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.