Battle at Lund: Road to Invitationals Finals (#130): Haley2 vs Haley1

:: Prologue ::

With 3 wins and only 16 players in the tournament, I was in the finals again! I could hardly believe it, 2 finals in 2 days. I was up against a fellow Cygnar player, Olov, who ran Haley1 and Haley3. An odd thing to leave Haley2 at home if you ask me, but I had seen both Olov and Fredrik (another Cygnar player with near identical lists as Olov) perform well on day 1 (Fredrik was beaten in the semi-finals by the Convergence player I faced in the finale) so I assumed this would be a hard fight.

I debated which Haley to drop for a long time. I ended up going for Haley2 because I couldn't see how the Haley3 list (lacking Forge Guard and Ragman) could effectively deal with Stormwall and Temporal Shift. I was very surprised to see Haley1 dropped in return. Let's get to it!

:: 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
Gastone Crosse - PC: 3
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator - PC: 1
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt - Lady Aiyana & Master Holt: 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

Opponent:

Captain Victoria Haley - WJ: +5
- Squire
- Sentinel - PC: 4
- Stormwall - PC: 19
- Lightning Pod
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 3
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution - PC: 3
Taryn di la Rovissi, Llaelese Gun Mage - PC: 2
Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Pistoleers - Leader & 5 Grunts: 6
- Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer - Officer 2
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team - Lynch, Ryan & Watts: 4
Tempest Blazers - Leader & 4 Grunts: 10

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

We were playing Destruction and I went second. Going last against shooty lists with Deadeye is often risky but I figured I could at least force him to commit the Stormwall and thus lose it bottom of 2. I deployed ATGM on one flank and B13th on the other with Stormwall, Haley and Thorn in the middle.

:: Game ::

Olov runs up and ensures he is not in range of ATGM. He does make a big mistake though as Eiryss runs for Effigy cover.

I figure that with the extreme ranges between us (e.g. his Stormwall might not even be in range), Haley will be safe in cover. I thus spend my focus on Temporal on the Stormwall to ensure he gets Eiryss. I also take out Ryan with an Arcane Bolt. Trying to protect against e-leaps is a mindfuck and I don't really feel I end up with a solid formation. Stormwall tramples and boosts a pod to kill Eiryss.

Turns out Olov wants to try for the assassination. The Stormwall receives 2 focus and Haley casts Temporal Barrier to bring me down to DEF18 (no deceleration up). Lynch and Watts receive deadeye. Stormwall hits 1, as does the Black 13th, leaving Haley on a single box. He then pods near a+h and they die to eleaps after the pod survives the first hit. With all that done he had 4 shots or so left on Haley2, hitting on 11+. One of the Blazers made the Brutal Damage hit and Haley went down.

:: Evaluation ::

Finding the right balance between using Haley aggressively and having her survive is hard. This proved to be a little too risky. If I remember correctly I could've been out of range of the majority of his shots by simply staying 1" behind the wall instead of B2B with it. Without an assassination angle and with Eiryss2 I'm not sure what he could/should've done. My plan was to engage Stormwall-to-Stormwall with Kiss (didn't see the pod-e-leap angle) and move Haley up behind the wall with Shift on T2. I never got that far. I also should have prioritized Deceleration over taking out Ryan.

Little did I know at the time but the experience from this game would be crucial on Sunday! I finished 2nd in this tournament which I was still very happy with, doubly so because Cygnar (without Haley2 even!) took the win!