Battle Report #19 - Haley2 vs Severius1 (50)

:: Prologue ::

Severius is, for obvious reasons, a tricky caster to face. I have a couple of thoughts on how I can approach this matchup but it is worth nothing that these thoughts have only come to me now after I finished this game. 

Of my games of the day this one was probably the most interesting. A couple of huge mistakes early made it quite the uphill fight for me.

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Major Victoria Haley - WJ: +5
- Squire
- Stormwall - PC: 19
- Lightning Pod
- Thorn - PC: 8
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 3
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution - PC: 3
Alexia2 - PC: 4
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
Tactical Arcanist Corp - Leader & 2 Grunts: 4

Opponent:

Grand Scrutator Severius - WJ: +6
- Reckoner - PC: 8
- Blessing of Vengeance - PC: 7
Vessel of Judgment - PC: 9
Vassal Mechanik - PC: 1
Wrack - PC: 1
Vassal of Menoth - PC: 2
Choir of Menoth - Leader & 3 Grunts: 2
Visgoth Juviah Rhoven & Honor Guard - Rhoven, Gius, and Cassian: 4
Exemplar Errants - Leader and 9 Grunts: 8
- Exemplar Errant Officer & Standard - Exemplar Errant Officer & Standard 2
Holy Zealots - Leader and 9 Grunts: 6
- Monolith Bearer - Monolith Bearer 2
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt - Lady Aiyanna & Master Holt: 4

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

We were playing Recon and Menoth won the roll-off, taking T1. The battle engine (proxed) pre-deployed behind the right flag, which basically meant that sending Haley behind the wall and screening with TAC was a no-go because of Juviah. I pre-deployed the Stormwall a bit to the left instead, intending to establish a fire-base between the objective and the house with Thorn + Alexia or something taking the wall for cover.

The flat piece of terrain to the left of my opponent's objective is a hill.

:: Game ::

Menoth wasted no time going up and Defender's Ward went up on Errants, Vision on the arc node and Eye of Menoth on Severius.

As with the first game of the day, I was having problems approaching this game from an attriton-point of view despite this being the best choice I could make. If I had taken a couple of minutes to consider the situation I probably would've realized that taking the left flag with Haley is impossible. Likewise, Severius isn't going to score points quickly either.

The result of this was that I sent Thorn up far to take out Juviah with a boosted Time Bomb. Furthermore I forgot to Covering Fire him and lastly the Arcane Shield was on the Stormwall, which is because I've often lost boxes with him to Menoth jack shooting before. That said however those games have usually featured those ROF3 light jacks. In this situation Thorn should most definitely have had Arcane Shield. Anyway, I was super exposed. To finish things off I yet again dropped a stupid pod, ensuring the Vessel could take out Eiryss (which failed to hit the Errants with Defender's Ward and thus the ATGM didn't kill anyone, no souls for Alexia). Just great.

So the TL;DR of the next turn sums up the effects of my mistakes: Zealots mini-feat, Eiryss dies, Thorn is destroyed.

With Severius defensively positioned and no immediate threats to the Stormwall, I can save my feat and try a really long attrition-game. I don't see any other solutions because a premature feat allows Severius to counter-feat and I can't deal with that. The idea then is to take out the Menoth Fuel Cache to put some pressure on him late game (the Stormwall is out of good targets anyways) since I assume this will go on for many turns. I need ATGM to push away a couple of Zealots so the Stormwall can engage the Arc Node as well. I cast Deadeye on the ATGM and they kill off a few Errants as well with Crit Brutal. This gives Alexia 3 souls, she goes behind the wall for cover and summons 3 Thralls which -all- (!) make their 8+ attack rolls to hit and kill errants, bringing Alexia back up to 3 souls.

TAC move up to engage Zealots and all use vortex of flames, Ryan Mage Storms to create issues for them and Lynch + Watts are nearby, ready for the next turn. Overall, a good position considering where I was at the start of the turn and the Stormwall was contesting the zone after it killed off the objective (Temporal Acceleration helped him do this fairly reliably).

The Vessel moves up and blasts apart a Thrall, taking 7 (!) boxes off of Eiryss as well due to the D3 closest or whatever. The Arc Node moves out of Storm Wall's melee range and ignores the free strike thanks to Vision. Zealots kill 2 ATGM and Ryan but deal no damage to the TAC.

I think I can afford giving Menoth 3 points without risking the game. What I can't risk is losing the Stormwall, it's simply doing too much work both directly and indirectly. The plan is to wipe out the Zealots with TAC + B13th and have the Stormwall move back. Unfortunately I planned this a little poorly and the Stormwall didn't receive sufficient focus to maximise its potential (which Haley was powerless to utilize anyway). It did however wound the Arc Node with a boosted pod, disrupting it. Alexia summoned 3 Thralls which killed the Battle Engine (which had taken some wounds now and then due to boosting). The TAC utilize Battle Mages for what it's worth and take out a ton of Zealots. B13th take out the rest.

The clock is ticking for both of us but I'm ahead of Menoth. Severius takes the opportunity and the 2 jacks go in to strike my objective. Severius casts Vision on himself and Enliven goes up on the Reckoner. This is a bit of a problem but not hugely so: Headbutt still stops him dead. Other than killing the objective there's no significant damage dealt to me this turn.

It's time to take the attrition one step further and kill off this game. The Stormwall receives 4 focus. Haley moves up and casts Temporal Acceleration on it, feats and TKs to safety. The Stormwall headbutts and boosts to hit as I -cannot- afford to miss. I barely hit the DEF10 (!) jack with the boost, but it is knocked down. I send additional attacks into it and it loses its reach weapon. Goodie! TAC move up to kill Errants follow by Lynch. Alexia moves up to put as much pressure as possible, though in hindsight Holt isn't really doing a whole lot anyway so having him shoot me is a waste of potential.

