Battle forge and forcemaster

[barriecritzer]

What are your opinions on using a battleforge with a force master, do you think it is worth dropping a battle forge with harmonize on it or to simply put on 2 pieces of equipment 1st round instead

[Dr.Cornelius]

Go with the Force Ring and hyper-aggression.

[Laddinfance]

I wouldn't go with a harmonize, but I do think the Battle Forge is 100% worth it.

[Adkin1233]

I find myself using battle forge more and more. There is a lot of good equipment, for any mage really, and it frees up some casting actions. My FM rocks a first turn forge every time.

[DaveW]

I find myself using battle forge more and more. There is a lot of good equipment, for any mage really, and it frees up some casting actions. My FM rocks a first turn forge every time.

Where do you put it... NC? Doesn't anything farther away let the opposing mage sit in his start corner without you harassing him? If the BF is in NC, then everyone should be packing a couple of Surging Waves to kill it on turn two.

[tom]

I find myself using battle forge more and more. There is a lot of good equipment, for any mage really, and it frees up some casting actions. My FM rocks a first turn forge every time.

Where do you put it... NC? Doesn't anything farther away let the opposing mage sit in his start corner without you harassing him? If the BF is in NC, then everyone should be packing a couple of Surging Waves to kill it on turn two.

If your opponent is spending a turn hitting your Battle Forge and not worrying about your Forcemaster I think that puts you in a very good position.  Plus, a pair of Surging Waves costs 10 mana and two actions so the Forcemaster still comes out ahead in terms of mana & actions spent.

[Adkin1233]

I agree. If your opponent wastes the mana and actions getting rid of my forge than it's worth the quick action I used to cast it.

[Aylin]

My FM normally opens with Enchanter's Wardstone and Battleforge. First equipment is Enchanter's Ring and I spend a few quickcasts throwing some enchantments while I attempt to beat on the enemy mage.

[somaddict]

Battle forge is mandatory with traditional FM books.

[DaveW]

I agree. If your opponent wastes the mana and actions getting rid of my forge than it's worth the quick action I used to cast it.

While this is true, I also feel it is beside the point. Given the option to spend some mana for a Force Hammer or a couple of Surging Waves to kill the thing on the following turn, or to leave it be and give the opposing mage a dozen or so mana plus a similar number of actions, I'd choose to kill it. You probably lose less mana and certainly prevent your opponent from having many more equipment spells cast in the long run by doing so.

[Aylin]

I agree. If your opponent wastes the mana and actions getting rid of my forge than it's worth the quick action I used to cast it.

While this is true, I also feel it is beside the point. Given the option to spend some mana for a Force Hammer or a couple of Surging Waves to kill the thing on the following turn, or to leave it be and give the opposing mage a dozen or so mana plus a similar number of actions, I'd choose to kill it. You probably lose less mana and certainly prevent your opponent from having many more equipment spells cast in the long run by doing so.

Yeah, killing the Battleforge is probably "least bad" to you (and you still lose a bit in that exchange).

Of course, if people start killing Battleforges regularly I'll just have to start having two... >:-D

[sIKE]

Once FiF is out you can use a couple of Walls of Earth to block LoS.

[DaveW]

Once FiF is out you can use a couple of Walls of Earth to block LoS.

How are they different from walls of stone? Weaker with lower mana cost? What not just use Fog Bank, if so?

[Zuberi]

Well, the important part of what sIKE is suggesting (in my opinion) is to block Line of Sight cheaply. For this task, a Fog Bank would work fine. Wall of Earth is superior to Fog Bank if you ask me, however, because it also blocks passage. This makes it more difficult to circumvent. Both have the options of going around or destroying the wall, but Fog Bank can also be gone through which the Wall of Earth can't.

In addition, the Wall of Earth is in school for more mages (Warlord and Earth Wizard) than the Fog Bank (Air Wizard). Plus the previewed card Otto Kronig can put armor on the Wall of Earth and reconstruct it. The Goblin Builder is also meant to be able to reconstruct it, although there is concern that it can't as currently worded. Fog Bank lacks this kind of support.

[barriecritzer]

As long as I get 2 or 3 uses from my forge I am happy, though I have had games where by the end I have 7 or 8 pieces of equipment on