Internal Affairs Mk. I Game 1: Stryker1 vs Father Lucant

:: Prologue ::

Today our gaming club, 2d6, held a 1-day 4-game tournament. The first of its kind, Internal Affairs is intended to be a recurring event in the year(s) to come. We were 14 participants and the first game saw people face randomized opponents. I was lucky enough to draw the only Convergence army in attendance. Playing against something I don't meet often elsewise is something I always enjoy and in this context it was extra nice: As I had brought Haley2 and Stryker1 this was a perfect starting match to get Stryker his mandatory game.

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Commander Coleman Stryker - 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:

Father Lucant, Divinity Architect - WJ: +5
- Inverter - PC: 8
- Galvanizer - PC: 3
- Diffuser - PC: 3
- Mitigator - PC: 4
- Cipher - PC: 9
- Corollary - PC: 3
Enigma Foundry - PC: 3
Enigma Foundry - PC: 3
Reductors - Leader & 9 Grunts: 6
- Transverse Enumerator - PC: 2
Eradicators - Leader & 4 Grunts: 9
Optifex Directive - Leader & 2 Grunts: 2

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

The last time I faced Convergence I underestimated the combined hitting power which largely stems from their offensive synergies coupled with focus transfers. See this link for details. I recently played Stryker1 vs Menoth (Kreoss3 to be precise) and in that game I managed to set up a wombo-combo triangle of pods and Stormsmiths to disrupt all jacks, thus delaying the need to feat for a turn. Going into this game I was intending to try for the same if need be and make sure I didn't waste the Stormsmiths on infantry that can be resurrected. 

The map was Incoming and my opponent won the roll-off, choosing his side. Incoming is a map which often favours the army going second (largely depends on the matchup) and in this case I believe he did the right thing: If Convergence moves first here I get to shoot stuff T1 and I can feat T2 while engaging lots of stuff and get points early. So anyway, as I was to go first my idea was to delay the game and try to give him a point T2 while setting myself up to play for points T3. I think my strongest play against Lucant is to go for scenario: While I can win attrition I can put a lot of pressure on him by going for the scenario because my army outbrick his if we both feat. As such I put the Storm Lances behind my zone with Stormcallers on either flank. 

Some proxies on the Convergence side: The Menoth jacks are acting as a heavy beatstick and lights.

:: Game :: 

With Lucant having Purification I prioritized Snipe over Arcane Shield T1 to give me flexibility without sacrificing position T2. Storm Lances ran up a lot to intimidate his advance.

The problem with the Storm Lances' move was that the obstacle across from my zone essentially gave the Convergence infantry an automatic win with regards to alpha. I can't engage him behind there because I can't deal enough damage. He set up the medium infantry outside but the angles and distances were such that I'd probably only get 3, of which 2 could be raised immediately after by Enigma Foundries.

I didn't take the bait but reverted to the initial plan: Stay back and chill. I gave Convergence the point as I intended to, podding the zone just to force him to clear it somehow. The Stormwalls got 2 focus each and put 4 shots into the closest beatstick. While Deceleration certainly helped he took a few boxes and that's often all you need to save 1 focus' worth of extra attack once the engagement begins. I put Arcane on the Snipe'd Stormwall to finish off my turn as I don't think it'll be needed T3 whereas the Shield might at least force Lucant to burn it off.

Lucant enters his zone for a point but the other zone cannot be won unless he kills my right Stormwall. That is obviously not likely to happen. Regardless, Convergence push up on all fronts with infantry on the right, lights in the middle and heavies on the left. 0-1.

I give each Stormwall 3 focus and they charge a heavy beatstick each, free of course because of Fuel Cache. They wreck one each and electro leaps + additional attacks lay waste to their repairing supports and a light. Pods also disrupt a jack and I've basically just won the flank (and quite likely the game as well). The Storm Lances clear the right flank, Stryker moves into the zone and feats. I also score from the left zone because only Lucant is left and casters don't contest. 2-1.

The infantry struggle to deal with ARM22 Storm Lances but at least contest the zone, though barely. Lucant escapes, planning to feat and launch a counter-attack next turn.

The problem is that I have no intention of there being a next turn. The Storm Lances kill off the contesting models, the right Stormwall kills the objective and the left Stormwall power strikes the sole remaining warjack in the left zone. With Stryker still dominating my own zone that's another 3 points and game!

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

I think my opponent was at a loss as to how to approach this game. Outside of the beatsticks, which lack mobility and control elements to get the alpha on the Stormwalls, he really struggles with simply having the damage output to play around my list. I believe that in order to deal with the Stormwalls effectively he needs to stagger his infantry and make use of their ability to hurt me at a distance, for example giving up a couple of medium-based models to do so (by running them b2b with me for example, I can't remove them easily). I also think Purification needs to be prioritized as it forces Stryker to think twice about what he's doing, he really is focus squeezed with 2 colossals. 

The way the game evolved I was able to use my elements against what units and jacks they are most efficient against. When I landed my alphas on top of that -and- feated off from it I think the game was as good as mine. Stryker excels at out-bricking enemy armies as long as their mobility and control elements can't force me to engage on unfavourable terms. While Lucant's army is durable, Stryker's is simply an immovable wall in this context with enough hitting power to pulverize the Convergence elements.