Indian Summer Game 6 (#243): Haley2 vs Durst

:: Prologue ::

My very last game of Indian Summer 2016 was a flash-back to Norwegian Masters back in January this year: Following an extremely hard game 5 (which I lost in both tournaments), I get Durst in a very favourable scenario for Haley2 for my last game. While I wanted to drop Caine2 just to get the practice, there was no way I was giving up this because it's just too much fun to play Haley2 into Protectorate. I know, I should've played Caine.

:: 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:

Anson Durst, Rock of the Faith - WJ: +28
-    Reckoner - PC: 16 (Battlegroup Points Used: 16)
-    Reckoner - PC: 16 (Battlegroup Points Used: 12)
-    Fire of Salvation - PC: 16
-    Crusader - PC: 10
-    Redeemer - PC: 11
Pyrrhus, Flameguard Hero - PC: 5
Nicia, Tear of Vengeance - PC: 5
Allegiant of the Order of the Fist - PC: 3
Allegiant of the Order of the Fist - PC: 3
Vassal of Menoth - PC: 3
Choir of Menoth - Leader & 3 Grunts: 4
Temple Flameguard - Leader & 9 Grunts: 11

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

Entrenched and I go first. I deploy for a scenario play and intend to just refuse him any and all access to my zone. If he wants to fight me head on I intend to use shenanigans because Haley2. My opponent deploys extremely defensively with just Monks, TFG and Pyrrhus posed to threaten my zone.

:: Game ::

I run stuff up. Ironclad and Thorn are outside of 21" of the Redeemer.

Protectorate runs! Redeemer tries to hit the Stormwall I believe but no harm is done.

Ironclad charges a TFG and uses Tremor to knock down 3 + Pyrrhus. Stormwall shoots down a ton of KD models, including Pyrrhus, and pods next to the Monks. Firefly with TA and Storm Lances clear out the monks and more TFGs. Haley2 chills. Lanyssa brainfart as I completely forget about Nicia on my left flank (the round piece of terrain is a proxy trench).

My opponent brainfarts and charges Lances with remaining TFG instead of contesting me. Nicia misses Lanyssa on both attacks. Durst feats. 1-1.

It's feat time! I kill the TFG and send the Ironclad into the Redeemer and the Stormwall into one of the heavies. Lances, Firefly and Thorn all set up. 2-1.

Not much to do under Shift. 3-1.

I destroy his objective. 5-1.

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

I find Durst to be one of the worst casters against Haley2 because he has no ranged threat projection and way too little shenanigans to get work done when faced with Temporal Acceleration, Hunter's Mark, TK, Time Bomb, Shift and what not. When I get a scenario like this on top of that it's a very hard uphill battle for him.

It is possible that he can go for a hyper-aggressive move by deploying behind my zone, but he is so slow that I don't see how he can transition this into a scenario threat before I can turn the tables around and go for his zone instead.

After a great set of games, some against inexperienced opponents and some against really strong ones, I managed to take 2nd place. In my opinion Wurmwood is probably around 50/50 into Haley2 so considering my opponent played better than me here I'm happy with that result. I have a lot of ideas for lists, tactics, pairings and competitive musings which I intend to post my thoughts on so stay tuned!