Anti-Orc Tactics/Strategy?

By Dam the Man, in Warhammer: Invasion The Card Game

Not Tactic cards, just general tactics to slow down the Green Tide. Orcs have only lost once in our games, that was during the first session when they lost 2-1 to Dwarves.

Games featuring Orcs:

Dwarves vs Orcs 2-1

Empire vs Orcs 0-2

Dwarves vs Orcs 1-2

Empire vs Orcs 0-2

Chaos vs Orcs 0-2

Chaos/Orcs vs Dwarves/Empire 2-0

Dwarves vs Orcs 1-2

Chaos vs Orcs 1-2

Only have 1xCore Set, apart from the Chaos/Orcs vs Dwarves/Empire game, every game has been with adding random 10 Neutrals from 23 (in some games 24, but Infiltrate has been sidelined for now).

They just have so much damage potential, with Boar Boyz, Choppas, etc., with Followers of Mork helping to boost those units that gain bonus from having wounded units. And there is of course "Waaagh!" which can net just nutty damage (best thus far is assigning 50 points of damage, that's after 1x Demoralise). Dwarves have done the best, as you'd expect, they can throw the best meat-walls between their Capital and the Orcs. Empire hasn't stood a chance, Chaos similarly, though today's game (the last one listed) was a very close affair.

It happened to us the first game we played.

Note: I own 2x Core Sets and all the decks have been made with them (my friends like to play without payin' ;) )

I guess it's a matter of meta and playstyles.

Three/Four days ago I said that Chaos was weak. Now I say that I do really like it and did pretty well during testing, even against Dwarves.

It depends A LOT on players.

Orcs are just so...all right out of the box.

A couple of Hints i found useful against them:

- If they start TOO quick, ignore the damaged zone and focus on the others as soon as you can. Don't bother losing a zone in the early game. If you build up a great defense, they're not going to last. They'r power is BIG...but it's a "one-shot" power. Troll Vomit, Removals and other Big Guys can give them a "second chance", but at that point, other races should be "BIGGER" than them.

- Build up KZ first. If you are lucky and inteligent, you can become The BAD GUY and they've nothing to do in the early game if they focused on attack. I managed to deal 4 damage first turn with 3 resources (We'z bigga + 2x Squig Erders). In this way, I used 3 cards and I don't have anything in my KZ. No way to play BIG stuff the turn after, unless I'm VERY lucky. That's the type of start I'm talkin' about. If you're playn' Empire, move them to the Quest. If you're Chaos, Kill them with a "shot" (Flames of Tzeentch, Blood for the Blood God). Just "Be Aggressive".

If you have nothing to do, follow advice no.1: leave that zone to the orcs and take care of the other ones. If they don't finish what they started, they don't win. At least, that's what we saw.

Anyway...

In 3/4 games I played, Orcs beated Dwarves in 4/5 turns. From there on, i've beated that deck just ONE time. I repeat: it depends on players/metas.

We find lots of problems (someone Dwarves, someone Empire) because we don't have clear ideas of what we've to do against a particular oppo, yet.

We don't play the insta-attack with any decks really. We go with the smart approach, get your economy (KZ + QZ) in order, then flood the Battlefield. That said, early Squiq Herders (esp. with Followers of Mork) can be a pest. Banna of the Red Sunz (IIRC that's the name) hurts the opponent if they get too many resources. Even say Rock Lobber can deal 2 dmg to capital at the expense of Broken Teef Goblins (normally 1 Power) and a paired Boar Boyz with Choppas when you have Totem of Gork (Mork?) and a wounded Unit somewhere deal 12 dmg! Empire can Counterstrike, Dwarves can meat-wall and Keystone Forge, Chaos can Nurgle's Pestilence and Blood for the Blood God (that 4 Power, 2HP Battlefield only Unit doesn't like it partido_risa.gif ), but Orcs just tend to mass so much hitting power. Usually one zone is left to die, but even then, burning another zone doesn't present a problem for the Orcs.

I know. It's a bad match up anyway...But I think it's a matter of approach against them. Orcs have to be cinic to close the deal.

If they stop for a while, it's the end (at least that's what happens here when they take 1/2 turn to re-start).

I guess one of the best oppo, right now, is Dwarves, cause, believe me, I played with a 60 cards dwarf deck and Orcs seems so "small" compared to the Dwarven walls :)

Chaos has corruption and targetted damage: not bad, espcially if you think about the fact that Orcs work weel with Squigs and other "damage/boost" stuff.

I'm not saying your reasoning is wrong, cause it's not. I'm just sayin' that they're not so "absolute" as they seem.

Well, as usual, posting these kinds of things is the kiss of death partido_risa.gif ! Empire just trounced Orcs 2-0. Fairly early combo (turn 3 or 4) of Will of the Electors + Judgement of Verena saw the Orcs back down to 3 Resource, 1 card per turn (while Empire lost nothing), they couldn't recover.

