Mage Knight Solo: One City...And Only One Will Reign Over It! (Volkare's Return, Heroic-Tight)

SOLO PLAYTHROUGHS' PATREON PAGE: / soloplaythroughs
SOLO PLAYTHROUGHS' MERCHANDISE: www.teespring....
In this episode of Solo Playthroughs, Greg visits the Atlantean countryside with Arythea ready to do battle in an epic confrontation with Volkare. The Volkare's Return scenario from Mage Knight's The Lost Legion expansion challenges the player to be both highly fierce and remarkably efficient, as the hero needs to quickly conquer a city across the landscape and then prepare for a grueling battle upon Volkare's arrival. Winning this scenario will require creativity...and a thorough understanding of the rulebook, as things can get crazy when your standing guard against Volkare. Greg is using the settings of Heroic (for the city and legion levels) and Tight (for the timing level), so victory won't be easy. That said, perhaps the most offensive-minded hero, Arythea is uniquely positioned to overcome all challenges that stand in her way...but will she??
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mage Knight Board Game: Ultimate Edition. amzn.to/2TZmgNn
Mage Knight Board Game: amzn.to/2Bp6gxN
Mage Knight: Lost Legion Expansion. amzn.to/2MmDwbb
Mage Knight: Shades of Tezla Expansion: amzn.to/2NiVziU
Mage Knight: Krang Character Expansion. amzn.to/2ZVv8Y8
Camera: amzn.to/2Bihvrz
Microphone: amzn.to/33pjkiq
Containers (for components): amzn.to/2AqlbHs
Zoopin Card Sleeves (green/blue): amzn.to/2TVKvMk
Ultra Pro Card Sleeves (black): amzn.to/36QFiKS
Card Case (for unsleeved cards; can store sleeved cards "sideways"): amzn.to/3eBRp1h
Card Box (for sleeved cards): amzn.to/2XUjrhA
Drawstring bags (to help randomize/store tokens): amzn.to/2MiBAjI
#soloplaythroughs #mageknight #volkaresreturn

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

*NOTE: Please see comment from Sajatzsiraf below - I missed a rule in set up regarding the increase of Indecisive Units as you increase the "Race level" difficulty. Just when I thought I had this rulebook memorized... :) Thanks to Sajatzsiraf for pointing this out!* It had been a while since I played Return and lets just say I'm glad I did some warm-ups off-camera! :) Having to keep your tempo up while simultaneously preparing for a challenging showdown gives this scenario an extra feeling of urgency that I really like. Happy Gaming!

[@bookaddict777]

I am happy to hear that MK is not leaving your rotation any time soon! I love the game - never get to play it, but love it anyway - and I try to watch all of your MK play throughs. Thank you so much!

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Thanks for the comment, Stasia! I publishing my first Solo Conquest Blitz just in time for the new year so be on the look out for that! 🙂

[@bookaddict777]

@@SoloPlaythroughs I sure will!

[@andrzejm3906]

Thanks for the playthrough! It was hard but it made this even more interesting 😁

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Hey Andrzej! For real. Some of those final Volkare battles in this scenario can stretch on through several turns in the most incredible ways. :)

[@thomaswillinger4824]

great playthrough :)

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Thanks, Thomas!

[@schrankp]

Would love to see you play Salt Lands. Not a hugely popular game, but it is one of those that has really great co-op, competitive, or solo scenarios.

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Thanks for the recommendation! I looked into Saltlands a little last night. I’m intrigued... 🙂

[@Kentchangar]

When we've been playing Volkare's Return (whcih should be called Volkare's Quest, since he's searching for the city, but I digress) we alwasy let him deck out and set the map so he opens up the penultimate tile (or we open it for him), then we open the city near his starting position (usually during the third day). That way we have time to prepare. Don't know whether that's possible solo, though.

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

It’s an interesting idea! I think to pull it off solo would require the right set of land tiles that allow you to get a couple artifacts and/or spells that you’ll need. Plus, at heroic and legendary levels, you’re generally going to want to be attacking the city before the third day.

[@Kentchangar]

@@SoloPlaythroughs We've been playing on heroic level and winning constantly and with little trouble that way. Legendary we haven't won yet.

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Awesome! And, yeah, I can see that in coop. With less turns available true solo, waiting until the third day to siege the city often won’t leave enough turns to win. Good luck with legendary level!

[@Kentchangar]

@@SoloPlaythroughs Yeah, that's not happening anytime soon :'(

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Yeah - get that. Bad times. Hopefully one of these days!

[@Sajatzsiraf]

I think at "Tight" difficulty you are supposed to have two indecisive units, unless this is also part of the kind of 'choose your own difficulty' setup options that is not clearly remarked in the rules.. :)

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Man, this blew my mind! And that's crazy. :) Thanks for pointing this out. I usually don't mess with the "Race level" and just never noticed this wrinkle in the rules. So, presumably I would have had to face another one or two city units in Volkare's Legion I guess. Again, that's nuts. And thanks again!

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

I edited my pinned comment on this video to bring attention to this. Thanks a third time!

[@Sajatzsiraf]

@@SoloPlaythroughs Mage knight is 'the gift that keeps on giving' :D you know, I have played probably 50-60 conquests and a bunch of other scenarios by the time I have stumbled into your channel, and I have also learned some corner-case rules from you. this is the 'living boardgame'. ;) (by the way this is how we added 7-8 grey tokens in this scenario once when we were playing multiplayer, as soon as more dice-rolls trigger adding them the army really starts growing like weeds...)

