Battle Report #52 - Haley2 vs Harbinger of Menoth (50)

:: Prologue ::

The last game of the day was against a Harbinger MMM-type list. While assumed to be in Haley's favour this had to be played. It's not like Harbinger keeping important stuff alive is trivial, exactly!

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Major Victoria Haley - WJ: +5
- Squire
- Stormwall - PC: 19
- Lightning Pod
- Stormwall - PC: 19
- Lightning Pod
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 3
Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Pistoleers - Leader & 5 Grunts: 6
- Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer - Officer 2
Tactical Arcanist Corps - Leader & 2 Grunts: 4

Opponent:

The Harbinger of Menoth - WJ: +5
- Devout - PC: 5
High Exemplar Gravus - PC: 5
High Paladin Dartan Vilmon - PC: 3
Paladin of the Order of the Wall - PC: 2
Knights Exemplar Seneschal - PC: 3
Nicia, Tear of Vengeance - PC: 3
Saxon Orrik - PC: 2
Exemplar Bastions - Leader and 4 Grunts: 8
Exemplar Bastions - Leader and 4 Grunts: 8
Exemplar Vengers - Leader & 4 Grunts: 11
Daughters of the Flame - Leader & 5 Grunts: 5

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

We played Destruction and Harbinger dropped first. I put Stormwalls centrally with ATGM and TAC on the opposite flank of Vengers because I don't like cav into my shooters. Been there, tried that. Doesn't work.

:: Game :: 

Stuff runs.

I counter by immediately pulling off the Squire: 2 on bond-wall, 2 on the other, Temporal on the non-bonded wall, Deadeye ATGM. I make a big mistake as I don't shuffle left (this is arguably a pre-deployment mistake) as the non-bonded colossal basically stops in the linear obstruction. ATGM shoot up Nicia, kept alive by Harbinger, and Daughters, which she lets die. Stormwalls kill Gravus' horse and he is kept alive by Harbinger. A solo is kept alive a couple of times as well. Harbinger rolls terribly for the D3 wounds though and is seriously wounded. I put down covering fires to help vs Nicia to end my turn...

...but she simply runs around. Note to self: Covering Fire can be placed on my models since they've already activated and this would've stopped Nicia at least from jamming that many. Harby heals for her entire 10 focus, Vengers jam the zone.

I'm tired from a long day of playing and Harbinger is vulnerable. Although this is a pretty good spot to counter-feat and go for attrition I decide to try and kill Harbinger instead. 3+3 focus, Temporal on the bonded 'wall. I make a mistake as the non-bonded Stormwall decides to throw a Venger on the Devout to rob Harbinger of Shield Guard. The problem is said Venger won't hit Harbinger and thus I won't get the collateral. Would've been significantly better to simply shoot her twice, boosted. Anyway the second Stormwall finishes the task and the Protectorate caster dies to her "healing greed".

Victory to the Swans! 

:: Evaluation ::

The T1 Stormwall positioning and covering fire was a mess. Apart from that, there wasn't a whole lot this game to improve in given its short duration. I think my strategical positioning was perfect with the ATGM and TAC where I wanted them. I was easily up in terms of attrition and another round of hard shooting would've, again, been devastating. I think this game highlights why this list might often enjoy going second.

Harbinger's greed in keeping things alive and subsequently healing for her entire 10 focus (instead of splitting for say, 5 camp, 5 heal) gave me an angle which I just had to take. A pro-longed attrition game against Harby would probably have taken another ~80 minutes and I was simply exhausted. Besides, the assassination angles must be refreshed now and then. Indeed I messed up here as I threw a model instead of simply shooting which is easily better.

Our consensus was that Haley's significantly up here because she simply attritions better. I have the shooting and melee capabilities to simply overpower this Protectorate list both at range and in melee. I need to practice more against Protectorate for sure but these 2 games seem to indicate that Haley is indeed the right choice here. I also feel more comfortable fielding her with double Stormwall when up against an attrition-match like this than the Heroes variant. 

Battle Report #51 - Haley2 vs Kreoss3 (50)

:: Prologue ::

My last 2 games of the day were scheduled against Menoth. Menoth is a faction which in my experience can muster impressive amounts of hard-to-kill-dudes. I do believe that Haley fits best into this, partly because Caine is pretty much gimped during Harbinger's feat turn (not Caine himself, but the army as a whole). So anyway, the hypothesis is that Haley is my Menoth drop. Let's see how this played out. First up: Kreoss3!

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Major Victoria Haley - WJ: +5
- Squire
- Stormwall - PC: 19
- Lightning Pod
- Stormwall - PC: 19
- Lightning Pod
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 3
Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Pistoleers - Leader & 5 Grunts: 6
- Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer - Officer 2
Tactical Arcanist Corps - Leader & 2 Grunts: 4

Opponent:

Intercessor Kreoss - WJ: +5
- Reckoner - PC: 8
- Reckoner - PC: 8
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord - PC: 2
Initiate Tristan Durant - PC: 3
- Redeemer - PC: 6
Vassal of Menoth - PC: 2
Vassal of Menoth - PC: 2
Wrack - PC: 1
The Covenant of Menoth - PC: 2
Choir of Menoth - Leader & 3 Grunts: 2
Exemplar Vengers - Leader & 4 Grunts: 11
Temple Flameguard - Leader and 9 Grunts: 6
- Temple Flameguard Officer & Standard - Temple Flameguard Officer & Standard 2

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

We were playing Incoming and yet again I found myself going first. I'm not sure that's the best course of action against this Kreoss variant. More on this matter later. So anyway I deployed much like I did vs Skorne with ATGM on my "safe" flank.