Menoth is short on time. Severius moves on the hill to set up for a possible win by taking the flag later on. He finally feats and camps as much focus as he can but takes out Lynch with one of his spells.

The feat reaches Haley, so no focus. Ok, a quick turn then! TAC charge Severius and he loses 4 boxes or so. I send the Squire to contest the flag so he can't tank all free strikes with full focus and run for points. I do however make a bit of a mistake with the Stormwall as I spend my first attack finishing off the Reckoner instead of targeting the Arc Node with both, which at this point in time is more essential. I then finish off with 2 typical late-game mistakes: I move Haley so that she won't get cover from attacks originating from behind the Stormwall and furthermore Junior upkeeps Arcane on the Stormwall instead of casting it on Haley (there is no way Menoth can effectively deal with the Stormwall who has thus far lost 4 boxes).

As I turn the clock over to my opponent I have ~12 minutes left, he has 4. He decides to go all-in: The Arc Node tanks a free strike and moves behind the Stormwall, keeping within range of Severius' control area. Haley obviously doesn't have any focus so I'm barebones DEF16, ARM14. Luckily for me, the Free Strike kills off the Arc Node system and thus it's game over. We roll the dice to see what would've happened just because. Haley survives on 1 box, on fire. In my ensuing turn, the fire dies out. While I felt that I did play the better game after I lost Eiryss and Thorn, this final, desperate run should've had way worse odds. Regardless...

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

This game started out on the wrong note because I was unable to understand how I should've approached this given that I play for attrition, not scenario here. What I should've done was to deadeye Eiryss (with Haley and Thorn directly aligned this is trivial to do while keeping out of 5" of her), make sure that Defender's Ward goes out and focus on clearing the field instead, keeping Thorn tucked behind my Effigy of Valor or something (depending on the 3" reaction drive range etc). By not casting TK on Thorn (to get within 10" of the Time Bomb target) and then boosting Time Bomb (a combined effort of 7 focus (!)) I could've had the Stormwall shoot up a couple of models as well. So overall the strategy was flawed, but the ensuing technical errors with not covering fire + arcane shield on Thorn just sealed his fate. The pod which led to Eiryss dying was just plain stupid, luckily it'll be something I remember. 

TAC and Alexia went completely nuts in this game. Their T2-T3 counter-moves gave me a chance and the Stormwall reliably took out stuff here and there in the middle while keeping Menoth off of the scenario points. Eventually I won the attrition as my opponent couldn't deal with the ARM22 Colossal. 

Haley2 was, throughout the game, in a more or less unassailable position. What I failed to realize early on was that I could've played her more aggressively because if Severius feats to lock Haley down, he's really depending on the Reckoner to be engaged to the Stormwall to really capitalize on it. Otherwise, I can just counter-feat. As long as the Vessel is on the other side of the map there is really not a whole lot of pressure on Haley. 

While the start of the game saw a couple of really bad mistakes and I messed up by giving Severius an angle at all in the very last turn of the game, I'm very happy with my mid-game play. I think my opponent could've put more pressure on the Stormwall by moving up the Reckoner more aggressively earlier on. With the Choir giving him immunity to non-magical shooting there isn't a whole lot I can do about his immediate threat to the Stormwall, which puts me in an awkward position. As it were the slow trickle and slight time advantage on my side brought the victory home. I learned tons and thoroughly enjoyed the game :)

Battle Report #18 - Haley2 vs Fiona (50)

:: Prologue ::

For my third game of the day I was lucky to face Mercenaries! Along with Convergence of Cyriss, they are the only ones I haven't played against yet (faction-wise). I had no clue what Mercenaries are capable of bringing (besides what Cygnar has access to) and I was really looking forward to seeing how Haley2 pairs up against them. 

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Major Victoria Haley - WJ: +5
- Squire
- Stormwall - PC: 19
- Lightning Pod
- Thorn - PC: 8
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 3
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution - PC: 3
Alexia2 - PC: 4
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
Tactical Arcanist Corp - Leader & 2 Grunts: 4

Opponent:

Fiona the Black - WJ: +6
- Sylys Wyshnalyrr, The Seeker
- Galleon - PC: 18
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution - PC: 3
Gobber Tinker - PC: 1
First Mate Hawk - PC: 2
Bosun Grogspar - PC: 2
Lord Rockbottom - PC: 2
Horgenhold Forge Guard - Leader & 9 Grunts: 8
Sea Dog Boarding Crew - Leader & 9 Grunts: 8
- Mr. Walls, the Quartermaster - Mr. Walls 2
Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Pistoleers - Leader & 5 Grunts: 6
- Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer - Officer 2

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

So ironically, exactly the same Cygnar can take albeit with a different caster and a Colossal we have to tie to a junior. We were playing Outflank and I got first turn. On paper I couldn't really see how this list would threaten me, it has no ranged presence to speak of, very little defensive tech and it's super vulnerable to my control abilities (including the feat). Lastly a Haley2-Stormwall is almost guaranteed to get the Alpha on the opposing Colossal. This is a bit of a problem to say the least since a fully tooled Stormwall will more or less one-shot an opposing Colossal. I deployed the Stormwall centrally and Haley took the right flank because of a nearby hill for defensive reasons. I sent Alexia and Thorn on the opposite flank. 

The flat terrain pieces are hills.

:: Game ::

So T1 was full speed ahead with Deceleration going up and Arcane on the Stormwall.

In response the Mercenary forces spread out and created a fan in front of the Stormwall with the Forge Guard taking the offensive role and ATGM went behind the left zone. No damage was dealt, save for Alexia with took 7 boxes off of an arced spell.

