The 100 Kingdoms faction in Para Bellum’s Conquest miniature wargame has two strong choices when it comes to spellcasters, the Chapter Mage and the Theist Priest. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, making them effective in different ways, but one or the other should almost always be included in a 100 Kingdoms army. In this article, we’ll explore the effectiveness of these two characters and how they fit into a winning 100 Kingdoms strategy.
Chapter Mage:
The Chapter Mage is an arcane spellcaster who has the ability to rain down spells upon her enemies for some solid damage potential. They can also buff friendly units by taking the Air School of magic or heal them with spells like Ninuah’s Tears. Unlike the Theist Preist, the Chapter Mage can only select a single school of magic, and this can limit her utility on the battlefield. To get the most out of the Chapter Mage, when building your army list it will be important to include units that synergize well with the School of Magic that the Chapter Mage will have.
Regardless of her School of Magic, the Chapter Mage is particularly effective when paired with ranged units. She can provide support by casting spells to heal, do damage, or buff your own units while she is also firing her own Barrage weapon. My favorite combination for dealing damage at range with the Chapter Mage is giving her The Kiss Farewell Heirloom. For 30pts the Chapter Mage gets upgraded to Barrage 7 with Deadly Shots. Combining this insane level of firepower to a regiment of Mercenary Crossbowman can deal devastating damage from the safe(ish) distance of 18 inches away.
The Chapter Mage’s biggest weakness is her vulnerability to enemy attacks. By placing this character inside a regiment of Mercenary Crossbowmen, who only have a Defense of 1 and no Evasion, it is imperative that she is kept out of harms way. Thankfully, by taking the Dynastic Alliances army trait, and giving your Chapter Mage her own Supremacy Ability, she can safely cast her spells that previously had a range of Self onto units up to 8 inches away. This ability also protects you from enemy spellcasters by causing interference when they target one of your regiments on the tabletop, regardless of their proximity to the Chapter Mage.
Theist Priest:
The Theist Priest is a powerful support unit that has the ability to buff the offensive and defensive capabilities of friendly units. They are particularly effective when used in conjunction with melee units, as they can provide protection while the melee units engage in close combat.
The Theist Priest’s biggest strength is their versatility. Unlike the Chapter Mage, the Theist Priest comes knowing all of his available prayers. In some situations it will be most effective to pile more damage onto your opponent’s regiments with Holy Fire, or it may be time to increase the Defense of a unit of Men At Arms to a solid 5. With the Theist Priest’s flexibility both of these things will be possible throughout a game.
The Theist Priest can also be given some interesting Heirlooms during army construction, and the most interesting one seems to be the Elysian Fragment. The ability to once per game give a regiment Smite to ignore your opponent’s Defense seems like a no brainer for 20pts, but there are some hoops to jump through before using this effectively. First, the Fragment provides Smite to the Priest’s regiment through a Draw Event activated during the Character’s activation, not the regiments. This will effectively mean you will give your opponent at least one activation to respond to the knowledge that the Theist Priest’s unit has gained Smite. This downside can be countered by casting Saint’s Favor, or Heavenly Blessing, on the unit who will be using the Elysian Fragment to ensure they survive any punishment your opponent tries to dish out before one of their units gets hit incredibly hard.
Effectiveness Comparison:
In terms of effectiveness, both the Chapter Mage and Theist Priest are powerful units that bring different strengths to the battlefield. The Chapter Mage is more specialized in her spellcasting, either healing, buffing, or damaging enemy units depending on her chosen School of Magic. The Theist Priest is more of a general support piece that can be upgraded to fill some interesting roles within the 100 Kingdoms army.
The effectiveness of these units ultimately depends on the player’s strategy and the units they are paired with, but the spells that the Theist Priest and Chapter Mage bring to the table are too strong to be left at home.
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