I and my usual Mage Knight opponent (David desJardins) found 2-player full conquest to be short and somewhat anti-climactic. Although it is supposed to be a 6-round scenario, we found that both cities were usually conquered before the end of night 2, ending the game early. In an attempt to make the scenario more interesting, we tried the following variant:
2-player competitive full conquest
8 countryside tiles
6 core tiles (all four cities, and 2 non-city tiles)
City levels at 4, 4, 6, and 7
Random tile orientation
Randomly choose the two heroes available, then choose heroes by auctioning fame points (the player who bids second in the auction gets first choice of tactic)
PvP on
The randomly determined heroes were Goldyx and Wolfhawk. I bid zero for Goldyx, Dave bid 1, I matched at 1, Dave bid 2, and I passed. So Dave started with Goldyx at -2 fame. Since I opened the auction, Dave chose his tactic first. The source was weak, so Dave chose Mana Steal, I chose Planning, and the game began.
Wolfhawk headed to a monastery so she could nobly rescue some Savage Monks from the inevitable flames. Goldyx went dungeon crawling and met a Crypt Worm. He did take 3 wounds, but he immediately healed 2 of them and the 5 fame was exactly enough to level Goldyx up. Wolfhawk got some of her better skills early (Dueling and Deadly Aim) but Magic Talent showed up in the AA offer at just the right time for Goldyx. I feared that Magic Talent would give Goldyx the advantage in a long game, so it was time for some desperate measures. I sent Wolfhawk into a tomb with a red mana token, a blue crystal, a white crystal, and Mana Bolt as her only useful card. An Ice Dragon, Storm Dragon, or High Dragon would have been bad, but Wolfhawk met a Lava Dragon. The source had both green and black available but Wolhawk could not use both for the Siege Ice 8 she needed. Instead she made a "futile" attempt to block it with her dueling skill, and took 4 wounds. She then killed it in melee with Cold Fire Attack 9 (+2 from Deadly Aim), and gained an extra fame from Dueling.
By the middle of night 2, Goldyx had conquered the white city, while Wolfhawk had captured the red city. This would have triggered the end of a standard 2-player full conquest scenario, but with two cities left, our game continued. Since all units are recruitable in the white city, Goldyx was able to hire both Blue Heroes and Ice Mages, while leaving no elite units available for Wolfhawk. With no other use for influence, Wolfhawk bought an artifact instead. Goldyx then explored a spawning grounds. Wolfhawk was in danger of losing most of the scoring titles to Goldyx, so she attacked two dragons simultaneously, to increase her lead on the fame track. She killed both dragons, but took 3 wounds from a high dragon and left herself open to a PvP attack by Goldyx. Goldyx attacked Wolfhawk and stole the Golden Grail, then round 4 ended.
In round 5, Goldyx grabbed Early Bird and recruited Delphana Masters, while Wolfie took The Right Moment and hired Amotep Gunners. She then flipped her tactic and explored a spawning grounds. Goldyx used Frost Bridge to skate across the white city lakes, then explored and captured the blue city using all four abilities of the Delphana Masters. With mostly movement in her hand, Wolfhawk would not have been able to capture the green city in one turn, so she used the movement ability of the Druidic Staff to get to the red mine on the red city tile, and explored the green city tile (in case there happened to be an orc in the way). Wolfie then refilled her hand with the help of her bonus from being the red city leader.
Goldyx was blocked by a Lava Dragon near the blue city, but if he had Underground Travel in hand, he could have gotted to the green city first. Wolfhawk's big gamble paid off; Goldyx didn't have the card, nor did he have Tranquility to try to draw it. With nothing better to do, Goldyx burned the blue city monastery. Wolfie took out the green city on her next turn (getting most of her army poisoned in the process), triggering the end of the game. Goldyx finally found Underground Travel and burned another monastery. Wolfie used her last cards to get to the green city tile glade and ditch her last wound, and it was time to score.
Counting the titles, both mage knights had scores over 150, and Wolfhawk ended up with a narrow 13 point win. Goldyx won most of the titles, but Wolfhawk's lead on the fame track was a little too large. If Goldyx had found Underground Travel one turn earlier, the game would clearly have been his.
Conclusions:
Magic Talent is still way overpowered. The advanced effect is just too good. (In my humble opinion, the advanced effect of Magic Talent should also require the discard of a card).
Dueling is Wolfhawk's best skill. It helps her in combat, and is worth about 2-3 extra fame each round.
