Big Boys, an agressive Anvil Throne Warlord spellbook

[Wildhorn]

[spellbook]
[spellbookheader]
[spellbookname]Big Boys[/spellbookname]
[mage]Anvil Throne Warlord[/mage]
[/spellbookheader]
[spells]
[spellclass]Attack[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNA01]3 x  Acid Ball[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWA04]1 x  Hurl Boulder[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1a04]2 x  Fireball[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1a08]1 x  Geyser[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Conjuration[/spellclass]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFJ01]1 x  Harshforge Monolith[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFW01]2 x  Wall of Earth[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFJ04]1 x  Armory[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1w04]1 x  Wall of Thorns[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1j08]1 x  Hand of Bim-Shalla[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Creature[/spellclass]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFC06]2 x  Goblin Alchemist[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC14]2 x  Skeletal Knight[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKC01]2 x  Bridge Troll[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWC15]1 x  Thorg, Chief Bodyguard[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Enchantment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE04]2 x  Brace Yourself[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKE02]1 x  Divine Might[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e33]2 x  Retaliate[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e31]1 x  Poisoned Blood[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE02]2 x  Akiro's Favor[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWE09]1 x  Standard Bearer[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e13]1 x  Eagle Wings[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKE03]1 x  Healing Charm[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Equipment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNQ09]1 x  Wand of Healing[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFQ06]1 x  Morning Star[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFQ05]2 x  Harshforge Plate[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q11]1 x  Gauntlets of Strength[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKQ04]1 x  Reflex Boots[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Incantation[/spellclass]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFI03]3 x  Disarm[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFI06]2 x  Defend[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i07]1 x  Dissolve[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i20]1 x  Purify[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFI02]1 x  Conquer[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i12]2 x  Force Push[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i02]3 x  Battle Fury[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i23]2 x  Rouse the Beast[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNI03]1 x  Reassemble[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i25]1 x  Shift Enchantment[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i06]2 x  Dispel[/mwcard]
[/spells]
[cost]Total cost: 120 pts[/cost]
[/spellbook]


The deal here is to assault enemy mage with 5 attack dice creatures.

Versus Forcemaster, Necromancer or Warlock, I will go with the [mwcard=DNC14] Skeletal Knight[/mwcard] because they are immune to many things these 3 mages can throw at them.

Versus Druid, I will [mwcard=MWSTX2FFE02] Akiro's Favor[/mwcard] myself and double move to middle. On second turn, I will throw [mwcard=mw1a04]2 x  Fireball[/mwcard] at the tree. Statistically, the tree has 75.66% chance to die, without counting the burns

Versus flying creatures, I will go with [mwcard=FWC15] Thorg, Chief Bodyguard[/mwcard] and [mwcard=MWSTX2FFC06] Goblin Alchemist[/mwcard]

Versus anything else, [mwcard=MWSTX1CKC01] Bridge Troll[/mwcard] will be the choice.[mwcard=MWSTX2FFJ04] Armory[/mwcard] and [mwcard=FWE09] Standard Bearer[/mwcard] make them very sturdy and deadly.

Normally, my opening should be:

Turn 1 (19 mana): I will double move to middle and cast [mwcard=MWSTX2FFE04] Brace Yourself[/mwcard] on myself in case I get hit hard by something.

Turn 2 (26 mana): I cast a [mwcard=DNC14] Skeletal Knight[/mwcard] or a [mwcard=MWSTX1CKC01] Bridge Troll[/mwcard]. If it is a [mwcard=MWSTX1CKC01] Bridge Troll[/mwcard], I will cast [mwcard=MW1I23] Rouse the Beast[/mwcard] to make him move/attack right away. If it is a [mwcard=DNC14] Skeletal Knight[/mwcard], I will cast [mwcard=mw1e33] Retaliate[/mwcard] or [mwcard=FWE09] Standard Bearer[/mwcard] on him.