:: Game ::

Stuff ran up. Temporal on the right Stormwall and Deceleration up.

Menoth runs up with the Vengers physically blocking my 'walls out from engaging both Reckoners. With Temporal I could reach the one the furthest away with the non-bonded wall. Redeemer killed a single ATGM. Warpath up on Kreoss. Flameguard mini-feated.

This was a complete and utter mess of a turn. The general idea here was to get the Stormwalls to jam stuff up so Haley would be safe. I would then feat and run my entire army to the left to go for an offensive scenario variant. I made a couple of mistakes in light of this, first and foremost actually not managing to block Kreoss' vision to Haley despite casting Temporal. While I was pretty sure mr Kreoss was in my feat he might be able to draw LoS to Haley through the Stormwalls or on one of their sides. I should've taken more time to deliberate focus distribution and ensured Haley could TK further away. The Vengers had Holy Ward so the 'walls had to boost attack rolls. DEF14 is a treshold which they really hate.

As I ran the ATGM left I made a huge mistake: I left one in the zone which is complete and utter stupidity. Not only is he unlikely to get a scoring unit into the zone because every model needs to be within, if he scores a point it pretty much doesn't matter anyway as the road I'm taking in this approach necessitates a quick win. Running the SPD4 TAC around like lunatics isn't exactly playing to their strengths. Despite boosting with the 'Walls 2 Vengers survive, 1 on a single box.

The Protectorate decide to leave Haley alone. Redeemer manages to kill an ATGM which gives a Reckoner, fully loaded with 3 focus, Warpath to move into the non-shielded Stormwall. Kreoss feats and grants said Reckoner Ignite. Choir also gave it Battle so it's hitting me for dice +2 damage. I lose ~45 boxes. Vengers block the left Stormwall.

So if my move is to pay off, I have to score 3 points now. I put 3 focus on the bonded Stormwall, 2 on the other and keep 4 on Haley. This is a conservative distribution because I originally thought I could Time Bomb the remaining Reckoner to keep it out of combat but with Warpath that simply isn't happening. So anyway junior starts the show and he has to hit the Venger and kill him (DEF16 ARM17 5 boxes), so it's a 10+ 10+ boosted. Luckily for me this goes through (it's 50-50 if he makes it or not so quite the risky play!). The bonded 'wall wraps around, kills the objective and wacks the Reckoner. The second Stormwall finishes the Reckoner. Haley runs into the opposite corner. Squire + ATGM form a protective circle around her so that an Assassination run is practically impossible (she's also camping 4 for ARM18). TAC set up to counter potentially jamming Flameguard.

Rhupert messes up and gives Temple Flameguard tough instead of Pathfinder. As the first Stormwall goes down then they only get 2 models into the zone. Kreoss furthermore fails to kill the other Stormwall as well.

I put a focus on the Stormwall, boost a pod on one of the contesting Flameguards. He dies. ATGM move out of the way, Squire moves up, Haley charges in and TKs the last contesting model out of the zone. 5-0.

Victory to the Swans! 

:: Evaluation ::

What a mess of a game. I underestimated the ability of Temple Flameguard to block me out of the original plan "feat and deny entry" as performed in my game against Skorne. To make that work in this game I'd have to sacrifice tons of shooting to put down covering fires. With that said, it probably is the better move as what I ended up doing was extremely risky. Haley might indeed have died while she feated if Kreoss had found an opening. I believe it was there and the Redeemer could've shot her up after Force Hammer or something.

So let's discuss going first vs second here for a minute. The Flameguards' mini-feat is disruptive in the sense that it means that ATGM can't really hurt them reliably. Had they not mini-feated I would simply have killed them all off and taken the zone with my feat. 4 focus on bonded Stormwalls, 3 on the other, ATGM with deadeye and shoot the living daylights out of them.

If I go second however I can not only counter-deploy him but I can also get a potentially game-breaking T2 as we start scoring on my terms. Furthermore I get to shoot in my T1 and Temple Flameguard have to make a bit of an awkward decision as to when they should mini-feat. It needs to be playtested but I should consider going second with this list more often I believe since it's so scenario based and Haley loves running stuff into <insert scenario thing> T2 and feating.

I hope I'll get a rematch here soon enough. I need more practice vs Menoth. 

Battle Report #50 - Haley2 vs Xerxis1 (50)

:: Prologue ::

It's been a while since I faced Fist of Halaak last time. That list was part of the reason why I wanted to move to double Stormwall for Haley. With the usual Haley's Heroes models the Incindiarii scatters can downright end the game. Stormwalls are less prone to this and setting up to take them both out in the same turn is... hard, to say the least (when they are with Haley, that is). Anyway, onto the game!

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Major Victoria Haley - WJ: +5
- Squire
- Stormwall - PC: 19
- Lightning Pod
- Stormwall - PC: 19
- Lightning Pod
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 3
Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Pistoleers - Leader & 5 Grunts: 6
- Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer - Officer 2
Tactical Arcanist Corps - Leader & 2 Grunts: 4

Opponent:

Tyrant Xerxis - WB: +5
- Titan Gladiator - PC: 8
- Titan Gladiator - PC: 8
- Archidon - PC: 7
Cataphract Incindiarii - Leader & 3 Grunts: 5
Cataphract Incindiarii - Leader & 3 Grunts: 5
Cataphract Incindiarii - Leader & 3 Grunts: 5
Cataphract Arcuarii - Leader & 3 Grunts: 5
Cataphract Cetrati - Leader & 5 Grunts: 10
Paingiver Beast Handlers - Leader & 3 Grunts: 2
THEME: The Fist of Halaak - Tier 2:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

I haven't faced Fist of Halaak with multiple heavy beast beatsticks before. Usually there have been more Arcuarii which is bad news for e.g. Thorn but definitely good news for double Stormwall. The inclusion of the heavy beasts instead present me with a different problem entirely: Lots of hitting power crammed into a small box. 