For intermediate players, the standard 2-player full conquest scenario is fine. For experienced players, 4 cities (instead of 2) makes for a much more interesting endgame.
2-player competitive full conquest
8 countryside tiles
6 core tiles (all four cities, and 2 non-city tiles)
City levels at 4, 4, 6, and 7
Random tile orientation
Randomly choose the two heroes available, then choose heroes by auctioning fame points (the player who bids second in the auction gets first choice of tactic)
PvP on
The randomly determined heroes were Goldyx and Wolfhawk. I bid zero for Goldyx, Dave bid 1, I matched at 1, Dave bid 2, and I passed. So Dave started with Goldyx at -2 fame. Since I opened the auction, Dave chose his tactic first. The source was weak, so Dave chose Mana Steal, I chose Planning, and the game began.
Wolfhawk headed to a monastery so she could nobly rescue some Savage Monks from the inevitable flames. Goldyx went dungeon crawling and met a Crypt Worm. He did take 3 wounds, but he immediately healed 2 of them and the 5 fame was exactly enough to level Goldyx up. Wolfhawk got some of her better skills early (Dueling and Deadly Aim) but Magic Talent showed up in the AA offer at just the right time for Goldyx. I feared that Magic Talent would give Goldyx the advantage in a long game, so it was time for some desperate measures. I sent Wolfhawk into a tomb with a red mana token, a blue crystal, a white crystal, and Mana Bolt as her only useful card. An Ice Dragon, Storm Dragon, or High Dragon would have been bad, but Wolfhawk met a Lava Dragon. The source had both green and black available but Wolhawk could not use both for the Siege Ice 8 she needed. Instead she made a "futile" attempt to block it with her dueling skill, and took 4 wounds. She then killed it in melee with Cold Fire Attack 9 (+2 from Deadly Aim), and gained an extra fame from Dueling.
By the middle of night 2, Goldyx had conquered the white city, while Wolfhawk had captured the red city. This would have triggered the end of a standard 2-player full conquest scenario, but with two cities left, our game continued. Since all units are recruitable in the white city, Goldyx was able to hire both Blue Heroes and Ice Mages, while leaving no elite units available for Wolfhawk. With no other use for influence, Wolfhawk bought an artifact instead. Goldyx then explored a spawning grounds. Wolfhawk was in danger of losing most of the scoring titles to Goldyx, so she attacked two dragons simultaneously, to increase her lead on the fame track. She killed both dragons, but took 3 wounds from a high dragon and left herself open to a PvP attack by Goldyx. Goldyx attacked Wolfhawk and stole the Golden Grail, then round 4 ended.
In round 5, Goldyx grabbed Early Bird and recruited Delphana Masters, while Wolfie took The Right Moment and hired Amotep Gunners. She then flipped her tactic and explored a spawning grounds. Goldyx used Frost Bridge to skate across the white city lakes, then explored and captured the blue city using all four abilities of the Delphana Masters. With mostly movement in her hand, Wolfhawk would not have been able to capture the green city in one turn, so she used the movement ability of the Druidic Staff to get to the red mine on the red city tile, and explored the green city tile (in case there happened to be an orc in the way). Wolfie then refilled her hand with the help of her bonus from being the red city leader.
Goldyx was blocked by a Lava Dragon near the blue city, but if he had Underground Travel in hand, he could have gotted to the green city first. Wolfhawk's big gamble paid off; Goldyx didn't have the card, nor did he have Tranquility to try to draw it. With nothing better to do, Goldyx burned the blue city monastery. Wolfie took out the green city on her next turn (getting most of her army poisoned in the process), triggering the end of the game. Goldyx finally found Underground Travel and burned another monastery. Wolfie used her last cards to get to the green city tile glade and ditch her last wound, and it was time to score.
Counting the titles, both mage knights had scores over 150, and Wolfhawk ended up with a narrow 13 point win. Goldyx won most of the titles, but Wolfhawk's lead on the fame track was a little too large. If Goldyx had found Underground Travel one turn earlier, the game would clearly have been his.
Conclusions:
Magic Talent is still way overpowered. The advanced effect is just too good. (In my humble opinion, the advanced effect of Magic Talent should also require the discard of a card).
Dueling is Wolfhawk's best skill. It helps her in combat, and is worth about 2-3 extra fame each round.
For intermediate players, the standard 2-player full conquest scenario is fine. For experienced players, 4 cities (instead of 2) makes for a much more interesting endgame.