Starshielders Summon Fun

Our regular Monday game night was a study in contrasts. On one table some of us were slaughtering pigs and growing grain in a rousing game of Agricola. And at my table we were summoning troops, slinging spells, and smashing walls. You guessed it, another night of Summoner Wars for me and Iczer, with Weezoh as an hors d'oeuvre.

Weezoh and I played the first game so he could go run the great farm race that is Agricola. He chose the Guild Dwarves without hesitation. I decided to play my favorite, the Tundra Orcs. A classic battle against hereditary enemies ensued.

The game was pretty much back and forth, and then the Champions hit the field. Thorkur, Blagog, and then finally, Gror. 

A few Freezes and determined Smashers brought a semi-swift end to Thorkur while Blagog made his way toward Oldin only to be thwarted by Defenders doing their thing. 

In the end, Gror had come out a bit too late as my Orcs laid the Dwarven Summoner low. 

Weezoh, of course, liked the game, and I am pretty sure would like to play another. He does have the distinction in our group to be the first player to have an Engineer bring down a wall. Unfortunately, by the time he did, I had ample walls for summoning. Still noteworthy, however. 

As Weezoh went to set up Agricola, Iczer and I sat down to a game of Goblins vs. Elves. I had never played the Phoenix Elves and decided to give them a go.

I like the direct damage of the Events for the elves. Precise is quickly becoming my second favorite ability behind Fury.  

The game was pretty back and forth. At one time, I had wiped the board of most of his Goblins, but reinforcements arrived quickly as Goblins will do. Then Blarg hit the field. Immediately, his enhancement was brought to 3. I had to end him before he became a major threat. However, before I did that, I used Kaeseeall to use him for my own ends, moving in to take a swipe at Sneeks. The next turn, after a wounded Sneeks had slunk away to safety, my elves brought down the stunned Blarg before he knew what hit him. 

Iczer rallied, though, and as I moved my forces to converge on the wily Sneeks, he soldiered on and destroyed Elien's honor guard, and sent the proud prince to his end. 

We took a brief intermission in which I wiped the planes with Iczer in two games of Magic. He thankfully returned to Summoner Wars, knowing he stood a better chance there. 

He chose Orcs and I went with Dwarves. We decided to work in the reinforcement cards. I chose several Guardsmen in lieu of Engineers and threw in Tordok for Thorkur. Iczer worked in the Thwarters and Chargers while sitting several of each of the other Commons. 

He couldn't get his Chargers to work, but I really fell in love with the Guardsmen. Defenders and Guardsmen together are a great combination. 

As the battle progressed, he managed to get out several Champions and made good use of his Shamans, darn them. Oldin took some lumps, but my defenders managed to fight off the attackers before they could take him out. Then I managed to get Baldar out. It took me forever to get out a Champion, so when I did, I went berserk. I brought Baldar to bear, clearing a path to Grognack where I managed to do some damage. Then I cast Heroic Feat on Baldar; I had Grognack defenseless...one of the worst rolls in history prevented his demise. Baldar went down under a press of orcs as Grognack made his way around a wall. That's when I tried what I have dubbed, Gror's Gambit. Oldin was threatened and wounded, quite possibly the next turn was to be his last. I had one chance. 

I had managed to accumulate enough Magic Points to summon Gror within striking distance of Grognack. I needed 2 hits to bring him down. I didn't have a Heroic Feat left, so I had to rely on Gror's 2 power attack to win. I brought the mighty hammer-wielder into play and attacked my wall, hoping to take out at least one of the units threatening Oldin and still be in range of Grognack. I shook up the dice and let them roll. Two hits! The Gror Gambit paid off. Oldin was safe and Grognack was defeated!

Overall, we found the reinforcements to be as balanced as the core units. There didn't seem to be any advantage one way or the other, just more options. I went 2-1 on the night, a good night by anyone's standards, I'd say. 

Stay tuned for more Summoner Wars. This time SurfMonkey returns, thirsting for vengeance. Will he be avenged? Tune in next time...