I'll make this short: TAC moved into the zone, created a smoke wall for Haley which then went up and feated. My shooters made way for the Stormwall which then crashed into the Galleon on 3 focus (1 was spent charging). The Galleon survived on a handful of boxes but electro leaps + lightning pod actually took out Fiona. I offered my opponent to play on as though she'd survive but he respectfully declined, which I could totally understand given the situation at hand (which truly looked impossible for the mercs). 

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

I've heard a lot of rumours about how Mercs aren't played because they are bad. While I can't exactly claim to be an expert based on one game alone, I did spend some time looking through their cards in war room post-game. I must admit I don't see how they can build effective all-comer armies to the usual suspects out there: My list in particular (and Haley2 with a Stormwall isn't exactly rocket science as far as list originality goes) seems a hard counter to basically everything I could come up with. How do you build Mercs to be a competitive force to be reckoned with? I'd love to hear some thoughts on this. 

There's not a whole lot to assess with regards to the game. From my point of view the left flank was held ok: I had Thorn dead center with Eiryss behind contesting it (an ATGM model even toed it) and the right flank was all but lost for the Mercs. What Fiona & co. could've done, potentially, was to either grab first turn (my opponent won the roll-off) and try and claim the middle, or use the "I predeploy last" to skew the matchup, trying to score 2 points in his T2 while contesting my zone. This would've forced me to play the Stormwall more offensively to safely contest the left flank (which was admittedly a bit of a weak flank for me) but I'm not sure that this in and of itself would provide the Galleon with an advantage in the battle of the giants. At least it evens the odds because it forces certain moves on my part unless I'm willing to let the points fly quickly, which is typically a scary thing in Outflank because dominating the zone provides 2 points.

Battle Report #17 - Haley2 vs Skarre2 (50)

:: Prologue ::

Skarre2 is a caster I've never faced before. She was bringing the infamous Cryx DJ which I haven't faced either. I was anxious to face her and she's been the topic of much discussion lately, usually revolving around whether her feat is a good anti-Haley feat or not. Personally I believe that with Time Bomb and Lightning Pod, Cygnar should be able to control the vital elements of her feat even without counter-feating. The state of the game of course determines whether counter-feating is viable or not, but given that it is I think it's a really hard counter to Skarre's feat since there's always -something- to focus on. Let's get to the game!

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Major Victoria Haley - WJ: +5
- Squire
- Stormwall - PC: 19
- Lightning Pod
- Thorn - PC: 8
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 3
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution - PC: 3
Alexia2 - PC: 4
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
Tactical Arcanist Corp - Leader & 2 Grunts: 4

Opponent:

Skarre, Queen of the Broken Coast - WJ: +6
- Deathjack - PC: 12
- Deathripper - PC: 4
Aiakos, Scourge of the Meredius - PC: 3
- Leviathan - PC: 9
Satyxis Raider Captain - PC: 2
Ragman - PC: 2
Bane Riders - Leader & 4 Grunts: 11
The Withershadow Combine - Malevolus, Admonia, & Tremulus: 5
Necrosurgeon & Stitch Thralls - Necrosurgeon & 3 Grunts: 2
Satyxis Blood Witches - Leader & 5 Grunts: 4
- Satyxis Blood Hag - Satyxis Blood Hag 2

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

We were playing Two Fronts and I put down the Stormwall centrally. Cryx got T1 and responded with Skarre on the left flank - opposite my zone. I immediately thought that I could play a game of attrition here: It's not realistic for Cryx to score before T4 at the very least. As such I deployed counter-skew aggressively with Haley on the right flank, behind his zone, threatening a 3-0 scenario T2 lead. 

The flat terrain pieces are hills. The terrain piece in my zone is a trench.

:: Game ::

Cryx runs up but a bit cautiously because of my ranged firepower. Skarre throws up +2ARM on knights. 

I have made the mistake of underestimating Riders before, I do not intend to do so again. The plan for this turn then is to start killing some Cryxian knights. Haley puts 4 on the Stormwall and grabs one from the Squire. I put deadeye on Eiryss, cast decel and move up behind cover. Eiryss shoots off the ARM-buff. The Stormwall moves up, boosts to hit and boosts damage to kill off 2 Riders. The rest run up to set up for a T2 scenario game with the left flank holding back to secure my zone, basically. I did pod in my own zone to start creating problems with scoring later in the game but I quickly realize the mistake: As I mentioned previously Cryx weren't in a position to score before T4 at the earliest and with Skarre being able to kill the pod followed by giving the Deathjack a full advance, I could be in trouble. Having to advance on the closest would perhaps keep me safe but even giving Cryx the option in the first place is a mistake. I was anxious to see what he'd do.

I don't know if my opponent considered the opportunity to kill the pod and move up or not, but he didn't do it at least. Instead he placed the remaining Riders to screen mr DJ. Said DJ cast Black Spot and this is a bit of an issue because of Haley's replication: The result was that Skarre chose to feat rather than let me have a 4 focus Stormwall target the Riders with a Black Spot debuff, which I can understand perfectly fine. However the problem was largely that in doing this, the zone was incredibly open, not to mention that shielding DJ like this is redundant when Skarre feats anyways. At best I can hit DJ with a pod and Time Bomb partial, not exactly a hard counter.

So, given the position I decide to go for scenario. Following a string of amazingly bad dice rolls (the Stormwall letting loose with all its shooting, including 2 damage-boosted big gun shots and 1 damage-boosted metal storm shot) the objective just wouldn't die. I was down to Haley having to kill it herself with an 11+ on a boosted Hand Cannon shot (at this point I was visible in a TAC cloud). Luckily I got it and thus didn't have to cast Arcane Bolt boosted but could instead TK to safety. I used my feat and took the 3-0 lead. 