The scenario was Incoming and I went first. The idea was to see if I could control the board to such an extent that a T2 feat would refuse him access to contest my zone. I deployed ATGM on the defensive flank with TAC nearby and Stormwalls centrally. Having learned from my Lylyth2-experiment recently I put the bonded wall on the "long" flank. 

:: Game ::

I put Temporal on the right Stormwall and run everything up. Haley charged.

Skorne replies with swarming the table. Nothing new there with the Halaak theme.

I contemplated shooting vs charging with Stormwalls. I ended up charging because the attrition element was so much more lucrative (I could engage way more models and besides I needed to get closer to his objective as he was playing with bunker). My ATGM priorities however were off: Haley put Deadeye on them but I didn't remember to push the right ones. 2 were close enough to contest. I knocked down one but failed to push the other. Poor play. TAC were too far away so they ran instead, setting up for T3. Haley feated.

Skorne decide not to contest. I can understand the interest in actually hurting me under Haley's feat but I believe this is a big mistake. True, the result *would* have been the same if I had the correct target priority but this was essentially a mistake on my part that wasn't punished.

With Xerxis outside of his zone I was at 1-0. The idea for this turn was to put 3 tokens on the right Stormwall and have Haley TK: This way she'd reach the 2nd Cetratii with Time Bomb which would've been huge: My left Stormwall would've been able to tank a couple of free strikes and walk away with basically 0-1 Cetratii  being able to charge it. However 6+ with re-roll was not to be and it scattered way off. Thus I had to give up on the bonded 'wall. It took out a couple of models at least while the other 'wall took out one of the beatsticks while moving away. ATGM struggled to deal enough wounds and unfortunately I didn't optimize their positioning and thus they failed to push away the last guy that could contest.

So he contests, having learned from his previous turn's mistake. Xerxis moves into left Stormwall and feats. It goes down but despite the feat it takes more or less his entire army, including the Warbeasts. 2-1.

So the idea is to Time Bomb the Archidon, kill the objective with the Stormwall and cloud up my own zone with TAC and have ATGM ready to simply push things out, should they get in: With the objective going down now I'd be at 4 control points. However again the Time Bomb missed (9+ re-roll boosted) but the scatter now at least hit lots of Cetratii. Stormwall killed the objective.

Both Warbeasts failed their Frenzy (!) tests. This effectively ended the game as he had nothing to contest me with. If they had both been alive he might've managed one last effort but given my positioning it was unlikely. Haley yet again wins on scenario.

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation :: 

I must say that this list felt quite comfortable playing into Halaak. The Stormwalls just don't care about their ranged threats which are otherwise lethal and possibly game-breaking for Cygnar. That allows me to control the way the game flows a lot better. I did miss the arc node though, no question there, but overall I believe this is a better pairing. It should be noted that I got a few good angles regardless because of TAC (which allow Haley to play quite offensively).

I'm not sure how my list matches up against other Skorne things. Playtesting needed! I also need to consider my target priorities more carefully. Using the ATGM as a "scenario scalpel" is crucial to the success of this list.

Battle Report #49 - Caine2 vs Asphyxious2 (50)

:: Prologue ::

Given the quick first game of the Caine2 vs Asphyxious2 matchup we decided to basically just start over with the same T1 etc. This time I was determined to move up more aggressively and set up to make sure Caine would be of use T2.

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Captain Allister Caine - WJ: +5
- Squire
- Ace - PC: 7
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 3
Alexia, Mistress of the Witchfire - PC: 4
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution - PC: 3
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator - PC: 1
Stormsmith Stormcaller - PC: 1
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt - Lady Aiyanna & Master Holt: 4
Tactical Arcanist Corps - Leader & 2 Grunts: 4
Greygore Boomhowler & Co. - Boomhowler and 9 Grunts: 9
Rangers - Leader & 5 Grunts: 5
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team - Lynch, Ryan & Watts: 4
Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Pistoleers - Leader & 5 Grunts: 6
- Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer - Officer 2

Opponent:

Lich Lord Asphyxious - WJ: +6
- Deathripper - PC: 4
- Helldiver - PC: 3
Bane Lord Tartarus - PC: 4
Darragh Wrathe - PC: 4
Saxon Orrik - PC: 2
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor - PC: 2
Bane Knights - Leader & 9 Grunts: 10
Bile Thralls - Leader & 5 Grunts: 5
Bane Riders - Leader & 4 Grunts: 11
Necrosurgeon & Stitch Thralls - Necrosurgeon & 3 Grunts: 2
Mechanithralls - Leader & 5 Grunts: 3
Satyxis Blood Witches - Leader & 9 Grunts: 6

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

As with the previous game I wanted Caine on the left with TAC, A+H, B13th etc. ATGM centrally and Boomies left. Cryx replied with the same deployment as last time. 

:: Game ::

This time I took care to get Lynch as far up as possible with the high-damage-output models nearby. Ace went up quite a bit with a Ranger and Caine was just behind. I ensured the middle part of the table was secured more thoroughly as well and Boomies went a bit further up.

