Battle Report #177: Sloan vs Ossyan

:: Prologue ::

Tonight I had the opportunity to play a matchup I've been itching to try for some time now: Sloan vs Ossyan. This is a highly volatile matchup with tons of shooting on both sides. As always, being outgunned in a situation like this is disastrous. Let's jump right in!

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Sloan
- Reinholdt
- Stormwall
- Hunter
- Hunter
- Firefly
- Firefly
Junior
- Charger
Arlan Strangeways
Alten Ashley

Opponent:

Lord Arcanist Ossyan - WJ: +28
- Sylys Wyshnalyrr, The Seeker - PC: 4
- Banshee - PC: 0
- Banshee - PC: 8
Arcanist Mechanik - PC: 2
Lys Healer - PC: 3
Mage Hunter Strike Force - Leader & 9 Grunts: 16
Mage Hunter Strike Force - Leader & 9 Grunts: 16
Stormfall Archers - Leader & 3 Grunts: 9
Stormfall Archers - Leader & 3 Grunts: 9
Heavy Rifle Team - Leader & Grunt: 4
Heavy Rifle Team - Leader & Grunt: 4

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

We were playing Fire Support and I went second. I decided on a flank with a hill. Since I had Fuel Cache I was expecting some serious defensive bonuses and cloud shenanigans on that side as well. Retribution spread out and I concentrated my forces on that flank.

:: Game ::

Retribution runs up. MHSF on the right flank receive Quicken and a Banshee receives Admonition.

I pick apart a few models at a distance with Hunters + Sloan. I played too greedy this turn as I exposed my jacks to too much firepower in return which, given the state of the scenario and the relative safety of Sloan behind a cloud, is just unnecessary.

Deadeye on a Banshee ensures the Hunter in cover centrally dies. 4d6 to hit with RAT5 is very strong. Luckily for me however the other jacks don't lose any vital systems. Deadeye on left Strike Force would have been way worse if my opponent had gotten more in range. The Stormwall takes a serious beating.

I have to get a lot of work done. I contemplate what to do and decide to kill as many models as possible. Because of that I spend all my high-powered and army piercing shots taking out MHSF and SFA, the Banshees aren't even targeted at all. My thinking here was that the Stormwall is so low from the last turn that it might downright die from shooting + feat if I don't kill enough models. My feat does do a lot of work as the picture below shows:

The problem was that Ossyan had 2 remaining Banshees and a feat intact. I was afraid he'd go for Quicken to charge the Stormwall: I had to get it up the table a bit and thus risk being in charge range to get the Strike Force models on the right flank. However my opponent went for killing the Charger and a firefly instead. Because of this the Stormwall survived.

One Banshee with Admonition in my face. I pretty much had no choice but to focus everything I had on it. It was enough and luckily for me it went down. I rolled below average initially so I really was sweating it but junior came through in the end.

More chipping off the Stormwall and this time Arlan dies as well, leaving me with no repairs and a crippled right side. I still have a Banshee in front of me.

I have no option but to go for the Banshee. I send everything I have into it and luckily it's enough and it goes down.

My opponent tries to retaliate but he's finally losing his punch.

In my ensuing turn I leave Ossyan and the objective as the only models alive on the table. Retribution concedes.

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

Wow, what a game! This was so hard. I don't even know where to begin to be honest. Obviously the Strike Force are as big a problem as ever. True, assassination is off the table with their UA out of the picture but their main strength is attrition. With my jack-heavy list I knew it would be tough. What I probably should've done was play way more conservatively and focus on the really long-ranged shots in my T1, taking care to ensure he couldn't get significant damage on me in return. By having the Fireflies together on the left flank a rush from him there can result in a lot of dead mhsf. If he doesn't I can keep picking him off with Hunters, Sloan and Stormwall at extreme distances.

The way the game evolved I think Retribution would've won with better priorities. The Stormwall would've died on Ossyan's feat turn if a Banshee with Quicken + Power Booster had gone in on full focus. Arlan kept the vital systems alive for a couple of turns and that gave me just enough damage output to nail the Banshees, both of which would probably have ended the game had they not been killed/severely crippled.

I definitely need to play matchups like this more. The mindset and tactics you need for this are totally different from most other games. I am of course also contemplating the list: While I could have played a very defensive game here without worrying about scenario, I see a general problem with the list being its inability to get up the table. That might need to be adressed. I will consider variants and hopefully I'll get more matches against Ossyan soon enough!