The premise of the game is a bit poor here because if Skarre considers her Riders' positions better in T2 then I basically can't do this. However we decided to play on because the back-tracking was so heavy (a full turn) so the interesting question was whether Cryx could swarm the zone sufficiently. TL;DR a lot of models got in:

So that's Leviathan, Aiakos, Ragman, 2 Blod Witches, 2 Riders and the Deathjack. 8 models. You'd think it'd be trivial to remove something like this? The Riders were +2ARM again and Eiryss was locked in combat. I started with her and luckily she hit, taking the ARM-buff away. Haley kept all the focus to herself and when my first Domination on the Leviathan failed to hit (despite the Squire re-roll) I was sure this would be an uphill fight. The second Domination attempt landed however, luckily, and I moved it out the way. I used the remaining focus to kill off the Raider engaged with her after the TAC failed to finish this job. 

This left Alexia on 2 souls and the ATGM to finish the job. The former took out the Blood Witches while the ATGM all aimed and readied themselves for Thunderbolts. I killed Ragman and Aiakos (they'd be pushed out anyway) and managed to push out the Deathjack and the remaining Rider. 5-0 and...

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

For the first 2 turns, I thought the Deathjack had reach. When I discovered that it in fact did not, it kind of changed how I perceived its ranged threat. It just means that pod+time bomb on it is a pretty fail safe way to deal with it for the Stormwall, assuming you can judge roughly 10-11" (the important part is 8.5", really). 

I think my strategical approach to the game was good, but I wasted part of the B13th T2 because I got desperate to take out the objective. It really did take a lot of beating and I really screwed up my activation order (in fact I had a minor take-back with the Stormwall as well but I can't remember if the damage I got from this was essential because Haley's final attack roll on it was huge). Junior for example didn't get to shoot because I clouded first. Boosted Pow12 would've been nice here! 

However, while the approach was solid I'd love to see how this would play out if Skarre had put a Rider in the zone. I would likely counter-feat and push up the Stormwall while still targeting the objective, but Haley and the support units would be in a completely different spot and we'd have ourselves more of an attrition game, but then again I suppose Cryx would've had to jam up the zone quite heavily regardless because I could've just done the same post-feat and gone to 3-0 at this point in time instead. Next time I'm sure he'll remember, that is if he plays Skarre2 in a zone-based game where he is the first player ;)

Battle Report #16 - Haley2 vs Morghoul1 (50)

:: Prologue ::

Morghoul1 is a warlock I've faced a couple of times before. I generally don't struggle too much with him but it's all about keeping his forces at arm's length and keep winning the ranged war. Sooner or later he's attritioned enough to safely engage in melee and win the game (if necessary, depends on caster). My goal for this game was to utilize my ranged supremacy in a slow game.

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Major Victoria Haley - WJ: +5
- Squire
- Stormwall - PC: 19
- Lightning Pod
- Thorn - PC: 8
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 3
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution - PC: 3
Alexia2 - PC: 4
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
Tactical Arcanist Corp - Leader & 2 Grunts: 4

Opponent:

Master Tormentor Morghoul - WB: +7

- Molik Karn - PC: 11
- Bronzeback Titan - PC: 10
- Basilisk Krea - PC: 4
- Archidon - PC: 7
- Archidon - PC: 7

Paingiver Task Master - PC: 2
Agonizer - PC: 2
Hutchuck, Ogrun Bounty Hunter - PC: 3

Paingiver Beast Handlers - Leader & 5 Grunts: 3
Croak Raiders - Leader & 9 Grunts: 8

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

We were playing Fire Support and this is a tricky map for me: The central piece of impassable terrain makes it hard to play the usually flexible Stormwall-game because there simply aren't a lot of places to go with it. I wasn't sure how this would affect me. I won the roll-off and took first turn, given my plan to play a slow game I pre-deployed the Stormwall in a central position, assuming I'd go left instead of right based on his deployment. Haley + TAC + B13th left flank, Thorn + Alexia right. Skorne responded with a heavy left skew. Interesting!

The flat pieces of terrain are played as hills.

:: Game ::

I ran everything up and put up Deceleration in case the Croak Raiders felt lucky.

Indeed they did! Skorne advanced up well in return, Archidons protecting Morghoul1 and Molik Karn in a defensive position with the Bronzeback taking the opposite flank.

In keeping with my plan I decided not to engage Morghoul with the Stormwall and feat. In hindsight this might not have been the best move anyway but my moves were a tad bit aggressive given that I didn't feat: I tried to clear the tough Croak Raiders and almost everyone died, but the Stormwall's shooting did very little and I was overall probably too defensive.

Skorne sent up both Archidons. I didn't realize how hard it'd be to deal with them on the hills while they were engaged. Molik Karn and the Bronzeback advanced as well and Morghoul used his feat.

With the feat up there's no way the Stormwall can reliably do anything useful here. Instead I yet again adopted a defensive position but with the lack of anything to effectively deal with the Archidons (basically due to me positioning Thorn on the wrong flank T1, more on this later) I had to feat. I taunted out the Bronzeback with Thorn who was counter-charged, he failed to deal any damage to me and I TK'd him so the Stormwall could pound him. Time Bomb was also spent on the poor lad and before the colossal went in my deadeye'd ATGM knocked him down.

Molik Karn draws closer. One Archidon frenzies (the left one) and does a lot of damage to the right one before it re-engages the gun mages. At this point in time, the Agonizer also moved up so close to the Stormwall so that I couldn't allocate it focus. I've never seen this in action before so it caught me off guard. I must admit that this gave me a few problems. The clock was running low on me as well...

