, Minor Heal + Hawkeye and others) By the time the game finishes with all my buff/Equipment I have 8 armor. I can do 16 dice of rolls with two boulder attacks.

I am not sure if I'm understanding your meaning properly or not, but if I understand you correctly you had two Elemental Wands and a Mage Wand in play at the same time. If that is so it is illegal in two ways.

1.  You can only have one piece of equipment with any given name in play at a time. So only one Elemental Wand can be equipped at a time.

2.  You only have two equipment slots available that can hold a wand, the weapon and the shield slots. It isn't possible to equip three wands at once.

If I misunderstood you just ignore me. You won't be alone, my wife does it all the time.

[dexmark]

I find the barracks a poor investment for anything other than a swarm of goblins. For a shooty build that I find it better to invest on fortifying a vantage point to shoot from.  

I have been trying this with good success:

Turn 1 - 19 mana
Move to (-1,1) and quick cast Watchtower (4 mana) in same zone.

Turn 2 - 24 mana
Summon Sniper (15 mana)
Quickcast Rouse the beasts on sniper (4 mana)
Shoot 5+ dice with sniper from watchtower turn 2

Turn 3+ - 14 mana
1) Protect location with Walls, Caltrops and Fortified Position,
2) Increase attack power with Slingers, boulders and Ivarium Longbow

This exact build was played by the other player up against my Mana suppression Wizard. Sniper + Rouse the Beast helped take away 4 points of life from me. The Walls he put up delayed his demise though. The game was pretty much over after turn 6~7 where my wizard has 2~3 mana suppression + 15 channeling + Elemental Wand (Boulder). The game went longer but it was just to break down his walls, take down his army of grunts (by my Earth Elemental) and chipping away his health after he healed about 13 of them (2 Minor heal) from my initial attack.  The only thing that save him was that new conjuration card that helps you if your Mana is being taken away. For some reason, he was lucky he had that in place or else the game will end sooner with him only having 7 mana per turn + upkeep of 3 per turn (gave his sniper the +2 upkeep) + the conjuration that gives all non mage upkeep. My build was pretty much a super Wizard (Elusive + Fast + two Elemental Wands + Mage Wand with either Teleport, Knockdown, Minor Heal + Hawkeye and others) By the time the game finishes with all my buff/Equipment I have 8 armor. I can do 16 dice of rolls with two boulder attacks.

I am not sure if I'm understanding your meaning properly or not, but if I understand you correctly you had two Elemental Wands and a Mage Wand in play at the same time. If that is so it is illegal in two ways.

1.  You can only have one piece of equipment with any given name in play at a time. So only one Elemental Wand can be equipped at a time.

2.  You only have two equipment slots available that can hold a wand, the weapon and the shield slots. It isn't possible to equip three wands at once.

If I misunderstood you just ignore me. You won't be alone, my wife does it all the time.

The Elemental Wand I thought can be used as main hand OR off hand. So I equipped one as my main hand and one as my off hand. When I used the Mage Wand (spent mana for it), I put 1 of my Elemental Wand back to my spell book. I believed you cannot attached the same spell on an object but I thought it is legal to have one in your main hand and one in your offhand if it is capable of doing so.

Let me know if I can't dual wield Elemental Wand.

In any case, if I played this incorrectly. I equipped the 2nd elemental wand in my off hand but I didn't really used it. I never fired a shot from it. I had to potential to used it (illegally then) but it was just on my mage for display. I eventually replaced it with the Mage wand to do some teleporting.

[Tacullu64]

You can only have one Elemental Wand at a time. There is an old thread on this topic. Don't have time to find it and link for you at the moment, but its in here somewhere.

[dexmark]

You can only have one Elemental Wand at a time. There is an old thread on this topic. Don't have time to find it and link for you at the moment, but its in here somewhere.

Thanks Taccullu64  for the correction. I'll equip only 1 at a time next time around. The 2nd Elemental wand in my spellbook is for back up just in case they somehow fired two dissolves on me when I only have 1 Nullify at a given point.

I should have used the mana I spent on the 2nd wand to do something else.

[shapeshifter]

Interesting wizard response to my watchtower sniper opening. If it helps I usually pull out a warmachine as my second option turn one alongside the watchtower, making the decision which to cast at the ending quickcast phase. A Warmachine is huge set back to a mana channelling build or crystals and flowers.