General's Signet Ring

[Borg]

Trying to come up with a strong enough opening for a Barracks - Bloodwave Warlord I find the problem lies in his Signet Ring.
It's simply overcosted compared to the other Rings. Make it 2 mana instead of 3 and we're in business even vs a fire mage.

Example opening vs a Warlock if Signet Ring costs only 2 mana
R1 19 Signet Ring - Panzergarde : 9 mana left
R2 16 Barracks - Garrison Post : 0 mana left

As it currently stands, with the 3-mana ring, you're 1 mana short.

If you play the other way around you lose an action

R1 19 Garrison Post - Barracks : 3 mana left
R2 12+2 : Panzergarde - Defend : 1 mana left and an action unused ( = guard )


Another option would be to have him channel 10 mana of course.

[Puddnhead]

R1 19 Construction Yard, 7 - Signet Ring, 3: 10 mana left
R2 19 (1)Garrison Post , 4 - Panzerguard, 10: 5 mana left
R3 14 (1) Ballista, 8 - Butcher, 7: 0 mana left.

Your panzerguard and your butcher are in front of you and you have ballista backup from there you can equip and support or do altar of carnage and commence the beat down Or you could fully transition to Barracks if you have time on turn 3 and do an enchantment instead of ballista/butcher.

[Halewijn]

I use each of these openings with the same deck. Depending on my opponent and what he does.

(19) Barracks + Construction yard (0)
(9+2+1) sprint 2 + garrison post near opponent (6+2)
(15+5+1) Any big guy near the opponent (Thorg for example) + melee attack + enchantment or leather armor

(19) Barracks + Construction yard (0)
(9+2+1) sprint 2 + garrison post near opponent (6+2)
(15+5+1) Grunt + Force push + Conquer 

(19) Barracks + Construction yard (0)
(9+2+1) garrison post in center + ring (3+2)
(12+5+1) Orc butcher or something else + ballista/altar of domination/... 

From here on, I try to battle with my mage and use the quick cast for conjurations or other support. Meanwhile I'll spawn a creature every round. I only use the ring in one of the 3 openings.

[Alex]

Ever tried without a spawnpoint?

[Halewijn]

Yes, but not the ring, and not in that deck. 

[Borg]

R1 19 Construction Yard, 7 - Signet Ring, 3: 10 mana left
R2 19 (1)Garrison Post , 4 - Panzerguard, 10: 5 mana left
R3 14 (1) Ballista, 8 - Butcher, 7: 0 mana left.

Your panzerguard and your butcher are in front of you and you have ballista backup from there you can equip and support or do altar of carnage and commence the beat down Or you could fully transition to Barracks if you have time on turn 3 and do an enchantment instead of ballista/butcher.

I like that opening with its different options very much.
I assume you move to B4, put the Yard in C4 and the Post in B3 ( NC )
Don't you feel the Ballista may be a bit too far back in B4 ?

[Borg]

@Halewijn

In what zones do you put the Barracks and Construction Yard ?

[Puddnhead]

R1 19 Construction Yard, 7 - Signet Ring, 3: 10 mana left
R2 19 (1)Garrison Post , 4 - Panzerguard, 10: 5 mana left
R3 14 (1) Ballista, 8 - Butcher, 7: 0 mana left.

Your panzerguard and your butcher are in front of you and you have ballista backup from there you can equip and support or do altar of carnage and commence the beat down Or you could fully transition to Barracks if you have time on turn 3 and do an enchantment instead of ballista/butcher.

I like that opening with its different options very much.
I assume you move to B4, put the Yard in C4 and the Post in B3 ( NC )
Don't you feel the Ballista may be a bit too far back in B4 ?

Ballista would definitely be too far back if you're not being rushed.  If you are rushed I would drop ballista and butcher.  If not I'd drop barracks and enchant.

[Halewijn]

Zone a1 and a3. Barracks in the starting zone. The nice thing about the deck is that my planning phase in round 1 and 2 is exactly the same. Depending on my opponent I can totally change my strategy during round 2 without needing to plan for it. My channeling is basically 13 or 14 depending if I cast the ring or not.

[Beldin]

I personally think that this start is incorrect for the warlord. It requires too much set up and invested mana to ever be efficient. It is better to drop 3 mana flowers and the signet ring and hard cast Level 3 soldiers. This gives you much better flexibility and does not require investment into conjurations that eat up a lot of mana to get working.

[zot]

R1 19 Construction Yard, 7 - Signet Ring, 3: 10 mana left
R2 19 (1)Garrison Post , 4 - Panzerguard, 10: 5 mana left
R3 14 (1) Ballista, 8 - Butcher, 7: 0 mana left.

Your panzerguard and your butcher are in front of you and you have ballista backup from there you can equip and support or do altar of carnage and commence the beat down Or you could fully transition to Barracks if you have time on turn 3 and do an enchantment instead of ballista/butcher.

confused by last r3 line. ballista, butcher total 15 yet you only have 14. am i missing something here? i thnk the 7 cost for the butcher includes the ring discount.

[wtcannonjr]

R1 19 Construction Yard, 7 - Signet Ring, 3: 10 mana left
R2 19 (1)Garrison Post , 4 - Panzerguard, 10: 5 mana left
R3 14 (1) Ballista, 8 - Butcher, 7: 0 mana left.

Your panzerguard and your butcher are in front of you and you have ballista backup from there you can equip and support or do altar of carnage and commence the beat down Or you could fully transition to Barracks if you have time on turn 3 and do an enchantment instead of ballista/butcher.

confused by last r3 line. ballista, butcher total 15 yet you only have 14. am i missing something here? i thnk the 7 cost for the butcher includes the ring discount.

The (1) represents the channeling from Construction Yard which brings your available mana to 15 if you cast one appropriate conjuration.

[Super Sorcerer]

ב"ה
My opening  with bloodwave warlords usually goes like:
19
1) barracks + construction yard.
9/2/1
2) goblin grunt (from barracks) + general signet ring + garrison post.
10/3/1
with several options for the 3 turn:
3a) dwarf panzergarde + defend/leather piece (depend on when I need it guarding)  + guarding with mage in garrison post zone (or giving a command if one of them is helpfull).
3b) orc butcher + mana flower + guarding/command.
3c) orc butcher + meditation amulet + meditate.
3d) bridge troll + running to the corner.

[Puddnhead]

ב"ה
My opening  with bloodwave warlords usually goes like:
19
1) barracks + construction yard.
9/2/1
2) goblin grunt (from barracks) + general signet ring + garrison post.
10/3/1
with several options for the 3 turn:
3a) dwarf panzergarde + defend/leather piece (depend on when I need it guarding)  + guarding with mage in garrison post zone (or giving a command if one of them is helpfull).
3b) orc butcher + mana flower + guarding/command.
3c) orc butcher + meditation amulet + meditate.
3d) bridge troll + running to the corner.

If you make sure your Forge deploys the Signet first you can get an additional mana saved on T2.

I find this opening doesn't leave me flexible enough to deal with a threat in my face on T2/T3.  So much mana is tied up into your barracks engine at that point that you are struggling to both produce more creatures and keep them from dying or gear up your mage.

A slower approach like the one I posted previously allows you to have a lot more mana flexibility for making the correct tactical choice in any given situation while also allowing you to transition to larger creatures after your economy is set up.

[Halewijn]

Agreed with Puddn. I have used that opening myself and concluded that it was better to postpone the summoning of creatures to turn 3 to get something bigger or do something else entirely. (See my opening above)