In the heat of the moment I activated things poorly. I got so obsessed with killing off the Agonizer (because I really needed to channel on Molik through Thorn) that one TAC was spent ensuring this was accomplished. This in turn however meant that I was unable to put Haley in a position where the Archidon couldn't see me. I was hoping the sheer range would be enough, but given the focus I'd spent on taking care of Molik (I also cast deadeye by mistake on ATGM) I didn't have enough to TK myself beyond the wall.

So this is a typical situation where I am massively ahead but there's a bit of a long shot opening on Haley. Morghoul goes all in and charges ATGM. He fails to kill anyone but realistically it's all or nothing now so it doesn't matter. He heals the Archidon's Body and gives it +2 SPD/STR. With this buff said Archidon reaches Haley but in the process he tanks a few free strikes, including a TAC whose Pow13 rolls enough to cripple his Spirit. He rolls high but not high enough as Set Defense kicks in and without Spirit there's nothing else he can do. Lucky for me. It's almost as though I should've lost to learn to play situations like this properly.

With a pretty good control of the game I time bomb a model next to Morghoul and the Stormwall runs in on 4 focus and kills him.

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

It's rare that I decide to play attrition. I'm often fixated on scenario with keeping an eye out for assassination runs. In this game I basically didn't need many elements on the right flank and both Thorn and Alexia were sorely missed on the left flank. I should've ran them to a central position behind the Stormwall T1 and awaited Skorne's reply before committing them. The impassable in the middle made it impossible to switch them over effectively. Late-game Thorn was indeed useful in handling Molik but then again with his speed I'm not so sure he couldn't have done the same from the opposite flank. 

My T2 move was a little aggressive on the right flank. No need for ATGM to move up so much when I'm not feating, Snipe ensures that I can stay away and ARM13 doesn't warrant looking for Crit Brutals. This allowed the Archidons to move up hard and engage me and indeed this move nearly cost me the game. 

I think I made the right strategical decision to play this slowly because if I move up T2 and Morghoul survives (not too unlikely) he can counter-feat at which point Molik Karn moves up towards the Stormwall in relative safety (I'm not even sure I could've reached Molik with the feat). Perhaps there are ways out of this. I'll need to re-evaluate T2 at some point. 

Overall I find Skorne to be managable. Morghoul and some of the solos here have some nasty shutdown-tech and the Agonizer completely caught me off-guard. 

Lastly I need to take a deep breath and think clearly despite running low on time. After all I finished the game with over 10 minutes left on the clock and there's nowhere near critical given my advantage.

#15 - Haley2 vs Lylyth2 Fire Support Revisited

To read the battle report from the game which this analysis comes from, click this link.

I've given a lot of thought to yesterday's game. I believe there are certain openings and certain patterns that can be exploited. Prior to this game yesterday, I believed the most important part of this matchup was to get the Stormwall into a Warbeast or two while Haley feats. In practice I believe this is impossible because of the huge threat range of the Ravagores. Instead, what I believe is necessary is 3 things:
1. Keep Haley alive. This sounds obvious, but it's harder than you might think
2. Keep Thorn so far away or so well protected that Lylyth can't reliably take him out without feating.
3. Keep the Stormwall in a position where launching a killing alpha on him is impossible.

With these in mind, let's consider my deployment yesterday:

The issues here revolve around the Stormwall being unable to get into a position where it's safe from an alpha strike while still being relevant in the game. Furthermore Thorn is too far away from a place where he can be safe. It's a naive approach and one that relies on Legion basically skewing right, which they have no reason to do. Indeed, Legion's T1 was like this: 

Based on this, I think the right move for the Stormwall would be to pre-deploy 5" or so to the right with Thorn close to him. The Stormwall can then run wide to the right and Thorn can simply walk up to be in cover from the wall. If you take a look at my first turn, you can see that I essentially tried to accomplish this but the deployment made their positions suboptimal (and expensive to even get to in terms of focus, Thorn needed Reaction Drive for example): 

Granted, a premise here is that Haley can survive. If I deploy the Stormwall and Thorn correctly and don't waste focus on TK etc, Haley can get away with camping 4 focus: 3 goes to Deceleration and 1 goes to the Stormwall running wide. I don't think it's a winning play for Legion to commit to Thorn here either as he's on DEF17 behind the wall, 19 with Deceleration. This in turn means that I can cast Arcane Shield on Haley as well, at which point I'm pretty sure the odds are in favour of her surviving if Lylyth goes all-in.

Ok, so that brings us past T1. As with my first game yesterday I believe Lylyth is largely stuck clearing ATGM and B13th with her T2. While being behind in the attrition game is never a good thing, there are openings here for Cygnar. 

I believe T2 is a feat turn. It obviously depends on Legion's play but I believe this is how to go about it. I don't think the Stormwall can get in melee range of the objective if it wants to stay clear of the alpha so taking it out boils down to shooting. Haley doesn't need focus at this point in time because her role is to get up behind the building. Doing this requires TK on herself. The Stormwall needs 2 focus to shoot the objective and Thorn needs 1 to run. That leaves 4 focus, just what's needed to TK 2 Legion beasts. While this doesn't ensure the destruction of the objective by far, it ensures that I'm safe from retaliation T3. What Thorn can't lock down with Reaction Drive and double TK can be "emergency engaged" with ATGM or B13th if it's needed. Assuming Alexia can get B2B with the flag, I'm ahead on scenario at this point and in my own T3 I have a big chance at simply winning the game: Kill off the objective, send the Stormwall in front of the flag and have Haley camp the opposing flag for 4 points total. It's a long shot, but it's a plan I believe is playable. The illustration below details what I've just described above:

The red arrows mark the deployment errors and where Thorn/Stormwall should have been. 

The blue arrows mark my T1 moves, Stormwall wide, Thorn behind fence, Haley towards the middle, also behind the fence, ATGM + B13th take the hill and central building for DEF bonuses etc. 

