Would you mind posting how one of those type of combats went down? Lower level if possible. We're currently 3rd level, so higher level tactics are fun to read about, but not as useful.
As I see it, having a defender "run to the back of the enmy lines" sounds like a recipe for trouble. I'd love to be proved wrong.
Well, I can't do much good with lower level fights since I just started playing the character at level 7, but here are a few examples:
1) In a large area, we face a controller, a large elite soldier and a pair of smaller elite brutes.
Our fighter and cha-rogue engage the soldier and brutes while the warlord knights moves me into the room. On my turn, I move to the flank and charge the controller so I'm on his side, using Foesnare to hold him in place. On the next turn, I mark him and stay away from the party so he can't catch them and me at the same time. Meanwhile, the fighter, rogue and warlord keep the other monsters in melee while the laser cleric and wizard support from our back rank shooting at the controller or the main melee target depending on what's their best shot. It takes me several rounds to kill the monster controller, but he is never able to get the whole party with an AoE attack without getting smacked around.
2) In a icy area, we face a teleporting controller (or artillery, I can't tell) a few solders and a bunch of minions.
I use Promise of Storms and then Lightning Strider to teleport to (and attack) the controller while hitting some other enemies along the way. I then mark him. The rest of the part fights and easily defeats their front line. Their controller/artillery keeps teleporting away from me, but the mark means that if takes a hit penalty and gives me a free shot if he attacks the main party.
3) In a area with dangerous terrain, we face a mixture of soldiers, skirmisher and brutes along with a howling hag.
When the hag shows up, I Aumanthor's Step to behind her, mark her and hit her with Foesnare. She teleports, howls and >bamf< I hit her again. The next turn, I Transposing Lunge her into the damaging terrain. The rest of the party fights the rest of the battle...
I could go on... In fights where there is a vulnerable enemy backline, you can often force their backline into ineffective single-target melee attacks. In other fights, you need a front-line defender and a swordmage is adequate (not great - but adequate) for that task. Against solos, the fighter and I usually flank it and keep it in one place while everyone pounds on it like the hp-sack it is. If another party member gets surrounded by skirmishers, I use Dimensional Warp to switch places and then hit them with an Electrified Lash (and Promise of Storms). And, my favorite tactic is to use Transposing Lunge or Lightning Lure to drag monsters into dangerous terrain.
In short, Swordmages are very "controllery" defenders. They aren't as good as fighters at holding a line, but that's the ultimate specialty of fighters! No class beats a fighter in that sub-role. Where swordmages shine is in disrupting the enemy. Swordmages who teleport or charge-and-immobilize prevent the monster soldiers from doing their job. They are also good at using terrain and extracting other PCs from trouble. In this party, I think I have the second lowest damage output (the elf laser-cleric does even less damage, but is also a fantastic supporting piece), but our GM still complains that my swordmage is the most dangerous PC because the character has a huge disruptive impact on his plans.
-KS