Turn 3 (19/20 mana): If opponent casted a "major" conjuration like a [mwcard=MW1J10] Lair[/mwcard], a [mwcard=MW1J07] Gate to Voltari[/mwcard] or a [mwcard=MWSTX1CKJ02] Wizard's Tower[/mwcard], I will prepare a [mwcard=MW1I12] Force Push[/mwcard] to move away a creature standing on it and [mwcard=MWSTX2FFI02] Conquer[/mwcard] it. Else I repeat Turn 2.

Turn 4: I will either repeat turn 2 or support my Big Boys with [mwcard=DNA01] Acid Ball[/mwcard] if opponent get armored, [mwcard=MWSTX2FFJ04] Armory[/mwcard] if opponent bash them, [mwcard=FWA04] Hurl Boulder[/mwcard] and [mwcard=MW1I02] Battle Fury[/mwcard] if the way is clear.

[Boocheck]

Brace yourself works only on living creatures

[Wildhorn]

Brace yourself works only on living creatures

I know, they are for myself and my trolls. Samething for Akiro's Favor.

The knights are really for when I need Non-Living creatures. I give up some enchantments, but I gain alot of immunity (the ones that matter) when I face Forcemaster/Necro/Warlock (and vs Warlock, I don't want trolls).

EDIT: Oh I see, i mistakenly said I would cast it on my knights (doh!). I meant Retaliate, I will edit my initial post.

[IndyPendant]

Minor detail, but against a druid I would think Acid Ball + Force Hammer is a terrible idea, even with Akiro's Favour.  You're trying to take out a conjuration with (minimum) 2 armour and 12 life.  Acid Ball will on average deal 1 damage and remove 1-2 armour.  Let's say for the sake of argument it removes 2.  You still have to deal 11 damage on 8 dice, which has somewhere around a guesstimated 1 in 3 chance of happening.  Even if you haven't used up the Akiro's Favour by the time the Hammer falls, that's still a (guesstimated again) less than 50-50 chance of succeeding--and we're already assuming a 2-in-3 chance of 2 armour getting stripped by the Acid Ball for this scenario.

That whole combination has a considerably less than 50-50 chance of succeeding.  If it fails, you're down a lot of actions and mana, with no allies or protection, within easy reach of the druid's low-cost powerful creatures, and whatever damage you did manage to deal to the tree is getting regenerated/lifebonded down by 4 points a round.  If it succeeds...you're still down a lot of actions and mana, with no allies or protection, within easy reach of the druid's low-cost powerful creatures.  The druid may have lost the tree, but he's still got all the other things he was doing for two full rounds, while you've got...Akiro's Favour. ; )

[Wildhorn]

Acid ball will deal 1.11 damage on average vs 2 armor and remove at least 1 armor. Force Hammer with Akiro vs a 1 armor target will deal on average 11.12 damage (12.67 vs a 0 armor). So I have slightly over 50% chance to take it down.

A Hurl Boulder + Force Hammer would increase average damage to about 14.85, but it is 3 mana more expensive. Which would leave me with 15 mana on turn 3, not enough to cast a big boy + a rouse beast. I could try to squeeze a fireball to Fireball + Hurl Boulder. Would leave me with enough mana to not be flatfooted on 3rd turn.

I could try to Conquer it too, but it is very hard to do it vs a druid. It can only happens on 3rd turn and Vine Marker prevent double move and a simple rooted creature in the tree zone prevent conquer.

[zorro]

As a druid I would not mind that anti-tree start. Asuming you destroy the tree, I lost 8 mana, you lost 14 and two casts, and I probably already casted a raptor vine under your feet. Pretty risky snd not much effective even if successful

[jacksmack]

Hi Wild

I noticed that you in another post also mentioned Akiros favor and a seemingly very high average damage on a single attack spell.

I would argue that it's a fairly complex calculation to make.

How did you get to this result?

[Wildhorn]

I get them from this table: http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=13562.msg31573#msg31573

[Maverick]

Your build style and tactics look very similar to my Knightmare book. You could probably find a lot of good data if you take a look at my turn by turn summary. So far the book is undefeated in the 7 matches I have had with it.