The green-yellowish lines mark my T2 moves where Haley moves up behind the house to feat, Thorn runs in to lock stuff down and TK beasts, Stormwall moves up and shoots the objective and ATGM + B13th come in from the opposite side. 

Now as I said, assuming this works out then T3 is pretty sweet. Legion essentially loses their ability to hurt both Haley and the Stormwall, likely Thorn as well. With the positions I have in this case I think getting Haley safely behind the Legion flag with the Stormwall blocking off the entrance is doable. 

Of course there are lots of ifs here and Legion won't exactly do nothing either, but it's a plan and I believe it's more solid than the one I had going into this game. Furthermore the aggression I put down T2 puts pressure on Lylyth herself, doubly so because of Killbox with ATGM + B13th coming from the left flank as well. 

Battle Report #15 - Haley2 vs Lylyth2 (50)

:: Prologue ::

With one game down fairly quickly we had time for a rematch. This time I think we both had an understanding that Lylyth had to play to her strengths: Put more pressure on the middle of the map and claim the board control if you go first.

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Major Victoria Haley - WJ: +5
- Squire
- Stormwall - PC: 19
- Lightning Pod
- Thorn - PC: 8
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 3
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution - PC: 3
Alexia2 - PC: 4
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
Tactical Arcanist Corp - 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
Blighted Nyss Shepherd - PC: 1
Blighted Nyss Shepherd - PC: 1
The Forsaken - PC: 2
Strider Deathstalker - PC: 2

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

Deployment was pretty much the same. The main difference was that in this game Legion had a tighter formation with a clear intention of taking the center. Furthermore as we were playing Fire Support the whole objective-part of the game was quite different, obviously. 

:: Game ::

Legion wasted no time in moving up hard and fast with Shadow Pack. 

So before I've even moved, I have a dilemma. The Stormwall can't reliably get to a flank where it's hard for my opponent to handle it. With 3 Ravagores shooting at it with Wraithbane it'll lose 39 boxes on average under Lylyth's feat. Adding in the Bolt Throwers, Naga, Lylyth, Pin Cushion (basically any of the above in the order you'd like) it's quite likely it'll go down. The problem is that my list doesn't have enough firepower at the required distance to take down Lylyth if she succeeds in taking out the Stormwall. If that happens, it's game over. 

Furthermore as we're playing killbox I feel I have a bit of a problem with Haley. If I don't do anything Legion can keep their position and slowly attrition me away. His position can hardly be better anyway so he won't mind basically sitting in place and watch me do the same. Lastly, Haley needs to be in a position where her feat hurts and Thorn needs to be nearby as well to lock stuff down during her feat. 

I decided that Haley behind the wall with Thorn nearby behind cover as well and the Stormwall in a somewhat defensive position would be a good bet. I TK'd Ryan to take care of the Strider Deathstalker on my left, forgetting he had stealth. I got lucky and the Mage Storm scatter killed him, but was really this worth 2 focus? I don't think so. While Haley cast Deceleration she also put focus on Thorn + Stormwall for positioning, this meant she was only camping one. While DEF22 is great, this is reduced to 20 with Wraithbane and furthermore down to 18 with aim, which at least some warbeasts will get if Lylyth feats. 

So I assume you see where I'm going with this and indeed Legion feated and killed Haley. I don't have the numbers but with 3 Wraithbanes going off there will be a hit or two. Couple that with 6 Ravagore AoEs that hit partially one third of the time (and those without wraithbane have cont. fire) and it's not looking to bright for Haley with her camping only 1 focus. Without the TK on Ryan and the focus on the Stormwall (which was hardly relevant) she might've survived, but she was on fire and Arcane Shield was on said Stormwall. Furthermore Lylyth messed up completely and only got a single shot off at Haley (2 is more realistic).

:: Evaluation ::

Slow and centrally oriented scenarios with killbox is the worst possible context for this matchup from a Cygnar point of view. Scenarios like Fire Support and Close Quarters make it nigh impossible for Haley to play to her usual strengths against Lylyth2. You are forced into the middle with Haley and due to pre-deploying the Stormwall it's often hard to get off a flanking move with this as well. It's definitely more playable if you go first. How much, I don't know. Regardless a matchup that is determined on who goes first is no-where near ideal for sure. 

The question is, given this specific context: What can Haley do? I fear the answer is next to nothing because with 3 Ravagores the Stormwall can almost always go down. The only way around this is to feat and lock them down but this cannot be done in scenarios like this if the Legion player has half a clue as to what he's doing. Effectively Lylyth needs to be in range of the Stormwall because without Pin Cushion the 3 Ravagores alone will likely leave said Stormwall on enough boxes for it to be effective but with range amplifier it's trivial for her to out-range my threat range. 

There are two things I consider that can help this matchup out a bit. One is getting Anastasia. +1 to start is huge here. However I don't believe this can be done "just like that" without impacting the way the list plays. Besides I don't see this configuration as being an optimal one for her. I could be wrong. The other approach is to swap my objective for Effigy of Valour. This allows Haley to play in a more defensive manner before she comes out to feat (as it blocks LoS to a lot as well as providing cover) but then again Fuel Cache has often given me a lot of value. Furthermore scenarios like Close Quarters and even Destruction (objective too far up ahead) make this change kind of irrelevant, for some situations at least. 

The good news is that if Legion wants to play Lylyth2 ADR there's no Vayl2 alongside her. If I stick with my original plan I think Stryker1 has a way better pairing here than he used to. I can't imagine Vayl1 being better against him than Vayl2 Tier 4. Another question in turn is how Kraye matches up here. 