DB_Cooper anyone? gran_risa.gif

Trust the long term plans! :)

Early power = late game weakness.

Verena rulez. gran_risa.gif

DB_Cooper said:

Verena rulez. gran_risa.gif

Yeah, the snooty ***** pretty much forces you to slap down 3 developments per zone to keep everything in order AND hope opponent doesn't have 2x Will of the Electors (1x only in Core Set though I think?).

Yes, WotE (as JoV) is 1x...

Just build up the QZ along the KZ, put down a DEV each turn and you'll be able to deal with a 3rd turn JoV + Will of the Electors for a One-Side Reset. No escape for anyone. :)

P.S. Did anyone noticed that Empire is my fav? :)

DB_Cooper said:

P.S. Did anyone noticed that Empire is my fav? :)

I long since sold my sole gran_risa.gif to the Chaos Gods.

Oh, Chaos is a "wonderful" and "sweet" threat... :)

And I do think they can be a bad match-up for Orcs, just to stay IT. I'm going to test them one of these evenings and let you know...

Beat and smash the Orcs...Then prepare the stage for the majesty of the Empire!

Orcs are back! 2-0 win over Chaos. Savage Marauders do NOT like Banna of the Red Sunz llorando.gif . And the greens also Pillaged Chaos' Contested Stronghold (IIRC that's the one that gains 1 Power for each development).

Empire trounced the Dwarves 2-0 as well, WotE + JoV hit early, but Dwarves had prepared, dropping 3 developments into their KZ. Later, as I drew the Twin-tailed Comet, a light went on, hey, I could play WotE, then duplicate it with TTC, then zap JoV, clear a zone even with 4 developments. Ending was weird, Dwarves had tons of people in the Battlefield, QZ burning, 12 developments in KZ sorpresa.gif ! Had they drawn Kazador and gotten him into the KZ, they would've held on even longer. Of course, Empire benefitted from "Burn it down" on the Keystone Forge early on, Dwarves couldn't draw another.

Well no side is 'absolutely' more powerful than the other but it does seem like especially the Empire is 'harder' to play.
Kinda like the Scorpion Clan in the L5R cardgame. Sometimes some factions are far more reliant on intricate combos or specific interactions.
The straightforwardness of Orcs makes the very powerful among beginning players. I'm curious how things will turn out as more cards enter the pool. Empire can win but takes more effort.

Definitely agree and NOT just because I'm an Empire fan (don't know ANYTHING about the WH environment, I'm talkin' about cards).

Good point with the Scorpion/Empire comparison (not about themes, but "archetype").

There's a pretty good balancing, right now. That's a good thing and the community is figuring it out day by day. At the beginning, we had some problems with Races basic playin', but now that the game meta is really at a STARTING point, new points of view come out...

And the most importan thing is: each game seem to be different from the others. Lots of variables, lot of fun with Zone Set up and, a thing that I like, GREAT Tactics (i like one-shot cards in each game and I use them as a standard parameter to see the "mobility" of the game). :)

Sorry for the little OT. gui%C3%B1o.gif

Yeah, Empire are sneaky bastards. They pack the least raw Power icons (23 to 28 by D/O and 33 by Chaos), so they have to work it more to get that damage in. Greatswords comboed with Johannes and Pistoliers (maybe even the Shallya card and Forced March) are the main hitters. Thyrus can come in and add some quick extra umph.

I'm usually not going for the 3x hero in a deck...but Thyrus Gorman (understimated in general) is worth the deal: it's a great "non-direct" response against fast deks. It allows you to go "easlily" 7/8 resources or draw 4/5 turn 3. It means that you'll pull out the stuff you need to stop the rush.

I'm not seein' it just as a "big guy" for combat purpose...I got the MAX advantage from him while using it in KZ or QZ.

I only got one core set. I plan on getting the elf set when it comes out. Other then that it seems pretty balanced. Orcs are just insanely powerful if you let them get too many units out too quick. While I seem to be able to counter them pretty well with that one dwarf that gets toughness per development and that one Empire support that forces developments down in that zone. Then the rock lobba gets me...


So far tho Chaos seems to be a clear winner in our games. They just are like so weak one second then the next second you've got a burn token.


I havn't memorized the names of the cards yet so sorry for any confusion.


/On topic


This game is for 2 players right? Says 2 player on the site and in the rulebook. However on the back of the box it says 2-4 players. Even the cards themselves seem to imply at having more then one opponent. Cause we did play it with 3 players a few times and it seemed to play fine, tho we did apply our normal house rules for card games with more then normal players that we adapted for yu-gi-oh.

It's a 2 player games, right now...But we'll see something in the near future...I'm pretty sure about it :)