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Subject: WBC VII - 4th round pairings

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Janos M.
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Hamburg / GErmany

10/09/2006 11:45 PM  

Winner Bracket - Final
(who ever loses is out)

1.)
F.)
Young master
githzerai monk
ulmo Lightbringer
aramil,adventurer 
dwarf artificer
Timber Wolf x2

Map dragon temple.

Tactics:get ulmo and the Githzerai monk flanking there major figure, finish that then move onto the next figure. If there warband is based on there commandeer, attack him first with your high speeds.

vs.

L.)
Archmage
Bonded Fire Summoner
2 Small Fire Elementals (summoned)
2 Medium Fire Elementals (summoned)
Inspiring Marshal
2 Graycloak Ranger
2 Timber Wolves (minions)

Map = King’s Road

Strategy: Use Grant Move Action and Dimension Door to position the Archmage for dropping swords on the badguys. Once the swords are dropped, use Dimension Door to get out of range, then into the forest and hide, pelting whatever is visible with magic missile. Bonded Fire Summoner summons screeners/tile grabbers then hides in the forest and takes pot shots with scorching ray. Graycloaks hide in the forest and fire their bows at whatever they have Line Of Sight to. Fire Elementals and Timber Wolves crowd the shared Victory Area for Victory Points. They should be overwhelming enough to kill off any enemy fodder. If necessary, use the elementals to base Arcane Ballistas/screen the BFE/Archmage against ranged attacks/whatever else seems prudent.

 


Loser Bracket:


2.)

A.)
Ulmo Lightbringer
Young Master
Githzerai Monk
Ember, Human Monk
Standardbearer
Sun Soul Initiate
Timber Wolf
Aasimar Fighter

Map: King's Road

Basically, it plays like a (much) more fragile version of the multi-gith monk band. You should try really, really hard to get Ulmo in base contact with a flanker vs. the opponent’s Category 1 piece, unless that piece is immune to sneak attacks and/or stuns. Ulmo with a flanker should be able to very easily kill most pieces in that point/hit point category.
He has evade damage for Mordenkainen and Red Wizard bands, which should also be helpful. Use the standardbearer to negate hostile commander effects and to help protect the young master if necessary.
For a map, I recommend king’s road, to take advantage of Ulmo’s high AC and attack bonuses.
Incidentally I think you have a problem in this format as archmage bands should easily, easily dominate it. I made my band without the archmage in it in the hopes that you would ban the AM, as otherwise the format is quite screwy.

 

vs.

H.)
Mordenkainen
2xBlue Slaad
Orc Wardrummer
Hyena
Abyssal Maw
Orc Warrior

No report or Map were send.

 

 

3.)
C.)
Archmage
Warforged Barbarian
Inspiring Marshal
Healer
2x Xeph Warrior
Gnome Recruit
Gnome Recruit  

Map: King's Road

 

Strategy: The archmage snipes at enemy units from a distance, and tries to put his Mordenkainen's sword spells on key enemy pieces (most likely category 1 and 2 minis, and/or enemy commanders). It makes use of the forest as cover, allowing it to slip away if engaged in melee without suffering attacks of opportunity. Because the warforged has DR, if you are deciding between two enemy fighting units, remember that an enemy that does magic damage is a slightly greater threat than one that does an equivalent amount of nonmagic damage.  

The warforged barbarian is the warband's primary hitter, and should be able to hold its own against most adversaries; his bloody rage coupled with the Mordenkainen's sword spells should help take down enemies even faster.  

The healer's main job is to keep the barbarian up to snuff, and the archmage as well if badly injured. Keeping her in cover in the forest also adds to her longevity.  

The xephs can be used as first turn tile grabbers, or as a fast-moving screen against powerful enemy ranged attackers like the arcane ballista or an enemy archmage. The slower gnome recruits are primarily there for activations, though they can also be used as blockers or to hold a victory area after the first turn.  

The inspiring marshal is included mainly for his grant move action ability, of course, to get the archmage and warforged into a good striking position, or to bail either out if they get overwhelmed. With the presence of the cover-providing forest, you will more likely be using him to help position the archmage to put the swords on the enemy you want, or to bring the warforged up to point blank range to take a full attack on a target. 

Do not sacrifice xephs or gnome recruits unless there is a good reason to do so; having an edge on activations helps the archmage move last, to position himself, get off a couple swords (with quick cast), then hopefully move the next turn before your enemy can respond.

 

When considering your adversary, keep these points in mind:  

1. Category 1 enemies are juicy targets, because they have relatively low hit points for their cost, and make good units to put Mord's swords on.  

I estimate the most dangerous category 1 units you may see are:  

Vampire aristocrat - beware his ability to slay an enemy outright if you fail a morale save in his presence. Consider double-swording him to take him out fast.  

