:: Prologue ::
Following a tense and drawn-out second game, we went for a rematch. While Legion won the roll-off again, we switched sides and starting player to better our understanding of the matchup.
:: Lists ::Following a tense and drawn-out second game, we went for a rematch. While Legion won the roll-off again, we switched sides and starting player to better our understanding of the matchup.
Cygnar:
Captain Allister Caine - WJ: +27
- Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator - PC: 4
- Stormwall - PC: 39 (Battlegroup Points Used: 27)
- Lightning Pod
Captain Arlan Strangewayes - PC: 4
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 4
- Charger - PC: 9
Gobber Tinker - PC: 2
Ragman - PC: 4
Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress - PC: 3
Rangers - Leader & 5 Grunts: 9
Storm Lances - Leader & 2 Grunts: 12
Storm Lances - Leader & 2 Grunts: 12
Opponent:
:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::
I deploy with Caine on the left side of my objective and Stormwall on the right. The idea is to use Caine and sweeping Lances as deterrents on the left side to deny the Legion heavies the trench and woods there while the Stormwall can anchor the opposite side. Legion replies with the beasts opposite Caine and the huge bases opposite the Stormwall.
:: Game ::
Caine moves up 7", casts Heightened Reflexes and jumps another 5", onto the hill. I am now sitting on 2 focus and DEF19. The idea is that Lylyth shouldn't prioritize going for this because it's too dicey. Lances move up aggressively on the left flank whereas I forget that Deathstalkers are actually semi-decent on the charge in melee and push up a little too far on the right. Stormwall moves up centrally.
Lylyth considers going for Caine right off the bat but decides against it. A problem with my reasoning here is that Lylyth doesn't have a lot to spend her fury on so she may as well go for pot-shots: The moment Caine starts losing boxes is the moment I have to change how he plays. Anyway, Legion shifts left.
At the start of this turn I say to myself that I need to camp 2 and upkeep Heightened Reflexes. This time around it's different for Lylyth to shoot because now she will have something to spend her fury on regardless. Furthermore I have a scoring opening in my next turn so now I can allow myself to be a little aggro. Anyway. Lances on the left move up just outside of 16" of Typhon. Stormwall can't shoot anything so he pods a Deathstalker and makes sure to contest the flag. The remaining Lance fails to kill the last Stalker. Rangers spread out and Charger runs up to the flag while Junior runs behind the house. The problem here is that Caine gets too greedy vs the Typhon and I end up only camping 1.
We debate the assassination opening for a bit and decide that I've basically made a mistake. The board position is so much in my favour that there's no need to be this aggressive, I'll have plenty of time to pump shots onto Typhon later on. Furthermore the assassination is dicey, I don't know how much but I estimate 35-40%. In any case we decide to play it out without going for it (dice were rolled for fun and Caine survived on 2 boxes by the way). Legion's plan is to shift right and force a commit from the Stormwall vs the Archangel. The Bolt Thrower pushes the Charger off of the flag.
The deployment problem for Legion was not getting Typhon opposite the Stormwall. On the left flank he could've utilized the wall for cover and threatened the huge 16" shooting alpha which he killed the Stormwall with in the previous game. However he was now too far away so I could shoot the Bolter and still be safe from Typhon with the Stormwall. I'd have to tank an Archangel in melee but even with Wraithbane that should be fine as he couldn't get kiss in range. The Rangers spread out to get the Bolter within 5" and the Big Guns fired true, killing the Nephilim outright! I thought I would need Caine for this as well as the Charger but now I had the luxury of putting Caine outside of 24" from Lylyth, making it theoretically impossible for her to shoot me. I also went to 2-0 and the Lances on the left kept swinging further around, but to be honest I swung them too much as the Forest ironically worked against me getting into the middle with them.
2-0.
The biggest winged shark goes into the 'wall and takes out 30-35 boxes or so. Typhon has to run to contest. The rest of the list deals insignificant damage.
I figure I don't have to feat nor stress the scenario points as I'm still up 2-0. Instead I max out the focus on the 'wall from Caine, put a grievous bullet onto both the Archangel and the Typhon and jump back out beyond 24" from Vayl. Arlan repairs the 'wall so both fists are intact and it starts bashing the Archangel, leaving spirit crippled. Lanyssa makes Typhon stationary (boosted rolls vs Legion are yummy!) and the Charger, Junior and Lances follow up with crippling mind and spirit.
