Battle Report #203: Haley2 vs Lylyth3

:: Prologue ::

Legion players are all wondering what on earth they are to do with about Sloan. I can empathize. My most frequent Legion opponent has gone down the route of Lylyth3. While Sloan doesn't bring a Stormwall that is a very hard counter. As such it's time to learn how to play Mk. 3 Haley2 into Legion.

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

(Haley 2) Major Victoria Haley [+25]
- Thorn [13]
- Stormwall [39]
- Squire [5]
- Ironclad [12]
Journeyman Warcaster [4]
- Firefly [8]
Captain Arlan Strangewayes [4]
Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress [3]
Storm Lances (min) [12]

Opponent:

Lylyth, Reckoning of Everblight - WB: +29
-    Angelius - PC: 0
-    Naga Nightlurker - PC: 0
-    Nephilim Bolt Thrower - PC: 7
-    Ravagore - PC: 19
-    Ravagore - PC: 19
-    Nephilim Protector - PC: 10
Blighted Nyss Shepherd - PC: 1
Blighted Nyss Shepherd - PC: 1
Blighted Nyss Shepherd - PC: 1
The Forsaken - PC: 4
Strider Scouts - Leader & 5 Grunts: 9
-    Strider Scout Officer & Musician - Officer & Musician: 4

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

We are playing Line Breaker and my opponent moves first. My thought here is to try and secure a flank and start scoring under feat bottom of 2.

:: Game ::

Legion moves towards the center.

I kind of want the Stormwall to not be B2B with my objective so that I can threaten multiple charge angles. However I send Haley2 behind the LOS-blocking impassable on the right flank but that leaves the poor Squire within threat range of my opponent's beasts. I try and block it off with Lances to hope that he can't get to it. On the left flank I set up for a possible flag move bottom of 2. I forget to move Lanyssa up.

Legion skews hard right and after the Striders (!) kill a Lance under Deflection, the Squire dies easily to Lylyth3.

I can't see what I can do without the Squire. Most places where I can feat and catch everything I need to catch, the Angelius can repulse me away and thus ensure that the majority of his army gets to activate as normal. It should be noted that I thought Repulsion was within 3" and not 2" as I later discovered, in which case I might've been able to block it off with Lanyssa covering Haley. However I go for a crazy play instead: Have the Ironclad throw the Firefly on the flag, Temporal the Stormwall to have it take out the objective. Run Thorn up, TK the Ravagore, reaction drive, TK Lylyth. It all goes well until I am about to TK Lylyth and I suddenly remember she can shoot in her back arc. Oh lord. With Squire gone I basically need to block her LOS to Haley2 to be safe. I camp 3 instead but realize it's a long shot regardless. At least I score 2 CPs.

Lylyth feats, shoots me and I die to the Angelius.

:: Evaluation :: 

I believe this is a matchup that should be in my favour. Lylyth3 doesn't have the shooting to effectively deal with all my armor. Assuming I can keep Haley2 safe, it's just a matter of time before he loses board space and gets pushed back on scenario. My feat is also a nightmare for him.

What I did wrong here was basically to deploy Haley in such a way that I committed her more or less to the impassable. I should and could have placed her centrally so that I could've gone behind the woods instead. Indeed, given how Legion played T1, I should've tried to accomplish this regardless with the Stormwall blocking the LOS a little more. Obviously not moving Lanyssa was a huge mistake as well: With Hunter's Mark on the objective I get the speed I need to bypass the wall (with Temporal up as well), at which point I can start looking at going for Lylyth3 herself under Shift.

As in Mk. 2 the big thing about playing Haley vs Legion is keeping her alive. If I can do that I believe this should be clearly in Cygnar's favor. I still prefer Sloan into Legion but as long as Lylyth3 is around I pretty much have to play Haley. Hopefully I've learned my lesson!