[sshroom]

Solid book and gameplan. Looks fun!

[Wildhorn]

With the my Dice Probability Simulator, I figured out that the probabilities that one deal X damage and the other deal the rest of damage (versus 2 armor) are:

0:0.24*1.48=00.00
1:1.13*5.05=0.06
2:3.36*13.22=0.44
3:7.04*27.62=1.94
4:11.68*47.35=5.53
5:15.62*68.14=10.64
6:17.38*84.74=14.73
7:16.11*94.5=15.22
8:12.52*98.62=12.35
9:8.08*99.78=8.06
10:4.29*99.98=4.29
11:1.81*100=1.81
12:0.59*100=0.59

This gives around 75.66% chance to kill the tree (might be off by ~1%).
(Correct me if I calculated something wrong, it is 2am here and my brain might not top shape for that).

I edited original post to include a Fireball in addition to the Force Hammer to deal with druid's vine tree.

[Wildhorn]

As a druid I would not mind that anti-tree start. Asuming you destroy the tree, I lost 8 mana, you lost 14 and two casts, and I probably already casted a raptor vine under your feet. Pretty risky snd not much effective even if successful

You would have used 9 mana and me 16 mana mana, but a bonded Vine Tree worth ALOT more than that.

A bounded tree is a combinaison of:
- Mana Flower (5)
- Regrowth (6)
- Barrack (12)
- Garrison Post (4)

To me it worth 27 mana minimum.
By spending 1 action and 7 mana more than you, I deny you a very huge advantage.
If game would last 10 turns, I deny you 9 mana and 9 Full Actions and ~14hp.

Totally worth it Even if it means being hit once by a Raptor Vine.


But it is not risk-free. 25% chanve to fail and a Jynx or Tanglevine would make me lose a turn.

Probably I would be better to open up with Troll + Rouse and wait for 3rd turn to try to obliterate the tree.

[Wildhorn]

I edited it to add a 2nd Fireball instead of the Force Hammer.

For 2 reason: Allow to cast Rouse of the Beast instead of Defend because it cost 1 less mana and it allows to get 1-2 extra burns on the tree. I lose some flexibility vs Incorporeal creatures and conjuration in general, but I think the extra burn can really make the difference.

If the tree doesnt die from damage, a single burn won't change anything because the tree regenerate 2. But 2 burns increase the chance it dies even if it didn't from the Fireball damage alone.

I know it is a lose of flexibility only vs 1 Mage, but as a Warlord, I always found Druids to be the hardest to deal with because of the capability of the creatures to appear pretty much anywhere and the Mage capacity to Lifebound. So spending a little extra ressource to destoy the creature generator/Mage damage-soaker totally worth it to me.

[BoomFrog]

What is your gameplan against a forcemaster with a battleforge and an ooze?  Ooze+Galvatar would rip through a troll and unless he gets lucky on the defense rolls a knight goes down easy as well.

[Wildhorn]

What is your gameplan against a forcemaster with a battleforge and an ooze?  Ooze+Galvatar would rip through a troll and unless he gets lucky on the defense rolls a knight goes down easy as well.

There is so many way to deal with it... but first, what would the FM cast on 2nd turn? The blade or the jelly? if it is the blade, no problem, I will have my squad out to kill the ooze. Samething if he doesnt move to middle first turn.

If he cast the jelly on 2nd turn, on my 3rd turn I will choose something between:
- Force pushing the ooze away to force the FM to use a teleport if he want it to attack this turn
- Put a wall between us, making them waste a turn to destroy it or only having the ooze to deal with if the FM move to teleport it on me (and my knight will guard so it won't touch me, and might even not touch my guard)

In both case, FM can't attack with both its blade and the ooze.

On 4th turn I should have my 3 knights out and the jelly will be dead that turn if it is not already. Then I deal with the FM.


FM+Ooze would only be threatening if he doesnt cast a Forge so he has both the jelly and the blade out on turn 2.
There I would still use the tactics i mentionned, but mistakes would be more dangerous.