With the possibility of Lynch' 5" light-up denying gaspy the advantages of clouds he decided instead to go for an excarnate trick in the middle. He removed 3 Rangers this way and they failed their command check. Riders jammed me up to buy time.

The problem with jamming Caine with Rangers nearby, even fleeing ones, is that his RAT is through the roof. I aimed and took out 3 after Aiyana kissed the unit and I boosted damage on all rolls. Holt + B13th took out the rest. On the right I swarmed the zone with enough models to feel confident that he would have to pull some crazy stuff to clear it all and move up to a 2-0 lead. Unfortunately the lessons from T1's excarnate trick didn't stick and my target priorities were off as I prioritized Bane Knights over Bile Thralls...

...the result of which was, of course, an excarnated bile thrall taking out something like 4 boomies (no tough due to satyxis UA), 4 ATGM, Eiryss2 and put corrosion on Alexia. The Bane Knights followed up with a couple more casualties but luckily for me they were in no position to wipe out everything as there were simply too many models around. Boomies failed CMD. Gaspy ported behind the woods. McThralls jammed my zone with Wrathe jamming up B13th + A+H.

With Gaspy way, way over there I no longer had to fear his feat with Caine. Not that it mattered that much, Caine had to go into the zone regardless. B13th + A+H took out Wrathe because Kiss and Gunfighter is a thing. Caine took out the rest. Ace tanked a free strike from the Helldiver. I thought dice-2 wasn't a big deal until it dealt 15 damage, crippling both sides. TAC clouded up as per usual, Caine even got a magic bullet off on ATGM who killed off the Satyxis UA to give Alexia a soul token. I summoned a thrall to kill a Knight. 2-0.

Tons of McThralls are summoned. I'm not particularly worried as they die. Quickly. Regardless Gaspy feats and finally clears the other zone. 2-2.

A little careless of me not to have anything except the ATGM near the other zone as not contesting could've been a problem, but they were still alive. Thus this was trivial to resolve: They ran into the other zone while I cleared out my own. 4-2.

As Cryx couldn't contest me in the left zone, the game was over. 

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

I managed to pull off a more aggressive T1. Perhaps Gaspy could've still gone for something like first game with clouds and Riders behind. The problem is that Lynch needs to target something and I don't have a plethora of models that can survive going through those clouds and still be reasonably easy to hit. 5" is huge though and perhaps the sheer threat alone (Ace can be the sacrificial lamb for example) is enough to deter this. 

T2 was a crucial turning point here and I think that more proper target prioritization would've made this game significantly easier for me because only a couple of Biles were close enough to get that ridiculous excarnate off. Hopefully I'll keep in mind how destructive that trick is. 

Caine keeps doing his one man army thing and I keep underestimating his ability to simply remove models from the table consistently each and every turn. In this game I didn't even feat because I wanted to save it to threaten Gaspy should he feel courageous. By relying more on Caine I think I can free up more stuff to go elsewhere. That said, I didn't have a ton of things left in my right zone apart from Caine's focus in a couple of turns. 

I feel that Caine2 vs Asphyxious2 is a game for sure. It's probably in Caine's favour. I have to work on some of the counter-tricks but the volume of shots in my list has the potential of removing 20-30 models per turn alone. Just gotta remember to take out those Biles getting close...

Battle Report #48 - Caine2 vs Asphyxious2 (50)

:: Prologue ::

The second game of the day and I was facing Cryx, Asphyxious2 to be precise. Yet again it was Caine's time to take to the field. Gaspy presents a couple of unique challenges for Caine and I was eager to see how he'd handle it.

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Captain Allister Caine - WJ: +5
- Squire
- Ace - PC: 7
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 3
Alexia, Mistress of the Witchfire - PC: 4
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution - PC: 3
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator - PC: 1
Stormsmith Stormcaller - PC: 1
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt - Lady Aiyanna & Master Holt: 4
Tactical Arcanist Corps - Leader & 2 Grunts: 4
Greygore Boomhowler & Co. - Boomhowler and 9 Grunts: 9
Rangers - Leader & 5 Grunts: 5
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team - Lynch, Ryan & Watts: 4
Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Pistoleers - Leader & 5 Grunts: 6
- Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer - Officer 2

Opponent:

Lich Lord Asphyxious - WJ: +6
- Deathripper - PC: 4
- Helldiver - PC: 3
Bane Lord Tartarus - PC: 4
Darragh Wrathe - PC: 4
Saxon Orrik - PC: 2
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor - PC: 2
Bane Knights - Leader & 9 Grunts: 10
Bile Thralls - Leader & 5 Grunts: 5
Bane Riders - Leader & 4 Grunts: 11
Necrosurgeon & Stitch Thralls - Necrosurgeon & 3 Grunts: 2
Mechanithralls - Leader & 5 Grunts: 3
Satyxis Blood Witches - Leader & 9 Grunts: 6

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

It's been a while since I played vs Asphyxious2. My main concerns were excarnate, clouds and feat. Obviously, I might add. The idea to counter this was to play aggressively, take the field and do my best to prevent him from getting board control. I'd also have to make sure that Caine wasn't exposed. 

We were playing Outflank on my request. I wanted to see how Caine plays into Gaspy2 in a scenario that can suddenly go nuts in terms of points (dominating for 2 points is crazy with the big distances you often get in Outflank). I went first, deployed Caine middle-ish with B13th + Alexia + A+H + TAC to his left, ATGM centrally and boomies right.

I was a little afraid of the arc node + aoe nuke possibility T1 so my advance was a little on the cautious side. Apart from Caine, that is, who charged ahead (Blur + hill = DEF22).