So many variables! It's what makes this game fun but at the moment it's also frustrating that I can't seem to get Haley to work here. I believe it's the third Ravagore and lack of infantry (Bolt Throwers also deal damage) which makes this a mess because they reach a critical threshold for one-turn-damage-output but this is trivial to accomplish with ADR without giving up utility in other matchups. 

Battle Report #14 - Haley2 vs Lylyth2 (50)

:: Prologue ::

In my ongoing project to figure out whether Haley has game into Lylyth2 I had another chance today. This time my opponent was playing Lylyth2 ADR because we are preparing for a season 3 tournament in January. That means considerably more quality over quantity shooting than we often see otherwise. How would Haley2 fare against this?

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Major Victoria Haley - WJ: +5
- Squire
- Stormwall - PC: 19
- Lightning Pod
- Thorn - PC: 8
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 3
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution - PC: 3
Alexia2 - PC: 4
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
Tactical Arcanist Corp - 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
Blighted Nyss Shepherd - PC: 1
Blighted Nyss Shepherd - PC: 1
The Forsaken - PC: 2
Strider Deathstalker - PC: 2

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

We were playing Outflank. Since I wanted to stress-test this matchup (i.e. how bad can it be?) I gave away first turn. Going first here is absolutely crucial because in doing so you typically dominate the pace of the game. Thus it was time to put this to the test!

I pre-deployed the Stormwall centrally and Legion responded with a slight skew. I skewed Haley in the opposite direction, actually intending to go for the scenario. I deployed ATGM opposite the main part of the Legion forces. 

:: Game ::
Legion ran up towards the left circle. Shadow Pack went up, of course. 

I responded with an aggressive run from the ATGM. They basically took up positions toing the hill on all sides. Alexia ran towards the other circle as did the jacks. Haley took cover with Eiryss starting a flanking move to force the central Ravagore to either "care about her" or risk having her tear up the back lines. 

Basically, Legion had to either feat to kill all ATGM or hope that I'd fail a CMD check. With deceleration they were sitting on DEF19. While Wraithbane took care of this to an extent it can't be cast on everyone. 4 guys died, I passed CMD. The central Ravagore took out Eiryss. 

Ok, so bottom of 2 and my zone was uncontested. While the last turn took a toll on my flanking units I was in a perfection position from a scenario point of view. I sent up TAC to screen Haley with the Stormwall going base to base with the one on the flank. ATGM moved up and thunderbolted a couple of Ravagores. It was actually kind of close to me getting a point for his zone as well but I had no chance of getting Thorn into the mix despite his awesome threat range so I quickly gave up on this idea. 

Alexia in front of TAC was a precaution in case he wanted to feat and go for Haley. She basically meant he'd have to hit a lot of angles. He spent his feat however, killed Alexia and the ATGM. While Alexia might seem like a bit of overkill here, I fear she might not have been enough in fact: By having 1 Ravagore target her, a Bolter taking out a TAC the central Ravagore can then finish target Haley. It's probably dicey. Regardless, Legion didn't go for it. Losing Alexia isn't that big of a deal, without infantry (which were taken out due to ADR) she can't easily get souls and get back off to the Stormwall/Haley to utilize Arcane Vortex. 

2-2.

I lost my Squire to careless positioning. To be honest I didn't think he'd even matter with feat (i.e. I thought Lylyth would only go for Haley if she feated). Oh well, a bit of a pain to be honest. Anyway, with 2-2 the plan was pretty clear: Get the Ravagore out of the zone, camp on Haley, lock stuff down and feat to a 4-2.

I put 2 focus on the Stormwall and 1 on Thorn. The latter ran up in-between the zones. The Stormwall moved 7" up and podded next to Lylyth. In the heat of the moment I lost sight of the objective in this game and got obsessed with a move I'd been wanting to try ever since I killed Vayl2 in a recent Legion-game: Throw something on the pod instead of the actual caster/lock you are trying to kill. So I performed a double handed throw on the Ravagore, boosted to hit and... Killed the pod. Without anything to contest the zone with, I basically gave away the game. 

The sad part is it didn't even matter if Lylyth was knocked down. There was no follow up and it was irrelevant where the Ravagore landed (i.e. a scatter off of Lylyth would not have mattered in the slightest). My opponent forgot the fact that I didn't contest his zone and activated the Bolt Thrower first. However he moved him close to the Ravagore because he was intending a crazy plan of Thunderbolting Thorn away. When he realized what had happened he responded with his own two-handed throw: The Ravagore tossed the Bolt Thrower into my zone to contest. 

With that, I got a loss and a lesson I'll hopefully not forget any time soon. 

:: Evaluation ::

In my opinion, Haley2 vs Lylyth2 is reminiscent of chess in the sense that the one who controls the center of the map typically determines the pace of the game (and usually has the upper hand). In this game, the Legion deployment determined a more cautious approach which gave me the breathing space I needed T1 to set up for my scenario game with all the vital pieces safe. 

From T2 onwards the game basically played itself. A few minor issues here and there but I was firmly in control of the game and would've taken a comfortable win had it not been for the stupid podding mistake. The good thing is that I'll remember this loss because of that mistake, which hopefully means I won't do something like that again.

All in all this game was not what I'd hoped it would be because it didn't help me understand the nature of the matchup -if- Lylyth puts pressure on Haley2 by taking the center of the table T1. It was interesting to see that in a more traditional skewed-vs-skewed deployment I have the advantage, but this was no surprise because my feat is infinitely better for control than Lylyth's and furthermore going second in Outflank is often an advantage for a scenario-based approach.

Initial Thoughts on Kraye

Based on yesterday's game, I've thought a lot about Kraye. More specifically, how to utilize the remaining points after he's bought 2 Stormwalls + the mandatory stuff (Squire + Junior). There's basically nothing more than 13 points to play around with, I need an extremely good reason to ditch either the Squire or Junior. The only reason I'll leave either of them is if experience shows me that the matchup I play him in doesn't call for their abilities, something I hardly doubt. 