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Well, I'm glad the education process has been mutually beneficial! Meanwhile, I remember you writing that story in a comment, and I remember thinking how excessive that seemed to me - and how unlucky you would have to be for that to happen, even in a multiplayer game. Now it makes so much more sense! :)

[@adams.3738]

Hey man, as usual watching one of your videos to prepare myself for another mage knight session after a long break haha Wanted to ask you a question regarding a scenario I've encountered in the past and not too sure about it. If I use the shocktroops last ability on Volkare, does it mean his damage is assigned to them first? Obviously assassination isn't the issue since the card clearly says "even if the enemy had assassination" but I'm not sure if arcane immunity cancels that out or not. Does that count as "affecting the enemy"?

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Hey Adam! Great question. Arcane immunity protects the enemy but it never protects the enemy's attack. So the Shocktroops will still get the damage assigned to them first. Thematically, the Shocktroops always run ahead of the hero and put themselves in the path of an attack, absorbing as much of it as possible.

[@Sajatzsiraf]

3:08 we know you can count to 16, not sure about 35, would have liked you to count this out, honestly...

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

It’s a fair point considering my counting issues at times… Next time!

[@Lestrande]

Great playthrough! Question about Circlet of Proficiency - Was breaking it to get Universal Power necessary? It was the end of the game so you know you'll only get to use the skill once and if you use the normal effect of Circlet you can use Universal Power twice that turn since it is a skill that does not flip.

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Thanks, Lestrande! And, yes, I actually thought this during editing - your way would have been more optimal. :) Nice catch!

[@Jelmazmo]

Batman is the hero Gotham deserves, not the hero it needs. Lately I've been playing a lot of Mage Knight after a long time, and I was shocked that I'm kinda struggling (won only 1/3 solo conquests). What I mean to say is, you're the opposite of batman and I'm gonna devour this whole channel of its mage knight videos.

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Amazing. This might be the greatest comment I’ve ever gotten on the channel. 🤣

[@clvrswine]

This game pisses me off. Often. Many "Are you kidding me?" moments when pulling enemies. Psychical Resistance? Really? I almost Rage-Quit.

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

I've definitely been there! Physical resistance can be especially brutal in those games that don't give you any options to pick up elemental attack. Of course, if you watch my Arythea solo conquest, I was loaded with fire attack and kept running into enemies with fire immunity. It was insane! :)

[@Sajatzsiraf]

@@SoloPlaythroughs what I hate even more is the other example mentioned, when you have blue 'does not attack' spells or action cards and you run into ice-resistant units. it is one thing to not kill them, even worse if you cannot even attempt to evade their attacks...

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

You're giving me shivers as I recall how often this seems to happen to me when I pick up Chilling Stare. The. Worst. :)

[@Richard.Sanchez]

Love the content, but your lighting is horrible. You need a light ring around your camera, or at least a light source near your camera.

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Hey, Forrest. So, considering how you started your comment, I'm assuming the best of intentions here. But I do wish your feedback was a bit more constructive. Are you saying it's too dark for your preferences? Because that could be something to do with the brightness settings more than my lighting itself. Seriously, if you want to see horrible lighting, go to my earlier videos. As it is, I've done a lot to improve my lighting over the months - and each game I feature requires slightly different set ups to optimize visibility while reducing glare. If nothing else, I can assure you that a "light ring" is not the solution I need (light rings are great for lighting up faces, but would create serious glare issues if shined directly down on sleeved cards). As it is, I use a light box that I purchase which is positioned right next to the table. And while I will continue to make small tweaks here and there, my next big step forward will have to wait until I invest in a much better camera. (With my current camera, I need to keep the brightness settings darker or anything that is lighter in color gets completely washed out.)

[@Richard.Sanchez]

​@@SoloPlaythroughs Just constructive criticism. The light source in front of the table casts shadows down the table which look awkward. Similar channels like Ant Lab Games, and Dice Tower, don't ever have shadows casting down like that, but I'm sure they also have huge stage lights that diffuse the light. Through out the video, the cards in your hand appear completely black. If it's a choice between a glare or pitch black cards, maybe you shouldn't use sleeves? I'm in no way a light expert, just letting you know it still looks off. I love everything Mage Knight and will keep watching regardless.

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

Cool, and I really do appreciate the feedback. Reading your latest comment definitely gives me a better idea of where you are coming from. :) Part of the issue is the limitations of my basement, as I don't have the room behind me to keep the light source there in a way that would be an improvement. As for the shadows, I've been working on raising the light source, which should reduce them quite a bit. And, while I get the suggestion to unsleeve the cards to give me more options, my copy of Mage Knight is so beat up from frequent play that it would make more sense for me to buy a new copy. All that said, I think a lot of the issue of my lighting will be improved if I can remember to stop holding my cards toward me so much - I seem to get worse at this during a playthrough, too, as I get more focused on the game and less on the production, and I know that's a problem. (As a sidenote, I'm looking into ways to get a two camera set up for at least my live playthroughs in which I would have one camera set up specifically for the cards in my hand, so hopefully I can have that set up for next year.)

[@ulrikborgbjerg2482]

@@SoloPlaythroughs I think the lightning issue is related to you tilting your cards slightly. I’m very fond of your playthroughs but they would improve if I could see the cards in your hand giving me the option to consider the turn. Ideally you would spread them out on the table face up but that is probably not feasible. In any case thx for another great playthrough.

[@SoloPlaythroughs]

@@ulrikborgbjerg2482 Thanks, Ulrik! And you're so right. I am hoping to have a secondary light source for the cards in place soon, hopefully for the next round of Mage Knight videos that I film. I had previously convinced myself that I would learn to stop tilting my hand, but that seems to have been naive! :)