2d6 Crusade Game 1 (#137): Haley3 vs Morghoul2

:: Prologue ::

Following Lund last weekend I had another tournament today: 1-day, 4 rounds (with finals for the last 2 undefeated if needed), 24 players. With no time to try out anything new I had decided to use this tournament as a testing ground for Haley3. With the new-found inclusion of the Lancer and Alexia1 compared to the lists I took to Lund, I was eager to play her as my main caster and let Haley2 take a back seat. Due to having to play both lists at some point during the day I was however ready to drop both, of course.

Regardless, the first matchup seemed to agree with me: Morghoul2 and his Hit Squad tier-list opposed the Caspians.

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Major Prime Victoria Haley - WJ: +3
- Squire
- Lancer - PC: 6
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
Alexia1 & The Risen - PC: 5
Savio Montero Acosta - PC: 3
Storm Lances - Leader & 4 Grunts: 11
Trencher Infantry - Leader & 5 Grunts: 6
Horgenhold Forge Guard - Leader & 9 Grunts: 8
- Captain Jonas Murdoch - Murdoch 2

Opponent:

Lord Assassin Morghoul - WB: +6
- Titan Gladiator - PC: 7
- Aradus Sentinel - PC: 7
- Archidon - PC: 6
- Basilisk Krea - PC: 4
Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentor (Hit Squad) - PC: 2
Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentor (Hit Squad) - PC: 2
Paingiver Task Master - PC: 2
Paingiver Bloodrunners - Leader & 5 Grunts: 5
Paingiver Bloodrunners - Leader & 5 Grunts: 5
Paingiver Beast Handlers - Leader & 3 Grunts: 2
Swamp Gobbers Bellows Crew - Leader & 1 Grunt: 1
Bog Trog Ambushers - Leader & 5 Grunts: 5
Croak Raiders - Leader & 9 Grunts: 8
THEME: Hit Squad - Tier 3

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

The mission was Fire Support. My idea going into this was to win the slow grind: Take out his flanks, his fast elements and shooting and basically leave him with the battlegroup. To this end I deployed Storm Lances on my off flank and everything else behind my flag. Much to my surprise Skorne replied with a deployment right opposite me instead of behind their own flag.

:: Game ::

The cloudwall moves up, Storm Lances run up aggressively with Arcane Shield and Dirge. Tac Supremacy on Trenchers. Lancer flanks.

The Skorne advance is quite typical: Fast flankers, Croaks in the middle, battlegroup behind.

I decide to make a strong play on the right flank: If that can be secured I will start pressuring him on scenario quickly. On the left I make a couple of jabs but most consolidate my position and get Prime out of killbox. On the right side Alexia spawns a Thrall to clear out the last model from the unit after the Lances and their e-leaps have ran rampant through the unit. Only a solo is left there.

Gah... I knew I had forgot something! The ambushers arrive. Fuck me. They take out Murdoch but in doing so they forgo the Squire and Rhupert. Fair enough, that could've been worse. At least Acosta gets Swift Vengeance.

Last turn I had to leave the Croaks be to consolidate my central position. This time however I could reap the benefits of that move. Acosta + Lancer clears out the Ambushers. This prevents me from taking out the Croaks like I had wanted but it doesn't matter because with Past and Future in good positions for Flux they can't hurt me. What's really nice though is that I clear out the objective and get a Thrall onto the flag on the right flank. I migrate Prime to the center of the map and put up the cloudwall again. 2-0.

Skorne keeps pushing forward. He feated last turn but it didn't do a whole lot. In going forward this time his Croaks get 2 or 3 Trenchers. However as he doesn't contest the right side I move to 3-0.

I feat to bring back the Cloudwall I need. I also revive a Lance or two and send them into the think of it while the trustworthy Thrall scores me another point for 4-0. I jam up the area around Prime to ensure no assassination runs can land.

Realizing the game is lost my opponent goes for CP for tie breakers. He manages to clear out the objective and my models around the flag so the game ends 5-3.

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

Skorne without anti-cloud tech and without speed buffs really struggle with Haley3. While the Ambushers caught me by surprise here the rest of the game was very straight forward: Deal with flankers and shooters and leave the battlegroup alone. It worked out quite well I'd say and I was off to a good start!