Gaspy replies with Bane Knights shifting right and the Riders going left behind a wall of clouds. I realize the problem of a cautious advance as it's basically impossible for me to set up Lynch for an effective shot now. I keep forgetting how certain factions can completely abuse a piece of terrain in the middle like this to create a huge you-can't-see-me-wall.

Luckily, Caine has a panic button. I felt that this was the time to use said button. Given my position I was unable to bring Caine's power to bear on anything of note. That's not a good thing and given the position of the Riders I was in horrible shape for scenario purposes. So I hit the panic button: Rangers run up to get within 5" of Gaspy with LoS to him. Ace tries a trick shot on him but fails. Caine then charges a Ranger in the back, gate crashes into gaspy and kills him with reload + feat.

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

There's a difference between being smart cautious and being paranoid. I think that in this game, it's suicide for Gaspy to go for T1 nuke shenanigans. At best, he gets a couple of models but Caine is a powerhouse that needs to be considered: Even nuking a key model (of which there are many!) isn't nearly enough nor what I believe Gaspy wants to spend his T1 focus on. My main take away then was to play significantly more aggressively T1 to prevent the clouds from stopping me like that. If Wrathe had used Beyond Death and/or the LoS to Gaspy had been blocked and/or there would be no space to land for Caine then I think I would've been in dire straits. 

As I've said before I'm not a fan of assassination runs but they sure are nice to have, obviously. Furthermore you can't never go for them because opponents will adjust and abuse it. 

Battle Report #47 - Caine2 vs Issyria (50)

:: Prologue ::

Today we had arranged to play for a long time at the club. We met at 9 and my first game was against Retribution. Facing Issyria I was happy to bring out Caine's Cohort again and I was particularly eager to see how the recent addition of ATGM would perform here.

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Captain Allister Caine - WJ: +5
- Squire
- Ace - PC: 7
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 3
Alexia, Mistress of the Witchfire - PC: 4
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution - PC: 3
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator - PC: 1
Stormsmith Stormcaller - PC: 1
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt - Lady Aiyanna & Master Holt: 4
Tactical Arcanist Corps - Leader & 2 Grunts: 4
Greygore Boomhowler & Co. - Boomhowler and 9 Grunts: 9
Rangers - Leader & 5 Grunts: 5
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team - Lynch, Ryan & Watts: 4
Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Pistoleers - Leader & 5 Grunts: 6
- Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer - Officer 2

Opponent:

Issyria, Sibyl of Dawn - WJ: +6
- Banshee - PC: 10
- Chimera - PC: 6
Arcanist - PC: 1
Mage Hunter Assassin - PC: 2
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution - PC: 3
Narn, Mage Hunter of Ios - PC: 3
Dawnguard Invictors - Leader & 9 Grunts: 10
- Invictor Officer & Standard - Officer & Standard 2
Stormfall Archers - Leader & 3 Grunts: 5
Mage Hunter Strike Force - Leader & 9 Grunts: 8
- Strike Force Commander - Commander 2
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt - Lady Aiyanna & Master Holt: 4

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

Issyria is an interesting caster, especially paired with Invictors. The thing is that the combination of feat + mini-feat is a brutal counter to some of Cygnar's main defenses, high-defense, clouds etc. This was no different. Thus I had to keep Caine safely tucked away and/or behind TAC cloud walls. Other than that my objective was to jam with Boomies and hide ATGM behind (from experience ATGM tend to get focused out quickly by Issyria) them. The scenario was Outflank and I went second. ATGM dropped centrally with Boomies on their left and the rest on the right. I wanted the wall with Caine in case Retribution tried anything fancy.

:: Game ::

Retribution advance but it's a bit of a cautious advance because he fears getting shot down T1. Narn and the MHA move to pressure my right flank with the Banshee and Chimera behind. MHSF sweep far left which suits me perfectly as this allows me to put up Boomies and ATGM as intended.

The reply is a 2-way split of my forces. Caine + Lynch take out the annoying solos in the woods. I put Alexia physically in the way of Caine to ensure no shenanigans can happen. I was pretty sure Caine was outside the Banshee's threat range.

Issyria strikes! The feat comes out, a bit premature in my opinion, and the Chimera has moved up far to channel blinding light on Caine. As Issyria rolls horribly this fails. The Banshee follows up as well and shoots Alexia but misses. On the left I lose a couple of Boomies, no biggie. Ace dies (he used infiltrate to taunt out the feat, worked wonders!) but in the grand scheme of things it's no biggie.

Perfect situation! Caine feats out the Banshee, the rest on my flank take out the Chimera easily (Kiss means I hurt like a freight train. B13th are essentially pow12 weapon masters with it). The left flank sees ATGM kill off MHSF while Boomies run and jam. TAC cloud away Caine. 2-0.

Eiryss2 sacrifices herself to contest. Ace tried to snatch her T1 with a Trick Shot on an invictor but failed to meet the 7+ to take her out. I hate 7+ rolls, they're so "easy" to miss (read: you fail to meet 7+ way more than you "feel" you should). Boomies get taken down to 2 models.

With my entire right flank intact I clear house and leave Retribution with just a few models left and I move to 4 points with Caine behind clouds yet again.

Retribution can't even theoretically contest me so we stop the game.