With spirit crippled from both major beasts, no assassination angle and no scenario possibility my opponent calls the game.
:: Evaluation ::
Ok so my Caine play here is unnecessarily aggressive and I don't really accomplish much by doing what I do anyway. On the other hand, Lylyth pretty much reaches across the table and she has absolutely nothing she has to cast. I suppose Wind Wall and Escort is an option and stay 19.1" away from Caine, but I don't see this as a particularly game breaking move. She basically can afford to spend her fury and the 5" reposition takes her out of danger. DEF19 really isn't that much vs RAT8. I could've gone Blur but it's super dodgy to not have Heightened Reflexes in this matchup. In any case I think the Cygnar part of this matchup, aka I, has to find the balance between how aggro Caine can be (he does threaten beasts quite a bit after all) and how much he has to respect Lylyth. My turn 1 move isn't half bad, I could've ran instead to camp 2 more focus but that's unnecessary as Lylyth is Fury5 and needs to boost to hit. However the turn 2 move is just uncalled for and I should've seen that my position was so superior that there simply was no need for it.
Strategically I'm unsure if it's the right decision to go Caine left and Stormwall right instead of the other way around. The piece of Rubble on the right flank would be pretty great for Caine to camp around as DEF21 is just next level defensively. It costs me a little over an inch's worth of threat range but I think that would've been better. It also makes it harder for the Legion heavies to take the wall (which they should have in my opinion) for cover.
Following these 2 games I must say I really enjoy this matchup. Tons of angles and hard decisions and we largely struggle with the same: Big threat ranges and difficulties with claiming table space. I believe Caine is up in this matchup but not massively so. The inherent problem for Lylyth is that her really powerful shooting relies on not only the Typhon's RNG8 sprays, but also Kiss, both of which have significantly shorter threat ranges than the Stormwall and Caine.
Oh, and I love Lances. While they never shone in this matchup (I find them very hard to play to the best of their abilities vs Legion), they were ace in game 1 and the sheer presence of the 3-man unit on the left flank helped me win that without contest.
Lylyth, Reckoning of Everblight - WB: +29
- Archangel - PC: 37 (Battlegroup Points Used: 29)
- Naga Nightlurker - PC: 8
- Nephilim Bolt Thrower - PC: 11
- Typhon - PC: 24
Strider Deathstalker - PC: 4
Strider Deathstalker - PC: 4
The Forsaken - PC: 4
Blighted Nyss Shepherd - PC: 1
Blighted Nyss Shepherd - PC: 1
Blighted Nyss Shepherd - PC: 1
Blackfrost Shard - Sevryn, Rhylyss & Vysarr: 9
:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::
I deploy with Caine on the left side of my objective and Stormwall on the right. The idea is to use Caine and sweeping Lances as deterrents on the left side to deny the Legion heavies the trench and woods there while the Stormwall can anchor the opposite side. Legion replies with the beasts opposite Caine and the huge bases opposite the Stormwall.
:: Game ::
Caine moves up 7", casts Heightened Reflexes and jumps another 5", onto the hill. I am now sitting on 2 focus and DEF19. The idea is that Lylyth shouldn't prioritize going for this because it's too dicey. Lances move up aggressively on the left flank whereas I forget that Deathstalkers are actually semi-decent on the charge in melee and push up a little too far on the right. Stormwall moves up centrally.
Lylyth considers going for Caine right off the bat but decides against it. A problem with my reasoning here is that Lylyth doesn't have a lot to spend her fury on so she may as well go for pot-shots: The moment Caine starts losing boxes is the moment I have to change how he plays. Anyway, Legion shifts left.
At the start of this turn I say to myself that I need to camp 2 and upkeep Heightened Reflexes. This time around it's different for Lylyth to shoot because now she will have something to spend her fury on regardless. Furthermore I have a scoring opening in my next turn so now I can allow myself to be a little aggro. Anyway. Lances on the left move up just outside of 16" of Typhon. Stormwall can't shoot anything so he pods a Deathstalker and makes sure to contest the flag. The remaining Lance fails to kill the last Stalker. Rangers spread out and Charger runs up to the flag while Junior runs behind the house. The problem here is that Caine gets too greedy vs the Typhon and I end up only camping 1.
