Battle Report #143: Kraye vs Asphyxious3

:: Prologue ::

Following Kraye's Baptism by Fire against Ravyn earlier this week, I realized the list needs more sheer firepower than utility. As much as I love Gastone and Eiryss2, I decided to ditch them for Black 13th and Gorman. This is a power-pack that can single-handedly win flanks and greatly add to my flexibility. Gorman doubles up as a protector for Kraye as his cloud B2B with a Stormwall often helps Kraye stay out of LOS. Furthermore Rust is useful in Warmachine matchups. Across me today was the same opponent and list I faced for my game 4 from Crusade last weekend: My good friend Leif and his Asphyxious3!

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Captain Jeremiah Kraye - 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
Stormsmith Stormcaller - PC: 1
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist - PC: 2
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt - Lady Aiyana & Master Holt: 4
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team - Lynch, Ryan & Watts: 4

Opponent:

Asphyxious the Hellbringer - WJ: +4
- Vociferon
- Deathjack - PC: 12
Satyxis Raider Captain - PC: 2
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist - PC: 2
Bane Knights - Leader & 9 Grunts: 10
Satyxis Blood Witches - Leader & 9 Grunts: 6
- Satyxis Blood Hag - Satyxis Blood Hag 2
Satyxis Raiders - Leader & 9 Grunts: 8
- Satyxis Raider Sea Witch - Satyxis Raider Sea Witch 2
Mechanithralls - Leader & 5 Grunts: 3
Necrosurgeon & Stitch Thralls - Necrosurgeon & 3 Grunts: 2
The Withershadow Combine - Malevolus, Admonia, & Tremulus: 5

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

Cryx won the roll-off and went first. I didn't bother thinking about sides so I just took the one where I stood, which I quickly realized was the best anyway. The idea was to win by attrition and use Guided Fire early to simply wipe out Cryx left, right and center. I believe Gaspy has to attack this from a scenario point of view so I'd keep a close eye on his abilities to block me out and suddenly get a significant lead.

For attrition purposes I put both Stormwalls in the middle and B13th on my "safe" flank, with A+H going on the opposite flank. Much to my surprise the Satyxis went left with AD, across A+H and diagonally opposite my zone.

:: Game ::

Cryx start and the Raiders go far left. Blood Witches move to the right with Knights in the center.

Raiders with Ashen Veil are a real pain for me to deal with so I decide to skew my pressure towards the right instead and force said Raiders to come closer into Stormsmith range. I put up Full Tilt on the right Stormwall and ran everything ahead with A+H taking up central positions. I viewed kissing Knights as a viable T2 option because Stormcallers are so much more reliable with 5+ to kill instead of 7+.

A trick is revealed: Blood Witches mini-feat and move in to jam! I didn't see that coming this early because I don't understand what they are trying to accomplish at this point in time: With the McThrall-boat and soul collectors too far away I only have to deal with a handful of Witches and the Knights, which shouldn't be a problem given my firepower because the Satyxis Raiders are simply too far away. In other words: There are not enough elements present to overwhelm me in any way.

Aiyana puts up Lurynsar's Touch on the right Stormwall. Kraye activates and moves up with Guided Fire (no upkeep for Tilt) to kill 2 Banes. The Stormwalls then proceed to start killing Satyxis and Knights and they finish off with pods. Stormcallers use said pods to clear out the remaining infantry in the center before Ryan launches a Mage Storm on a pod to the right to kill a handful of models. I move to 1-0 with Arcane Shielded Kraye on 1 focus (I believe), Pursuit up on the 2 remaining Knights.

My opponent contemplates going for Kraye but figures he can't get Hex Blast on him because neither Gaspy nor DJ are in place. He tries to charge the left Stormwall but only 1 Raider makes it and mini-feat is wasted. Ryan dies to Witches and he contests me. 1-1.

I put up guided fire again. I am safely ahead on attrition so no point in having Kraye exposed any longer. He moves back. Stormwalls open up again and clear out tons of Satyxis with boosted attack rolls, pods and help from Stormcallers.

The Cryx forces are really being thinned out. DJ opts to become more of a factor.

My inexperience with Kraye shows as I feat here to take out DJ and it's just massively overkill. With feat granting boosted attack rolls I really should hold it to threaten Gaspy. Well at least DJ dies. A couple of range estimation mistakes leaves Gorman alive.

The McThralls + Gaspy kill the first Stormwall.

I put 3 focus on the remaining Stormwall. Kiss lands on Gaspy and thus I send the Stormwall in with Full Tilt. Gaspy dies but it's closer than I would've preferred it to be, thus having the feat would have been very welcome. Regardless...

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

I believe Cryx approaches this game in a faulty manner: Given the movements T1 and T2 it appears to me that he's trying to draw me out and force me to play hard and fast. I don't think I need to do that, at least not in this scenario, and by simply holding back I end up way ahead on attrition because he loses so many infantry models in my T2. His problem is in the list matchup dynamic: Deathjack is a huge waste of points here as it's very hard to get any work out of.

Regardless, Cryx can play for scenario I believe with Raiders on the right and a tighter center with recursion from McThralls becoming a bigger factor. In that case I'm not sure Kraye has the tools to deal with everything fast enough before the CP start running dangerously high.

I played Kraye a little too offensive this game, forgetting about Hex Blast taking off Arcane Shield -could- have been disastrous. I also forgot that Withershadow could simply remove Pursuit. Lesson (hopefully) learned. Likewise I also feated poorly with him, the boosted attack rolls thing is a huge part of the feat which makes the Stormwalls a -lot- more threatening for caster kill purposes. I have a move I've visualized multiple times which is totally Krayze and I hope I'll get a chance in the near future to pull it off ;)

The list shoots hard and is quite mobile. However it is also extremely fragile and unlike Haley2 there is no defensive tech available from the caster -at all- to help out. I think making this list work will largely boil down to using covering fires + mage storm well and judging when and where to engage vs when and where to hold back and shoot.