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

In approaching this game I believe Retribution make a couple of strategical errors. First of all, the shooters aren't really threatening me significantly here. Caine needs to beware the combo of MHSF + Invictors but they're never around to force his hand. Secondly the flank left to deal with "my" zone is way too weak. While failing to land blinding light was a shame, the Chimera still would've died and Caine could've put up 3 magic bullets to start removing models in the other zone instead. The Banshee would be alive, probably, but disrupted by Eiryss and with nothing to support it. I'm not sure just how Scyrah could've approached this differently but the way the game played I was able to dictate most engagements and have them happen on my terms. 

TAC were amazing, their ability to let Caine operate to deep into the table just means he is that much more dangerous to the enemy. The Invictors are suddenly not a threat to him any longer while he keeps behind the clouds. 

I'm very happy with the way Caine plays into Retribution models. I'm not 100% he can handle any and all threats they can present, but so far it's very promising. More playtesting is surely needed!

Battle Report #46 - Caine2 vs Skarre2 (50)

:: Prologue ::

A few days off from gaming and I was ready to bring Caine2 to the table again. This time Cryx awaited me. While I've thought of a few counters for Deathjack with Haley2, I think Caine2 has a completely different dynamic against Skarre2 + DJ. How would this go? Read on!

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Captain Allister Caine - WJ: +5
- Squire
- Ace - PC: 7
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 3
Alexia, Mistress of the Witchfire - PC: 4
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution - PC: 3
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator - PC: 1
Stormsmith Stormcaller - PC: 1
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt - Lady Aiyanna & Master Holt: 4
Tactical Arcanist Corps - Leader & 2 Grunts: 4
Greygore Boomhowler & Co. - Boomhowler and 9 Grunts: 9
Rangers - Leader & 5 Grunts: 5
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team - Lynch, Ryan & Watts: 4
Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Pistoleers - Leader & 5 Grunts: 6
- Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer - Officer 2

Opponent:

Skarre, Queen of the Broken Coast - WJ: +6
- Skarlock Thrall
- Deathripper - PC: 4
- Deathjack - PC: 12
Satyxis Raider Captain - PC: 2
Warwitch Siren - PC: 2
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist - PC: 2
Master Gunner Dougal MacNaile - PC: 2
Ragman - PC: 2
Bane Riders - Leader & 4 Grunts: 11
Necrosurgeon & Stitch Thralls - Necrosurgeon & 3 Grunts: 2
Satyxis Raiders - Leader & 9 Grunts: 8
- Satyxis Raider Sea Witch - Satyxis Raider Sea Witch 2
The Withershadow Combine - Malevolus, Admonia, & Tremulus: 5

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

We were playing Destruction and I won the roll-off. I elected to go first but in hindsight I'm not sure this is what's best for me. I put down Caine2 centrally with ATGM, Ace, Rangers and Eiryss while Boomies + ATGM flanked left and B13th flanked right with Aiyana + Holt. Unfortunately I forgot to take a deployment picture.

:: Game ::

T1 I put up True Shot on Caine in case he needed to take out Gorman or something T2, Reflexes on Boomies for obvious reasons and Blur on Alexia to stop Skarre from sacrificing the arc node for a potential alpha. I advanced cautiously in the middle because of DJ which I didn't want to have charging home T1.

The Cryx reply is somewhat cautious as well with DJ taking the hill and Raiders moving to the center/right flank.

I wasn't sure whether to bide my time or commit now. When in doubt push, so I did. Caine used feat to take out DJ. Aiyana + Holt were perhaps just in range of the Knights but I didn't want to risk losing Kiss (though in hindsight there was nothing to lose in doing so because once DJ is down the Knights are the only models left that care much about Kiss) so they chilled. Caine took out DJ + a rider, unfortunately he missed an attack that could quickly have been another. I made sure to contest the zone with a ton of stuff. Boomies jammed up with ATGM behind and Alexia physically blocked off Caine: Due to SPD4 my TAC boys were unable to cloud him up properly so all he got from them was concealment. Eiryss chilled out near Caine.

Disaster strikes as McNaille mini-feats which allows Gorman to get in range of Alexia. DEF19 isn't something he can hope to hit but the Blind scatters onto Caine2, who in turn goes from DEF21 to DEF17. Wow. Skarre follows up with some serious damage on him (I had arcane shield up which saved him but I camped 0). I was left on 3 or 4 boxes with Corrosion. The remaining Rider went in to try and take out Alexia and despite the blind landing on her as well he failed to deal enough damage. Boomies failed their CMD-check, so Effigy of Valor will be making a re-appearance shortly. Skarre feated on Riders, herself and the anti-upkeep girl from Withershadow.

Boomies back off a bit, ATGM + Caine + B13th focused out Satyxis, Gorman and crippled the Arc Node on the nearby jack. Ace participated with trick shot while aiming as well. Due to bad planning in my previous turn I was unable to screen off Caine2 completely with TAC: The space was too crowded and I hadn't thought of where I'd want him. SPD4 clouders are unforgiving in this regard.

The problem was that Caine was still very low on boxes. I healed up 2 or so but 5 boxes on ARM16 isn't much to write home about.

The Satyxis mini-feat and try to reach Caine with Puppet Master on the UA. Previously the Rider + jack had cleared off a couple of models but they were still unable to get more than one in range of Caine. At MAT7 the 10+ needed couldn't be reached despite Puppet Master: Another model in melee-range for CMA would've been another story entirely. At least I was still alive and kicking, my main problem now was the time which was getting away from me.

I sacrificed Aiyana to land a perfect mage storm and I finally managed to block Caine off completely. He took out the Riders and a couple of other solos first with the rest of the army rushing in. This time I also remembered to activate Alexia (which I forgot in my previous turn and those 3 Thralls would surely have come in handy!) whose minions helped clear stuff out.

