List Musings

Lists in Mk. 3 are interesting. I find that they often fall into traps: You go overboard on something and the army ends up being too inflexible. With Haley, I tend to try and include too much support and utility and the lists end up feeling flimsy and without punch. With Sloan, I tend to want too much shooting and I've seen in practice how that lacks the ability to contest the scenario and claim board space. However, for both casters I have found lists that I consider to be stable and solid. An excellent starting position for further experimentation.

Let's start with Sloan. At first, I tried to make a Stormwall work with her. However, the jack tax on junior I found was too much and I doubt it's the best choice without Arcane Shield. I switched to double Defenders and I was positively impressed. The real solution though came not when I was looking at her battlegroup but rather her support. Storm Lances are an amazing unit with her. Their speed and long-ranged threat ensure that opponents have to think twice about how they approach her lines. It essentially creates a catch22 situation: Stay still and be shot or advance and receive Lances to the face.

The list is comprised of a number of pairs: Double this, double that. I find that it's well rounded and can deal with most situations. Its main disadvantages include no pathfinder, only Sloan having magical attacks and no serious combat punch.

Cygnar Army - 75 / 75 (+28) points
(Sloan 1) Captain Kara Sloan [+28]
 - Defender [16]
 - Defender [16]
 - Hunter [11]
 - Hunter [11]
 - Firefly [8]
 - Firefly [8]
 - Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator [4]
Storm Lances (min) [12]
Storm Lances (min) [12]
Gun Mage Captain Adept [5]

I intend to playtest variants of this. The GMCA has proven to be a decent addition but there are multiple other uses for his 5 points I want to try, for example upgrading a Firefly to a Cyclone. That adds a MAT7 heavy which can act as a front liner and threaten KD with various power attacks. Anti-infantry wise it sports something the list kind of lacks to an extent: POW12s. Often I find with Sloan that Hunters/Defenders are overkill while Fireflies and their POW10s are too weak. 

Moving onto Haley2! I believe the Thornwall is still the right place to start. I could be wrong, but I feel its immunity to most anti-jack tech such as disruption, knockdown, stationary, push, place, slam or whatever combined with its big guns, covering fires and power attacks make it the toolbox which Haley wants so much. With Thorn, Stormwall, Squire, Junior and an 8+ point jack there aren't a whole lot of points left to play around with. Arlan is pretty much a must-have because of the extra focus and magical attacks. From there I've tried to build various shooty lists based on what worked so well for me in Mk. 2. However it's just not the same and I am starting to doubt that Haley2 can play that way. Perhaps I am just making the wrong decisions in terms of what to include and not, I don't know. Regardless I've found a list that I believe is a solid baseline from which I can work off of:

Cygnar Army - 75 / 75 (+25) points
(Haley 2) Major Victoria Haley [+25]
 - Thorn [13]
 - Stormwall [39]
 - Squire [5]
Journeyman Warcaster [4]
 - Firefly [8]
Captain Arlan Strangewayes [4]
Storm Lances (max) [20]
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord [4]
Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress [3]

Rhupert is a very solid support piece now. Pathfinder and concealment on a stick are both great abilities and can be useful for both Haley, Thorn and Storm Lances depending on the situation. I haven't played Lanyssa yet but I do believe she is very valuable for the mere 3 points she costs now, doubly so because Haley2 lost her Stormwall-bond. 

I've already had time to play quite a few Mk. 3 games. I have an upcoming tournament this Saturday and I expect to bring a pairing that is fairly close to these 2 lists. I will continue to experiment and try out extremes as that's where I believe the truly great stuff might be.