Battle Report #144: Kraye vs Vayl2

:: Prologue ::

Time to play Kraye into Legion. There comes a time when you face Legion. Typically once or twice per tournament in my experience. As such it is important to know what you can play into it. Stryker3 has absolutely no game into Legion with my current pairing so Kraye has to deal with this. Let's get to the game!

:: 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:

Vayl, Consul of Everblight - WB: +6
- Angelius - PC: 8
- Angelius - PC: 8
- Ravagore - PC: 9
- Ravagore - PC: 9
- Scythean - PC: 8
- Shredder - PC: 2
- Seraph - PC: 7
Blighted Nyss Shepherd - PC: 1
Blighted Nyss Shepherd - PC: 1
Spawning Vessel - Vessel & 6 Grunts: 3
THEME: Machinations of Shadow - Tier 4

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

We were playing Outflank and I chose the side with a hill. I pre-deployed the Stormwalls symmetrically around the middle but placed Kraye on one side. I was pretty sure I'd have to win this on scenario but I didn't know how. The idea behind my deployment was to go for the right zone and take 1 or 2 points in T2 and build from there.

:: Game ::

Legion runs up. Machinations tier bonus take the Angelii far. Left Angelius has Occultation, right has Refuge.

I'm really not sure what to do as I don't want any Angelii to hit me. I end up boxing the Stormwalls together in the center and hardly advance at all.

Legion bides their time and start shooting up the left Stormwall (which had Full Tilt). Left Angelius still with Occultation, right with nothing, Refuge on a Ravagore which went back behind the wall and Admonition on the Ravagore in the left zone.

Yeah, I'm in a bit of a shitty position. I can't reach anything with the left Stormwall apart from the Angelius in the zone and even with Full Tilt I can't reliably deal enough damage to it without feating and I need to cycle Full Tilt to do enough damage to still have a game here. What this means, translated, is that the Stormwall starting with Full Tilt has to charge a Ravagore or Scythean because of the high DEF on Angelii. This obviously isn't possible here. I contemplate biding my time for another turn but that's a horrible proposition as Legion is already in a perfect position and they'll start scoring quickly and easily. So instead: When in doubt, PUSH! I don't upkeep Full Tilt, put 3 on the right Stormwall and 2 on the left. Left activates, moves up and kills Pot. Kraye moves far away (a little too far), Full Tilts right Stormwall, feats. Stormwall is too far away from Scythean I believe (and this is correct, which also by the way proves that playing so defensively T1 was a mistake as 17" is a lot) so I kill the Angelius in the zone. Feat for a single Angelius? Obviously not a good trade. At least I grab a point.

I'll let this picture speak for itself.

I make a last, ditch effort to move to 3 points even though I can likely never get 5. It fails and I concede.

:: Evaluation :: 

Legion is hard, nothing new there. Kraye struggles with low focus and few tricks to manipulate the board. My shooting doesn't do a whole lot here and gets killed off easily if I don't play them very conservatively.

Ultimately I think Kraye needs to get an angle here on the scenario which includes taking out 2 heavies and preferably getting up Arcane Shield on a Stormwall. That is hard to do, to say the least. I probably picked the wrong side as cover for my shooters behind the wall in the middle would definitely be worth fighting for.

Alternatively I can possibly play the ranged game fight but to do that Kraye needs to be in a more central position and I think such a play requires me to give up on scenario. I don't see Kraye managing a scenario angle without cycling Full Tilt vs Vayl2.