At this point the attrition game is swinging heavily in my favour and Cryx spend their turn just making life as hard for me as possible.

I have 7 minutes left on the clock. I blow up the objective with B13th + Caine and clear out the rest with Thralls and ATGM while TAC cloud up Caine again. 3-0.

Cryx jams the zone as well as can be expected given the few models remaining.

So, this was the clock before my last turn. I'm the left player...

I load up Caine's focus and he starts shooting stuff out. I remember that Casters don't contest so I focus on the rest. McNaille manages the first 4 toughs (!) so I'm sweating a little but he finally goes down and I kill off the Withershadow Combine as well. With 33 seconds left on my clock, I win the game 5-0 on scenario.

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

What an intense game! I've rarely been this short on time and I attribute it to the new list (never played before!) and sheer number of models to move and dice to roll. Compared to the Haley variants I've been running lately this is a true troop-spam list. 

Ok, so let's first take a look at my decision to go first. The problem with going first is that I'm playing against the scenario here. I believe that if I let Cryx go first I can counter them quite well since I get to shoot in my first turn while he can't take the scenario in the ensuing turn. If he wants to rush with something, e.g. DJ with Perdition, he can't really support the jack properly. Therefore I believe a Cryx T1 is necessarily constrained by the context here, I don't think it can simply run up. The question then becomes if I in turn become similarly constrained. Hard to tell, but given DJ's AD + 15.5" threat range I find Caine to be unable to charge up his usual 10" and thus threaten the board T2. 

Something I could and perhaps should have done was to save infiltrate for T2. I spent it to avoid a suicide-alpha on Caine from the Arc Node but in hindsight I'm probably better off simply putting Arcane on Caine and camping a couple of focus. By having infiltrate T2 I could've put Eiryss nearby to basically make it extremely hard for Skarre to land any spells on Caine. Ace is a lot of fun to play but I have to consider the timing of his abilities. Infiltrate is very powerful and should not be wasted. 

My TAC/B13th play this game was quite poor. Contrary to Boomies I can't blame this on the "new unit syndrome". I was simply not thinking ahead of the game and they ended up being too far away from where I needed them. Aiyana and Holt a bit, too. The thing is that with this many models on the field and Caine, as opposed to Haley, relies on being close to the action, the models clog up the area quickly. 

Boomies did an amazing job holding their flank. With Effigy I believe I would've gotten a lot more out of them because of the failed CMD which would've been auto-passed and the ability to put a couple of them in cover so McNaille's Quad-Iron wouldn't hurt them as much. 

Mid-game I managed to keep my cool and go for the attrition game. It was a close call as the Raiders nearly got Caine, Next time I face the Gorman/McNaille combo I'll make sure to look out for the surprisingly long threat range!

Caine's Cohort Changes

Having contemplated what I intend Caine's list to face in the pairing with Haley2 doublewall, I realize that leaving ATGM at home is probably not a good choice. Despite my first game with Caine's Cohorts being very short, I also realized how much more flexible magic bullet runs would've been with ATGM.

So let's recap: Caine is supposed to deal with factions like Retribution and Cryx. Disregarding some of their more uncommon builds and skews, there's not a lot of armour here. What armour they might have is usually handled by Caine + Aiyana. Dropping Pow12 solos like Gastone for ATGM isn't a big difference in terms of can-opener ability. Acosta admittedly hurts a little as he is crazy with swift vengeance and kiss. Regardless, Acosta isn't necessary the best choice here as the idea of the list is attrition and while he hits like a truck, he tends to die quickly (because he -has- to die) and neither Cryx nor Retribution struggle too much dealing with him once they put their minds to it.

So the idea is to take out Gastone, Acosta and Murdoch to unluck the ATGM. Gunfighter with Caine2 sure helps as well :)

Caine's Cohort Revised:

Captain Allister Caine - WJ: +5
- Squire
- Ace - PC: 7
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 3
Alexia, Mistress of the Witchfire - PC: 4
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution - PC: 3
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator - PC: 1
Stormsmith Stormcaller - PC: 1
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt - Lady Aiyanna & Master Holt: 4
Tactical Arcanist Corps - Leader & 2 Grunts: 4
Greygore Boomhowler & Co. - Boomhowler and 9 Grunts: 9
Rangers - Leader & 5 Grunts: 5
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team - Lynch, Ryan & Watts: 4
Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Pistoleers - Leader & 5 Grunts: 6
- Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer - Officer 2

Battle Report #45 - Haley2 vs Lylyth2 (50)

:: Prologue ::

Having completed a fairly quick game we had time for another! This time it was Haley's turn to try her luck against Lylyth2. The idea of dropping Haley into Legion hinges on her ability to handle a number of Legion nasties. I am comfortable with most of them, especially if I can get the Hurricane over a second Stormwall (not likely to happen for a few months at the very least, unfortunately), but Lylyth is without a doubt one of the hardest. With ADR, she can truly tailor her list to bring ridiculous amounts of shooting. How can the doublewall hold up against this?