Sword archon - this guy may be used with fearless units like sacred watchers, justice archons, and warforged bodyguards. He's also an excellent target for double swording because the bodyguards cannot absorb that damage, and with only 70 hit points he can die quickly.  

Archmage - a mirror match may be tough, and will depend on your piloting skills versus your opponent. The healer is important because she can keep a unit such as the Warforged alive a round or two longer with her healing spells. Your sword targets will depend on what your opponent is using as a category 2 beater. If your opponent has healers, they are also good targets to take out quickly if an opportunity presents itself.  

Other possible category 1 targets: ravenous vampire (should be easy to kill), phoelarch (also not too tough), medusa (very few hit points--an easy target), red wizard (beware his spells, engage and damage as quick as you can, as he is extremely fragile), Mordenkainen (may be an okay mini with screeners; base him in the open if you can, and maybe put a sword or two on him), Ulmo (annoying bugger; swords work good, as does picking off flankers to avoid the sneak attack), death knight (nasty attack; hit him with ranged spells to soften him up), Artemis (not too tough), mounted paladin (hit with swords and kill quick), Elminster (probably not much offensive fighters in this band; base and hack quickly), and the ghaele eladrin (good ranged attack and good heal; use swords and base quickly).   

2. Category 2 creatures - there are a lot of solid possibilities in this category. Your warforged barbarian should be as tough as any of them, however.  

3. Category 3 creatures - this is most likely tech like Aramil; most of it should be routable by an empowered magic missile, though it is likely you will want to focus on bigger targets if available. 

4. Category 4 creatures - fodder; generally not worth your time to pit your primary creatures against these guys. Use your xephs and gnome recruits to keep them busy. It may be worth picking off one of these guys in the first round with the archmage to give you an edge on activations, however.

vs.

G.)
Sword Archon
Warforged Bodyguard x2
Sacred Watcher x2
Healer
Human Commoner x2

Map: Drow Outpost

(Note: Yes, this Brad Shugg's qualifier army)

Tactics: Move Sword Archon to central victory area and make sure the WFBs are basing it. Try to keep healer basing both WFBs as well. Use the SWs as harrassers and to remove key support units in opponents army. Use the Sword Archon as the main attacker and spread out all damage between the bodyguards and Archon to prevent deaths for as long as possible.


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Sirohk
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USA

10/10/2006 3:25 AM  
Here's my votes:

1) L
2) A
3) G

Cheers.Â



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And Crusader of the Zakya, Ak'chazar, Naztharune, and Naityan Rakshasa's

Janos M.
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Hamburg / GErmany

10/10/2006 3:46 AM  
1.) it's 50/50 %
F has no bad Map while L get's hurt by the Dragonshrine. So I think F will get the map and clear the support of the Archmage to win by tiles in the end.

2.) A
The Kings road has some nice line of sight to clear fodder of the LG warband. But it lacks the attack to overcome the high defence.

3.) C
The Warforged ability will have enough chances to deal damage to the watchers and the Archmage can handle the Sword and the Bodyguards all by himself.

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Vrecknidj
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10/10/2006 5:03 AM  
1) L
Very tough call, though the Archmage should survive the entire match, giving CG the edge.

2) H
The LG PLayer gets ahead on assault points by the third round, but, the balance shifts to CE when the chaos hammers have worn down the LG band enough that Mordy's spells are finishing off pieces. (LG either spreads out to avoid the chaos hammers from killing the little guys, in which case the chaos hammers do 10 (probably) to the monks, or the little guys bite it.) Either Ulmo or the Gith Monk dies relatively quickly in the game (let's suppose it's the Gith, as the LG player sees the writing on the wal). Ulmo may in fact kill Mordy, but not until he's wounded enough that the Slaads can take him out (I figure Ulmo is down to 40 by the time engagement is severe--that's two hits from the Slaads).

3) C
I think the Sword Archon gets nailed by Mordy's Swords and then it's just keep-away until the game is over.

Dave

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My Trade Thread and My Reference Thread; Winner of WBC IV, IX and XIII; Rule #0: bshugg is always right!

froffenhoffer
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10/10/2006 7:56 AM  
1.F-well archmage lost out last time, why different now?
2.A evasion on ulmo master
3.C swords are powerful.

Janos is your vote for F or L? I thought you said you must vote on all bands in round 1.

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The Official through the heart, and im to blame archer.

Damien the Bloodfeaster
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10/10/2006 8:28 AM  

1. F

This is an interesting contrast to last round, where the Githzerai band took on another Archmage build. That round I gave the nod to C, but this time I think the Monk band is definitely stronger. Why? Because the monks will have no problem getting to and taking out the Bonded Fire Summoner, which is much more fragile than a Warforged Barbarian, and will net the monk warband points for all the summoned creatures to boot.