One of the main reasons why I wanted to try Kraye over Stryker in the first place was that he basically trades durability for mobility -and- hitting power. Ever since I started playing miniature games over 10 years ago I've favoured mobility over anything else. Yesterday's turn 1 move where I ran a Stormwall up 20" before my opponent had even moved a single model made me realize immediately that this list is something I have to pursue further! I believe that in most games the aggressor determines when and where the fighting happens. If you can set the pace and control the board you typically have more options, which is almost always a good thing.

So, the first list iteration was a dead copy of Stryker1's list. I basically just swapped the caster. Two of Kraye's key abilities are mage sight and guided fire. This allows the Stormwalls to do things they rarely can otherwise. On a "squire-turn" I can get off all 4 big gun shots with both boosted attack -and- damage rolls. That is massive! My first instinct was to include an element which further amplifies this potential.

Enter Aiyana & Holt. They are our obvious go-to unit for amplifying damage output. The question is: Do they fit into this list? How? I'm not sure they are worth the heavy 4 point investment. While Ragman is a potential candidate for half the price as well, he doesn't help their shooting the same way. I have to at least try them though before I disregard them. A natural first step then is to simply swap 2 Storm Lances for them, which (luckily) adds up points-wise.

The list I intend to try out then in the near future:

Kraye
- Squire
- Stormwall
- Stormwall
Journeyman Warcaster
Stormsmith Stormcaller
Stormsmith Stormcaller
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt
Storm Lances (min)

Battle Report #13 - Kraye vs Thyra (50)

:: Prologue ::

I got a quick game today against a starting Menoth player. He was fielding a caster I've never faced before, Thyra, and I took the opportunity to try a build I've long been wanting to play: Kraye double Stormwall!

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Captain Jeremiah Kraye - WJ: +6
- Squire
- Stormwall - PC: 19
- Lightning Pod
- Stormwall - PC: 19
- Lightning Pod
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 3
Stormsmith Stormcaller - PC: 1
Stormsmith Stormcaller - PC: 1
Storm Lances - Leader & 4 Grunts: 11

Opponent:

Thyra, Flame of Sorrow - WJ: +6
- Reckoner - PC: 8
- Reckoner - PC: 8
- Blood of Martyrs - PC: 9
Nicia, Tear of Vengeance - PC: 3
Choir of Menoth - Leader & 5 Grunts: 3
Daughters of the Flame - Leader & 5 Grunts: 5
Daughters of the Flame - Leader & 5 Grunts: 5
Daughters of the Flame - Leader & 5 Grunts: 5
Flame Bringers - Leader & 4 Grunts: 10
THEME: Black Widows - Tier 4

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

The game was outflank and I deployed so that my cavalry would be near the zone with no terrain in my way. Stormwalls central with Kraye (proxied by Alexia2), junior and squire. Stormsmiths went on either flank. I had won the roll-off and decided to go first. Menoth replied with Flame bringers opposite my cav, Warjacks behind the other circle and the Daughters spread out. 

:: Game ::

I wasted no time: Left Stormwall received Full Tilt and ran into the middle of the left circle. The right Stormwall took a central position and the Storm Lances filled up the space in-between.

Menoth replied with sending the cavalry and left Daughters up to jam me, but the right flank was indecisive and thus I thought it'd be unable to take advantage of the space (expensively) bought by the left flank units.

Turns out I was right: I cleared the left easily enough with the Stormlances + left Stormwall while the right Stormwall started working on the central Daughters. 

With nothing left on the left flank Menoth had to forfeit the zone to me, which is never a good idea. Furthermore the advance was still a little slow with the jacks not yet pressuring my colossals. 

I cleared up the Blood of Martyrs and utterly jammed the Protectorate forces out, killing off most of the remaining Daughters in the process. At this point, I was 4-0.

With Menoth being unable to contest the left zone I dominated it yet again:

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

I enjoy playing new stuff on both sides of the table (i.e. both fielding and facing things I haven't played before). The Blood of Martyrs and Thyra were both models I haven't seen before and I've never played Kraye. Unfortunately my opponent's inexperience put him on the back foot early as my points racked up too quickly for him to keep up. Furthermore with the demise of the left flank followed by the Blood of Martyrs, we were left with basically 2 Colossals + support vs 2 jacks and little support. 

I'd like to talk about Kraye a little bit. First of all this list is identical to the one I played into Vayl2 yesterday, barring the caster. While Stryker is kind of an "old reliable" type of caster, Kraye emphasizes speed, flexibility and hitting power. The latter appeals to me more so than the former. It's not a given that this Kraye list is ideal for what I'm looking for, nor that it's better than the Stryker list I played yesterday, but it's an interesting variation of the double Stormwall approach. 

In this game the only synergy-based spell I got to take advantage of was Full Tilt. I believe this list can play quite flexibly, switching up between Mage Sight/Guided Fire to devastate opponents at a distance to Full Tilt + feat + various power attack tricks to open some incredible angles. I'm already seeing loads of opportunities that I think are very hard to defend against. On a "squire-turn" I can get 4 POW15 shots which are both boosted attack and damage roll wise. 

I'm not sold on the rest of the army configuration, yet. Easy Rider really helps the Storm Lances and I've sorely missed it with Stryker, but the rest of Kraye's spell list does nothing for them. It's early days yet and one of the matchups I'm hoping this list can drop into is Retribution. In my experience, Storm Lances are hard for Retribution to deal with effectively. I look forward to experimenting more with this list and due to my new-found revelation that Haley possibly (probably??) has game into Legion (including Lylyth2) this could very well replace Stryker1 for Norwegian Masters.