3 games today, all teaching me a lot about matchups! First up was Wurmwood, a caster I believe Haley2 should be decent against.
:: Lists ::
Cygnar:
(Haley 2) Major Victoria Haley [+25] (Fuel Cache)Opponent:
- 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]
Wurmwood, Tree of Fate & Cassius the Oathkeeper - WB: +27
- Wurmwood, Tree of Fate & Cassius the Oathkeeper (Cont.)
- Brennos the Elderhorn - PC: 0
- Feral Warpwolf - PC: 8
- Pureblood Warpwolf - PC: 17
- Scarsfell Griffon - PC: 8
- Woldwyrd - PC: 9
Gallows Grove - PC: 2
Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress - PC: 3
Swamp Gobber Chef - PC: 1
Sentry Stone & Mannikins - Leader & 3 Grunts: 5
Sentry Stone & Mannikins - Leader & 3 Grunts: 5
Shifting Stones - Leader & 2 Grunts: 3
Shifting Stones - Leader & 2 Grunts: 3
Wolves of Orboros - Leader & 9 Grunts: 11
:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::
Scenario was Close Quarters and Circle seized the initiative. I went for a bit of an aggressive play deployment-wise, intending to grab control of the center quickly.
Circle moves up. Woods are thrown done and Wurmwood makes ready for his next turn. The Scarsfell starts running out on the right flank. 3 souls on the tree.
Thorn moves to the right, Haley moves back, Lances to the left, Stormwall outside of his heavy hitters. Deflection is put up. I take care to play almost everything 3" apart or more to avoid Hellmouth. I Arcane Bolt the Gallow's Grove via Thorn to death then TK Thorn to get him outside of the Griffon's LoS.
Trees are put down further up ahead. One Lance dies to his shooting, the boosting from the sentry sealing the deal. Crucially, Wurmwood gets off Stranglehold on the Stormwall. He can't get Cassius in range for Curse of Shadows so he casts it twice. It's 50-50 whether one of the rolls deals enough damage to have an effect but he gets it.
I have to feat now I believe. I really want to kill Cassius as well. The idea is to TK the right lance to get it back in CMD, kill a couple of sentry stone infantry dudes to clear my way and reposition said Lance to be thrown onto Cassius. The firefly is within 11" of the Sentry Stone so I intend to shoot it and e-leap onto Cassius. Thorn is seriously mis-placed and I need to get him over to where the action happens. This includes taking a free strike but so be it. The thrown Lance deals 8 boxes to Cassius, luckily for me the e-leap finishes him. The Ironclad with TA moves up and kills the Pureblood. Overall a strong feat turn but Haley on 0 focus is dicey. Given my poor started I figured this risk was worth it.
Wurmwood considers his options for killing Haley. It turns out he doesn't have that good of a chance. Instead he decides to play it offensively: Move up, feat, cast Curse on the Stormwall and another Stranglehold.
Brennos got greedy in his attempt to put pressure on me and is within 4" of the Stormwall and within 9" of Thorn. My plan is to TK him in and kill him. The Ironclad is within 5" of a Stone which was otherwise ready to place Wurmwood. I trample up and kill the stone. Haley moves back to be outside of 15" of the Warpwolf. She camps 2 focus. Stormwall kills Brennos and I'm quite happy with my position.
My opponent has 2 souls so Wurmwood goes to 9 fury. He finds a pretty sweet angle: By casting Hellmouth twice he can boost the Warpwolf's threat range by 6". This enables him to get a bead on Haley2 and he takes the charge. He has 3 fury left after spending one for charging and 3 attacks. He boosts to hit all of them but 1 attack misses and the rest don't deal enough damage with the 2 focus I've camped and Haley survives.
:: Evaluation ::
What a mess of a game. I underestimated how big of a deal the sentry stones were here. I did not have the proper threats in range at the proper times. ARM18 8 boxes stealth is problematic for this list. They are very effective and hard for Haley2 to deal with. Yes, I know a GMCA would make my life a lot easier here, but that's out of the question as I have yet to miss that solo a single time in this list. Anyway: With the Lances not in a position to threaten them properly and Thorn on the wrong flank, Wurmwood was able to move up and put too much pressure on me without feating.
The first Stranglehold on the Stormwall was crucial. He missed the first and the whole ordeal is rather dodgy considering he needs 12+, which is 50/50 on 2 attempts. Regardless it is very strong if he can get it off.
The game revolves around me getting my Warjacks online and keeping his heavy hitters under control. I need to get Thorn up fast and far. I also need to handle the sentries ASAP. As per usual vs Circle, getting first turn is big. I did not and that shapes the dynamics of the game a lot.