 

2. A

Again, the monks have the advantage here. Although they are susceptible to the chaos hammers and Mord's area spells, they can keep spread out, then swoop in and quickly take out key enemy pieces. The King's Road map does favor the Mordenkainen band though, so it's not necessarily a pushover.

 

3. C

We saw a matchup like this (Archmage vs. Sword Archon) a few rounds ago, as I recall, and nothing has changed in my opinion. The Sword Archon is still highly susceptible to Dismissal/Mord's Swords, and without it the rest of the warband quickly crumbles.

Nobody Important
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10/10/2006 8:57 AM  
1. F - That Summoner looks like a lot more easy points than the Barbarian did.
2. A - To set up monk vs. monk
3. C - Hasn't the Archmage Banished a Sword Archon band or two already?


froffenhoffer
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10/10/2006 11:31 AM  
Doesnt the winner of winner bracket now just win as it is called the Final??

Everyone keeps saying set up monks vs monks.

My poor brain is confused.

Champion of Wildshaped druid in with natural spell!

Thus said froffenhoffer

The Official through the heart, and im to blame archer.

Janos M.
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Hamburg / GErmany

10/10/2006 11:17 PM  
More reading less thinking Froffenhoffer ;-)

without kidding: If you read my post you know if I voted F or L

and the loser of the "Winner Bracket - Final" is out, while the winner have to wait for the winner of the "Loser Bracket - Final" to determine the overall winner.

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10/12/2006 1:49 AM  
1) F
The summoner is nearly useless here, unless you surround it from all 8 directions. Otherwise its walking 40+ free points.. And monks still gives the AM fits. Fast, autodamage, stun, etc.

2) H
A tough one, but Chaos Hammers and other area of effect autodamage will kill the weaker units easily, leaving a poor lonely Ulmo to face 2 tough melee beaters.

3) C
Dismissal/Mordenkainens Swords + Dimension Door + Quickcast. Should be fairly quick.

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Vrecknidj
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10/13/2006 4:35 AM  
I'm not either F or L, so I don't mind giving my opinion on this.

I think that a Young Master and three or four Gith Monks would eat the Archmage alive. But, I'm not so sure that one Gith Monk, even with Ulmo's potential damage, is really enough. So, as an aside to the voting, can anyone explain to me, especially given Conceal 6, you think that the Archmage is so doomed? Imagine he gets one Sword on the Young Master and one on Ulmo. Even if the Archmage falls, the Swords are likely to net more points than he was worth.

Dave

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My Trade Thread and My Reference Thread; Winner of WBC IV, IX and XIII; Rule #0: bshugg is always right!

Damien the Bloodfeaster
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10/13/2006 9:29 AM  
Posted By Vrecknidj on 10/13/2006 4:35 AM
I'm not either F or L, so I don't mind giving my opinion on this.

I think that a Young Master and three or four Gith Monks would eat the Archmage alive. But, I'm not so sure that one Gith Monk, even with Ulmo's potential damage, is really enough. So, as an aside to the voting, can anyone explain to me, especially given Conceal 6, you think that the Archmage is so doomed? Imagine he gets one Sword on the Young Master and one on Ulmo. Even if the Archmage falls, the Swords are likely to net more points than he was worth.

Dave

I'm rather surprised to year you say that, Vreck. Last round you voted for the Gith/Ulmo band against another archmage build. Do you see this Archmage build as stronger against Gith/Ulmo than the last one?

BTW I'm totally in agreement with your sentiment above about Archmage vs. Githzerai Monk, especially on a map like King's Road which does the monk band no favors when it comes to facing powerful spellcasters like the Archmage. However, in the case of this matchup, I did vote for the monks over archmage because I thought the BFS was just too easy for the monks to get an easy kill on. If the Gith + Ulmo take out both the Archmage and the BFS with summonings, they should justify their cost.

IanB
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10/13/2006 11:48 AM  
1. F
2. Abstain
3. C

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Vrecknidj
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10/15/2006 4:35 PM  
Posted By Damien the Bloodfeaster on 10/13/2006 9:29 AM
I'm rather surprised to year you say that, Vreck. Last round you voted for the Gith/Ulmo band against another archmage build. Do you see this Archmage build as stronger against Gith/Ulmo than the last one?
Old age, confusion, all kinds of explanations.



Dave


Knowledge Arcana editor issues 5-9, Phoenix Lore Magazine editor, assistant editor for Rite Publishing;
My Trade Thread and My Reference Thread; Winner of WBC IV, IX and XIII; Rule #0: bshugg is always right!
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