Winning with Class: Fighters

Well, with Epic on its way a lot of what I have to say here will fastly be going out of date. But I'll keep it Campaign for the time being, with the obvious disclaimer here that things will have to be adapted in a few months' time.

How do fighters win games of Warlord? The most obvious way is by charging to the front rank and lamping seven shades of SS-saurth out of the enemy personally. It was a tactic pioneered by Krun, but now almost predominantly the province of Ar'tek.

Ar'tek exceeds at this style of play since he has innate movement. Other warlords of this ilk (Krun, Fasolt, Duty) have to dilute the effectiveness of their slaughter by packing steeds and other such movement cards. Ar'tek can get straight down to the killing, taking no prisoners. All in all, why play any other warlord in this style when Ar'tek is available? Praise be that he's gone come Epic, though all the other fighter murder cards are passing through, allowing the archetype to survive even as its chosen son fades away.

Some warlords prefer to support other fighters from the rear lines rather than risk themselves. After all, why risk getting killed when any level 4 schmuck can play No Prisoners! and Gahid's Stand? This cavalry charge (so called due to the preponderance of steeds included) is often much more effective than a similar tactic played through a cleric warlord, as even if you draw no characters in your opening hand, the warlord can still utilise all the items and actions himself, at a pinch.

The star performers at this style of victory are Jin Valford, Kara Wadreth, Sir Aleron d'Ilchant and Uthanak, mainly because they offer a form of extra movement to their underlings. They're also capable of utilising Krun's Strategies and By Your Word, for those of you who miss the readying power of clerics.

Again, Epic will change the decktype slightly, with the new falling forward penalties making movement een more important for the high level characters.

Finally, fighters can try their hand at shooting their enemies. Faiza Nyota and the other rangers are the best for this style, as Hawk Hatchet is really the only ranged strike that fighters can use better than any rogue. However, since that card is not making it through to Epic, and neither is Gloves of Archery, the future looks bleak for the fighter sniper decks. They're going to have to leave it to the rogues in future, and get down to the simple business of frontline pummeling.