Already looking forward to my next encounter vs Wurmwood as I have a few thoughts on what Haley2 can do better here. As this game evolved I won solely because of shenanigans. Throwing my own Lance and finishing off Cassius with the Firefly was just a golden moment, but most of the time I think it's very, very hard for Wurmwood to keep Cassius safe vs Haley2. Shenanigans, angles, control, it's what this list does so well and what makes me love it. The game is never over until it's over!
EDIT: It was pointed out to me that you can't target a trooper out of formation with spells (or special rules) with a friendly model in Mk. 3 (rulebook page 64). News to me and this obviously changes the Storm Lances move T2.
Thorn moves to the right, Haley moves back, Lances to the left, Stormwall outside of his heavy hitters. Deflection is put up. I take care to play almost everything 3" apart or more to avoid Hellmouth. I Arcane Bolt the Gallow's Grove via Thorn to death then TK Thorn to get him outside of the Griffon's LoS.
Trees are put down further up ahead. One Lance dies to his shooting, the boosting from the sentry sealing the deal. Crucially, Wurmwood gets off Stranglehold on the Stormwall. He can't get Cassius in range for Curse of Shadows so he casts it twice. It's 50-50 whether one of the rolls deals enough damage to have an effect but he gets it.
I have to feat now I believe. I really want to kill Cassius as well. The idea is to TK the right lance to get it back in CMD, kill a couple of sentry stone infantry dudes to clear my way and reposition said Lance to be thrown onto Cassius. The firefly is within 11" of the Sentry Stone so I intend to shoot it and e-leap onto Cassius. Thorn is seriously mis-placed and I need to get him over to where the action happens. This includes taking a free strike but so be it. The thrown Lance deals 8 boxes to Cassius, luckily for me the e-leap finishes him. The Ironclad with TA moves up and kills the Pureblood. Overall a strong feat turn but Haley on 0 focus is dicey. Given my poor started I figured this risk was worth it.
Wurmwood considers his options for killing Haley. It turns out he doesn't have that good of a chance. Instead he decides to play it offensively: Move up, feat, cast Curse on the Stormwall and another Stranglehold.
Brennos got greedy in his attempt to put pressure on me and is within 4" of the Stormwall and within 9" of Thorn. My plan is to TK him in and kill him. The Ironclad is within 5" of a Stone which was otherwise ready to place Wurmwood. I trample up and kill the stone. Haley moves back to be outside of 15" of the Warpwolf. She camps 2 focus. Stormwall kills Brennos and I'm quite happy with my position.
My opponent has 2 souls so Wurmwood goes to 9 fury. He finds a pretty sweet angle: By casting Hellmouth twice he can boost the Warpwolf's threat range by 6". This enables him to get a bead on Haley2 and he takes the charge. He has 3 fury left after spending one for charging and 3 attacks. He boosts to hit all of them but 1 attack misses and the rest don't deal enough damage with the 2 focus I've camped and Haley survives.
Victory to the Swans!
:: Evaluation ::
What a mess of a game. I underestimated how big of a deal the sentry stones were here. I did not have the proper threats in range at the proper times. ARM18 8 boxes stealth is problematic for this list. They are very effective and hard for Haley2 to deal with. Yes, I know a GMCA would make my life a lot easier here, but that's out of the question as I have yet to miss that solo a single time in this list. Anyway: With the Lances not in a position to threaten them properly and Thorn on the wrong flank, Wurmwood was able to move up and put too much pressure on me without feating.
The first Stranglehold on the Stormwall was crucial. He missed the first and the whole ordeal is rather dodgy considering he needs 12+, which is 50/50 on 2 attempts. Regardless it is very strong if he can get it off.
The game revolves around me getting my Warjacks online and keeping his heavy hitters under control. I need to get Thorn up fast and far. I also need to handle the sentries ASAP. As per usual vs Circle, getting first turn is big. I did not and that shapes the dynamics of the game a lot.
Already looking forward to my next encounter vs Wurmwood as I have a few thoughts on what Haley2 can do better here. As this game evolved I won solely because of shenanigans. Throwing my own Lance and finishing off Cassius with the Firefly was just a golden moment, but most of the time I think it's very, very hard for Wurmwood to keep Cassius safe vs Haley2. Shenanigans, angles, control, it's what this list does so well and what makes me love it. The game is never over until it's over!
EDIT: It was pointed out to me that you can't target a trooper out of formation with spells (or special rules) with a friendly model in Mk. 3 (rulebook page 64). News to me and this obviously changes the Storm Lances move T2.
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