A, Ravyn tier. How long have I dreaded seeing this in a tournament setting again. Truth be told I have absolutely -no- idea why Retribution players don't field this. With Cygnar dominating the tournament field as of late it is the perfect list to bring and she pairs well with Issyria for example to create a strong pair. Anyway, let's get to the game!
:: Lists ::
Cygnar:
Major Prime Victoria Haley - WJ: +3Opponent:
- 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
Ravyn, The Eternal Light - WJ: +6
- Hyperion - PC: 18
Fane Knight Skeryth Issyen - PC: 5
Narn, Mage Hunter of Ios - PC: 0
Mage Hunter Assassin - PC: 2
Mage Hunter Assassin - PC: 2
Soulless Voidtracer - PC: 1
Mage Hunter Strike Force - Leader & 9 Grunts: 8
- Strike Force Commander - Commander 2
Mage Hunter Strike Force - Leader & 9 Grunts: 8
- Strike Force Commander - Commander 2
Mage Hunter Strike Force - Leader & 5 Grunts: 5
- Eiryss, Mage Hunter Commander - PC: 3
THEME: Will of the Nine Voices - Tier 3
:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::
Interesting list. He opts to go with util solos instead of maximised shooting. I can dig that, but I think it makes the list harder to play and it might allow me to taunt out a couple of important models. Anyway: We are playing Incoming (typically a slow scenario), I have a hill on my side (crucial to this matchup) and there is no killbox. I think this is about as good a situation as you can ever ask for here.
I deploy Haley near the hill, Storm Lances on the opposite flank, Forge Guard + Alexia between and Lancer next to Haley. I ensure the Trenchers AD only 3" so that Strike Force can't alpha me top of 1.
:: Game ::
Snipe goes up on the right unit, Hyperion runs towards Haley, Ravyn casts her smoke thingy, rest of MHSF advance.
I run 2 Lances to jam and taunt out combat solos. I run Lancer to toe the hill on the right side to taunt feat and/or aim. Forge Guard run as far as they can and Trenchers are split 4-1-1 (leader + "khador arc node") for revive purposes depending on how his turn develops. Alexia stays far behind.
Skeryth charges a Lance, an assassin the other. They die. Eiryss3-unit runs up and jams with 1 in the clouds for Hyperion to launch an aoe towards. Said aoe deviates directly ahead but does no significant damage, only taking out risen. MHSF focus down Trenchers and I lose 4.
The trick to playing Ravyn is keeping your cool. Despite her having 75% of the table top of 2 you can get back by systematically eliminating the dangerous threat angles. In this particular position I can launch an alpha on his Hyperion because Acosta got Swift Vengeance: Furthermore I can start taking out MHSF both left, right and center. This turn works out wonderfully for me with Hyperion nearly losing an entire side + shield, Skeryth going down to Thrall Warrior from Alexia1 and 1 Lance, a second Lance going into MHSF on the left and a Chain Blast from Past taking out a few MHSF on the right. I also ensured that Haley Prime was outside of aim range so he'd need 13s on feat. I even got her in clouds from the 2 remaining Trenchers to prevent Hyperion doing funny things. Arcane Shield was up on her to protect against Hyperion deviation.
My opponent has to do a lot of work and he knows it. I fully expect him to feat to clear out stuff and go for an attrition game, which he does. It starts out well with Hyperion landing a crit on the Forge Guard in front of him to consume 3 + Acosta. He then blasts apart a couple more Forge Guard with secondary attacks and the MHSF spike enough to take out the rest. This does however leave the Lancer with all systems intact. On the left side he takes out 3 Lances but I have the leader in a good spot for revives and a guy hanging way back to ensure they will all live. The situation on paper might look bleak - he certainly got a lot out of his feat including a CP from controlling my zone - but with my feat coming out in return and Haley3 being "safe" from assassination runs I am pretty sure I have a shot here.
I contemplate going for Hyperion but end up concluding that I need to take out Strike Force because the provide him with the biggest attrition game and I don't really fear assassination any longer. I feat and the revived Lances make a great impact on the left flank. Lancer runs into Strike Force to engage them and Past Chain Blasts a few of them to death. Trenchers CRA the MHA to death.
My opponent is getting seriously low on time (and, from my point of view, he is way down on attrition as well) so he makes a play for scenario. Unfortunately he can't Crit consume this time and thus I contest the right zone.
Revive-recursion sets up for the Hyperion if needed, however shooting from Prime + Future and spikes from Past in combat ensure its demise. I can thus use my Lances to launch a devastating assault which cripples his left as well.
With only couple of minutes left on the clock Ravyn attempts a hail mary assassination run (I'm not even sure he had a theoretical chance). It fails and he concedes.
Victory to the Swans!
Crazy game and a very, very satisfying win! I had a good starting point for this particular matchup and I felt I managed to make the most of the situation from the very beginning. Keeping Prime safe was what I considered to be most important and he never came close to anything but a dicey assassination run (13s at best to hit).
In my first turn I sacrificed two Lances. The goal of this was to keep his left flank somewhat at bay and/or force out his solos. I succeeded in doing this and the following counter-attack meant the risk was well worth it. The left flank was swinging ever more in my favor as Alexia was kept safe and accumulated a huge number of souls throughout the game, which she spent to keep sending in Risen and Thralls. Every little strike force model counts and Alexia was, in many ways, the MVP of this game as her contribution freed up the Lances to do their work and helped tip the attrition in my favor.
The Forge Guard were in a bit of a catch22 when the Trenchers died but Retribution's decision to send Hyperion up was a poor one as it allowed me to lock him down -and- put a lot of damage on him while forcing Strike Force to look for spikes on ARM18 during feat turn. In many ways this was the game-defining moment: While he got a lot of work done on his feat turn it wasn't enough and he wasn't far enough ahead on scenario to capitalize on it. My ensuing return feat crippled him and when he failed to crit consume and move ahead on scenario the game was all but over.
A tense game to say the least. Ravyn tier is uphill for Cygnar but this time around I managed to take it home. The finals were yet another Cygnar mirror and this time it would be up to my Haley3 to take down Siege to win the tournament...
Very cool game. When I read through it, it looked like you had it in control the whole game. I learn tons of Haley tactics just reading your reports :)
SvarSlett