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.