Battle Report #96: Haley3 vs Mordikaar

:: Prologue ::

After the first game I decided to try some changes. Stormblades just do not seem to work for me. I've also been given multiple reasons to try Blazers again and lastly I feel that the Lancer just isn't worth the 6-point investment. This made for some list changes that ended up adding up very nicely and I was thrilled with the result. My opponent changed his list significantly as well as he's currently playtesting lots of different stuff. Next up then: Mordikaar!

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Major Prime Victoria Haley - WJ: +3
- Squire
- Charger - PC: 4
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 3
Haley Future - PC: 0
Haley Past - PC: 0
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord - PC: 2
Captain Maxwell Finn - PC: 3
Ragman - PC: 2
Storm Lances - Leader & 4 Grunts: 11
Trencher Infantry - Leader & 5 Grunts: 6
Horgenhold Forge Guard - Leader & 9 Grunts: 8
- Captain Jonas Murdoch - Murdoch 2
Tempest Blazers - Leader & 4 Grunts: 10

Opponent:

Void Seer Mordikaar - WB: +5
- Aradus Sentinel - PC: 8
- Aradus Sentinel - PC: 8
- Cyclops Raider - PC: 5
- Basilisk Drake - PC: 4
Agonizer - PC: 2
Extoller Soulward - PC: 2
Mortitheurge Willbreaker - PC: 2
Cataphract Incindiarii - Leader & 3 Grunts: 6
Nihilators - Leader & 9 Grunts: 8
Praetorian Keltarii - Leader & 9 Grunts: 8
Paingiver Beast Handlers - Leader & 3 Grunts: 2

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

I won't lie to you. When I saw the Sentinels, I was like "wtf?". How are they worth 8 points? SPD3 and no particularly strong abilities in combat? Ok. We'll see what this is about. We were playing the same scenario + map again and I took T1. Again. Deployment was largely the same and I opted for Blazers on the left flank. I was hoping these guys + the Charger would enable me to wipe out the Skorne flank there quickly, making it dicey for him to contest me so I could force favourable attrition fights based on an alternative trickling of points.

:: Game :: 

Remembering the Desperate Pace need for Forge Guard from last game I switched it up this time. Blazers ran far and Storm Lances took up a bit of a more aggressive position.

So about those Sentinels... Well, let's just say that one Eyeless Sight + Puppetmaster + Snipe + lucky scatter later, Haley Prime was down 9 boxes. Wow. Ok, I see the point in them now.

So I figured the best thing to do would be play as usual and hope Haley wouldn't take more punishment. I also made a mental note to counter those guys in any way I could, preferably locking them down in melee. Past assigned 3 focus to the Charger which, together with Junior and Electro Blazers, wiped out tons of infantry on the left flank. On the right flank my Lances engaged despite feeding Mordikaar tons of fury, simply because I had to start making an impact here to threaten those sentinels. Forge Guard spread out in small "boxes" to provide me with flexible charge lanes next turn and Tac Supremacy Trenchers took care not to block said lanes.

Mordikaar with 12 fury started going to work. A couple of Revives, a spray and still a lot to camp. Next the Berserk guys on the left managed to take out 2 Blazers. However disaster struck as one of the Sentinels hit Haley yet again with a partial (and here I was feeling safe on DEF21). I was left on a single box despite healing twice last turn. Well, ok. Mordikaar feated and both Sentinels used their animii. Yay DEF16 + Poltergeist...

At this point in time I should've moved Arcane Shield to Haley. I didn't. This was however a big turn as I feated, cast Temporal, healed up as much as I could for the remaining focus, ran Past into melee range of both Sentinels, hitting one of them for a little bit of damage while Future revived a Blazer and a Lance. I sent as many models as I could into the Sentinels just about but the right one was positioned awkwardly given that I wanted Past + Ragman into the mix. At the very least the left one died. I put up clouds + Trenchers B2B in front of Prime...

...only to be noted that Sentinels have arcing fire. Well, he's still engaged with multiple models, 1 of which is DEF19 past. Not to worry, DEF19 ain't no thing for Incindiarii scatters. All you have to do is get a partial and roll high enough after Mordikaar got a partial with boosted damage to leave Past on 1 box. I never should've struck the left Sentinel, with Incorporeal still up I'd be immune to a lot of his attacks, including this (plus I would be camping more focus). So the Sentinel was free to aim, thus needing 12+ to hit Prime (which couldn't stay on the hill because she needed to get Past in her CMD). He made the roll and with that, the game was over.
:: Evaluation ::

What a great game! I fell for a trick which I've never seen before and that is fine. I think that part of Warmahordes will never go away. Too many combinations, simply. However the interesting part is the fact that the Sentinel which started it all off got a 4" scatter in just the right direction T1. This should probably have set off some alarm clocks and I should've moved Arcane to Haley I believe. I wanted to play a normal attrition game and as the last picture shows I was massively up. Prime's position wasn't that crucial I think so at least I'm doing something right. Now, as for not dying while I'm ahead on attrition...

I got 2 games against Skorne today. I faced 2 casters I've never played before and lots of new beasts + units. I got a lot of experience with Haley3 and Skorne and I also fielded Forge Guard for the first time. Successfully, I feel, given the work they put in in both games. They are terrifying for lots of enemies to face with all the buffs they get in this list. Overall, I had a great time playing. I also got away with 1 win and 1 loss based on somewhat risky caster play, which is about fair. To get a clean winning streak I need to find the balance between playing Haley sufficiently aggressive to get the most out of her while keeping her safe. This takes a lot of practice but I'm determined to get there.

So how about the list changes? The Blazers obviously performed very well in this game and I'll be trying them out more in the future. I really like the element of flexibility they bring in this list. I will make an effort to utilize their speed, because otherwise I believe ATGM are often simply better. I should also note that post-game I set up 2 Blazers B2B with 3" AOE rings around them to see if Haley could camp behind them safely within 1" (because of arcing fire). As you may have guessed/known, this is doable and would've been a good, defensive setup that leaves lucky scatters as the only way of hitting her. Lesson noted! I would also like to point out that I really liked the Charger, putting out a couple more boosted POW12s is great and, as I've experienced so many times before, taking out stuff early has a trickle effect through the ensuing turns.

Lots of experiences to consider, lots of things learned with Skorne and lastly a Haley3 list I really like playing. I also believe it has potential as an anti-arm skew list. I enjoyed playing today a lot and look forward to playing more with 2 challenging but rewarding Haley-lists as soon as possible!