We debate the assassination opening for a bit and decide that I've basically made a mistake. The board position is so much in my favour that there's no need to be this aggressive, I'll have plenty of time to pump shots onto Typhon later on. Furthermore the assassination is dicey, I don't know how much but I estimate 35-40%. In any case we decide to play it out without going for it (dice were rolled for fun and Caine survived on 2 boxes by the way). Legion's plan is to shift right and force a commit from the Stormwall vs the Archangel. The Bolt Thrower pushes the Charger off of the flag.
The deployment problem for Legion was not getting Typhon opposite the Stormwall. On the left flank he could've utilized the wall for cover and threatened the huge 16" shooting alpha which he killed the Stormwall with in the previous game. However he was now too far away so I could shoot the Bolter and still be safe from Typhon with the Stormwall. I'd have to tank an Archangel in melee but even with Wraithbane that should be fine as he couldn't get kiss in range. The Rangers spread out to get the Bolter within 5" and the Big Guns fired true, killing the Nephilim outright! I thought I would need Caine for this as well as the Charger but now I had the luxury of putting Caine outside of 24" from Lylyth, making it theoretically impossible for her to shoot me. I also went to 2-0 and the Lances on the left kept swinging further around, but to be honest I swung them too much as the Forest ironically worked against me getting into the middle with them.
2-0.
The biggest winged shark goes into the 'wall and takes out 30-35 boxes or so. Typhon has to run to contest. The rest of the list deals insignificant damage.
I figure I don't have to feat nor stress the scenario points as I'm still up 2-0. Instead I max out the focus on the 'wall from Caine, put a grievous bullet onto both the Archangel and the Typhon and jump back out beyond 24" from Vayl. Arlan repairs the 'wall so both fists are intact and it starts bashing the Archangel, leaving spirit crippled. Lanyssa makes Typhon stationary (boosted rolls vs Legion are yummy!) and the Charger, Junior and Lances follow up with crippling mind and spirit.
With spirit crippled from both major beasts, no assassination angle and no scenario possibility my opponent calls the game.
Victory to the Swans!
:: Evaluation ::
Ok so my Caine play here is unnecessarily aggressive and I don't really accomplish much by doing what I do anyway. On the other hand, Lylyth pretty much reaches across the table and she has absolutely nothing she has to cast. I suppose Wind Wall and Escort is an option and stay 19.1" away from Caine, but I don't see this as a particularly game breaking move. She basically can afford to spend her fury and the 5" reposition takes her out of danger. DEF19 really isn't that much vs RAT8. I could've gone Blur but it's super dodgy to not have Heightened Reflexes in this matchup. In any case I think the Cygnar part of this matchup, aka I, has to find the balance between how aggro Caine can be (he does threaten beasts quite a bit after all) and how much he has to respect Lylyth. My turn 1 move isn't half bad, I could've ran instead to camp 2 more focus but that's unnecessary as Lylyth is Fury5 and needs to boost to hit. However the turn 2 move is just uncalled for and I should've seen that my position was so superior that there simply was no need for it.
Strategically I'm unsure if it's the right decision to go Caine left and Stormwall right instead of the other way around. The piece of Rubble on the right flank would be pretty great for Caine to camp around as DEF21 is just next level defensively. It costs me a little over an inch's worth of threat range but I think that would've been better. It also makes it harder for the Legion heavies to take the wall (which they should have in my opinion) for cover.
Following these 2 games I must say I really enjoy this matchup. Tons of angles and hard decisions and we largely struggle with the same: Big threat ranges and difficulties with claiming table space. I believe Caine is up in this matchup but not massively so. The inherent problem for Lylyth is that her really powerful shooting relies on not only the Typhon's RNG8 sprays, but also Kiss, both of which have significantly shorter threat ranges than the Stormwall and Caine.
Oh, and I love Lances. While they never shone in this matchup (I find them very hard to play to the best of their abilities vs Legion), they were ace in game 1 and the sheer presence of the 3-man unit on the left flank helped me win that without contest.
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