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Major Victoria Haley - WJ: +5
- Squire
- Stormwall - PC: 19
- Lightning Pod
- Stormwall - PC: 19
- Lightning Pod
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 3
Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Pistoleers - Leader & 5 Grunts: 6
- Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer - Officer 2
Tactical Arcanist Corps - Leader & 2 Grunts: 4

Opponent:

Lylyth, Shadow of Everblight - WB: +5
- Succubus
- Naga Nightlurker - PC: 5
- Nephilim Bolt Thrower - PC: 6
- Nephilim Bolt Thrower - PC: 6
- Ravagore - PC: 10
- Ravagore - PC: 10
- Ravagore - PC: 10
- Shredder - PC: 2
The Forsaken - PC: 2
Blighted Nyss Shepherd - PC: 1
Blighted Nyss Shepherd - PC: 1

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

We were playing Outflank again to save time and I won the roll-off. I elected to go first. In hindsight, I believe this is a mistake. More on the matter later, under evaluation. So anyway, I deployed Stormwalls centrally on either side of a house with the bonded one on my presumed strong flank. Likely a mistake, again see evaluation. Legion skewed behind the other circle and off we went!

:: Game ::

I put Temporal on the left one to make them both run far. ATGM flanked towards his side. Haley behind the house.

Both Stormwalls lost ~5 boxes with Wraithbaned Ravagores. Lylyth forgot Shadow Pack however (!).

Given my deployment, I wasn't going for scenario here. I was going for attrition. The problem with going for attrition is that I need an offensive feat. Now, to engage him and actually hurt him, I needed Temporal on the right Stormwall. This meant Haley had to activate before it and thus I would not be in a position to hit many beasts with my feat. This made it all very clumsy because sending it in without feat support isn't exactly something I'm too keen on doing. Adding insult to injury I didn't manage to kill it despite putting 4 focus on it (though I did forget my temporal bonus attack). This meant my second Stormwall had to take it down and so it aimed and killed it with a big gun. This was a problem because I needed that Stormwall further up the field.

Legion commits to the right Stormwall. I hadn't thought of the fact that the closest Ravagore could engage it. 6 attacks with Wraithbane on Pow16 hurts (it hurts more than an Angelius, on average...). So it was that Lylyth could save her feat and still kill it off, Pin Cushion doing what needed to be done.

From a list of things of what you don't want to have happen with Haley2 and double Stormwall vs Lylyth, losing one without Lylyth having spent her feat is right up there at the very top. While I didn't have focus left over to cast Deceleration last turn because I def the Walls with 6 focus + Temporal, it wouldn't have mattered that much as a lot of the shooting had Wraithbane. It arguably could've saved it. Anyway, Legion had made a terrible mistake: Both zones were completely open! I was hoping to capitalize on this. The remaining Stormwall ran up to engage the Ravagore, Haley camped 8 focus and received Arcane Shield, ran into the zone and feated while the ATGM took the other zone. 3-0.

My opponent deliberated going for the Stormwall or trying an assassination on Haley. The decision was made to target the Stormwall. I survived solely because Lylyth missed 2 times (!) with Pin Cushion. I had 6 boxes left or something. The ravagore moved to contest with the forsaken in the right zone.

So, 3-2 to me. I needed to dominate one zone to win. I started looking at my own zone, a combination of TK + slam might've taken the Ravagore away but it looked iffy. The answer came to me as I took a look on the other zone, where a single Shredder was contesting. I put 3 focus on the Stormwall which boosted a Headbutt on it, following up with a pod (both sides were crippled) to kill it. Haley ran into the zone and with that, the game was over (Had it survived the plan was to cast Temporal on Haley and charge it with boosted to hit).

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

What a mess of a game. This might look like your typical "oh-you-faced-Legion-and-got-screwed" situation, but I think it boils down to 2 big mistakes on my part.

The first is a strategical one. My deployment is more focused on scenario than attrition. This doesn't work in this matchup when I go first because of, well, the dynamics of first and second player. Arguably I could've tried running both Stormwalls right T1 (in fact I didn't even consider this), camping centrally with ATGM and feating T2 and physically block him out of my zone due to his rather huge sweep. I think, given my deployment, this would've been a better course of action.

So what was the mistake? It's actually technically very small yet easy to overlook. Initially I wrote that I assumed the right circle to be my "strong" one. By that, I mean that I expected Lylyth to skew left, which indeed she did. The strong zone is thus the area where I expect Haley to end up sooner or later. So, intuitively I felt that my right Stormwall needed to wrap around and thus have the longer threat range. Makes sense, right? Except it doesn't. The nature of the Legion beasts is such that if they shoot me, outside of feat, I can charge them: Given that it's the bonded Stormwall. The other one can engage them by running up. The right play then, assuming the right flank is my strong one, is to play the bonded one to the left. Why is this so important? Well, this takes us to my second mistake: Not feating T2.

When I planned my T2 after Legion T1, I wanted to engage all beasts and feat. Something like that, at least. What happened however was that Haley had to move first because the right Stormwall, the bonded one, needed Temporal Acceleration. As there was no room for Haley to slip through and catch stuff in her feat she was stuck. Had I instead deployed the bonded 'wall on the left, I could've moved the right one first, shot stuff up or whatever and then have Haley cast Temporal, move up behind it and feat before the bonded 'wall charged in and did its thing. This would furthermore have been better because the non-bonded 'wall wouldn't have had to wrap around the house to protect Haley.

Given the situation after deployment, I believe my best play just might be to sweep hard right. Given the rather intense skew of Lylyth, I'm not sure he can get into a position to contest T2 if I feat.

Lylyth suffers horrible from having only 5 fury. Her army *has* to stay tight together and she suffers from it. This can be exploited and indeed I came close-ish to winning a similar game against Legion not too long ago because I managed to use this to my advantage in Outflank (the only reason I lost was because of a truly retarded decision).

While a mess of a game, I learned tons and am eager to try again! I would also like to emphasize how useful a Hurricane would've been here, the lock-down ability with its arc node + tk under feat turn would be amazing!