IG #2 was a game I anticipated to be long and hard. Instead I got away easy with an early assassination. I was expecting the field to tighten up significantly and as such I was relieved when I drew Protectorate for my third game. No disrespect to Gustav, my opponent, he delivered a solid game and gave me quite a few headaches, but this matchup is significantly in Haley2's favour in my opinion.
:: Lists ::
Cygnar:
(Haley 2) Major Victoria Haley [+25]
- Thorn [13]
- Stormwall [39]
- Squire [5]
- Ironclad [12]
Journeyman Warcaster [4]
- Minuteman [9]
Captain Arlan Strangewayes [4]
Gobber Tinker [2]
Storm Lances (min) [12]
Opponent:
:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::
I don't remember all of Gustav's lists but I think Kreoss3 is one of the better casters into Cygnar so definitely the right drop here. If he goes aggressive and utilizes his threat range coupled with amazing stats (throw the ward on him and he's a real pain to deal with) this could indeed be a problem.
We were playing Recon and the Protectorate forces got to go first. I positioned myself so that I could threaten a bottom of 2 3-0 move if he didn't commit his screen.
:: Game ::
Vengers go up against Storm Lances with Fire of Salvation and Vilmon nearby to capitalize on me potentially going nuts here. 'ward goes up on Kreoss, Ignite on Vengers. Daughters take it easy on the right flank.
The forest on the left creates a chokepoint for the Vengers. A signature spell in Mk. 2 which I rarely cast in Mk. 3 is Time Bomb but this was the perfect situation: I could hit just about all the Vengers with it! The plan was simple then, run the Stormwall up so that I threatened the objective but Fire of Salvation could not threaten me and start establishing control on the left flank. I activated Thorn and Haley first to ensure I had control. I did kill a Lance so the vengeance move was a legit concern. I took care not to get surprised by it. Minuteman and Tinker physically blocked LoS to Haley so that the Redeemer wouldn't get a solid bead on her without quite a bit of luck. Lances set up just outside of the Time Bombed Vengers' threat range. Ironclad was a little cautious, I figured Gustav would be smart enough not to leave me with a 3-0 move possible given the state of the board so I wanted to save it. Besides, its position on the left flank denied the Vengers a solid jam move on the Lances.
Daughters fan out in front of Fire of Salvation and the rest of the list basically creates a "fuck you scenario Haley" formation. I really love this move, it will likely be costly but it will draw the game out, drain me for time and force me to feat early without getting a solid alpha on either of the heavy jacks.
There is no way I can let that screen live and give him this much table space. I have to feat and I know it. The question is, how much work can we get done? The idea is to kill 2 Vengers, Vilmon, all Daughters and the Devout. This works out perfectly and I hope my position is strong enough to continue attrition post-feat.
I don't remember if the Guardian was outside of the choir's range or if Gustav made a mistake by moving it first, but it somehow ended up in the zone without Shielding. Kreoss used it to arc a Force Hammer onto one of my Lances I think and created some space, including knocking down Thorn and the Ironclad in the process. He did go back with Fire of Salvation and Kreoss himself though, which I found odd given that he had covenant (how can I kill Kreoss with 'ward up if he camps?).
The Guardian has Enliven and I surely don't intend for it to get any use of it! The idea this turn is to Dominate it out with Haley, block it in physically and pummel it with the Stormwall. This works out very well and I take out the objective as well. Truth be told I thought I was moving to 3-0 here but I forgot about the Covenant so it was not to be.
Fire of Salvation commits! Kreoss feats and goes in for the counter-punch at least but the jack cannot determine whether Thorn or the 'clad is most dangerous so he ends up killing none of them (yet severely damaging both). Another Force Hammer gets some work done on the Lances again but terrible dice end up killing none of them.
I kill Fire of Salvation with the Ironclad after the Tinker has repaired him. Stormwall shoots and Haley moves back. The game is effectively over now, I just have to make sure he can't kill Haley or the 'wall.
Contest plays are made.
I clean up and move into the zone with Haley. If memory serves she also had Arcane Shield now just to be safe.
A final move by Kreoss sees him kill a 'jack for points.
:: Evaluation ::
Another surprisingly interesting game against the Protectorate! Throughout the game I was worried that Kreoss might be able to pressure the Stormwall personally. I know from previous games that his output can be significant and with DEF16 ARM18 and immunity to spells he is very problematic to deal with. I might be underestimating the Stormwall but an aggressive Kreoss is something I find hard to play against. If nothing else it forces a dicey situation which I would consider to be a pretty good deal given the nature of the matchup.
Gustav's T2 was pretty interesting. It forces out a feat but preserves both the scenario and all jacks. I'm beginning to think that the Reckoner might be a trap (the more I think of it the less useful I think it is against Cygnar at least) and that possibly a list centered around melee powerhouses with shenanigans such as Fire of Salvation and Scourge of Heresy are better, behind a solid layer of screen (Haley struggles to remove enough of a screen quickly enough in Mk. 3 I find).
Another good game and I was 3-0. If I could win one more game I would be in both the Gauntlet rounds -and- the Sunday invitational tournament!
Intercessor Kreoss - WJ: +28
- Hierophant - PC: 3
- Devout - PC: 9 (Battlegroup Points Used: 9)
- Guardian - PC: 15 (Battlegroup Points Used: 15)
- Fire of Salvation - PC: 16 (Battlegroup Points Used: 4)
- Redeemer - PC: 11
The Covenant of Menoth - PC: 4
Vassal Mechanik - PC: 1
Vassal of Menoth - PC: 3
High Paladin Dartan Vilmon - PC: 6
Daughters of the Flame - Leader & 5 Grunts: 10
Exemplar Vengers - Leader & 4 Grunts: 20
Choir of Menoth - Leader & 3 Grunts: 4
:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::
I don't remember all of Gustav's lists but I think Kreoss3 is one of the better casters into Cygnar so definitely the right drop here. If he goes aggressive and utilizes his threat range coupled with amazing stats (throw the ward on him and he's a real pain to deal with) this could indeed be a problem.
We were playing Recon and the Protectorate forces got to go first. I positioned myself so that I could threaten a bottom of 2 3-0 move if he didn't commit his screen.
:: Game ::
Vengers go up against Storm Lances with Fire of Salvation and Vilmon nearby to capitalize on me potentially going nuts here. 'ward goes up on Kreoss, Ignite on Vengers. Daughters take it easy on the right flank.
The forest on the left creates a chokepoint for the Vengers. A signature spell in Mk. 2 which I rarely cast in Mk. 3 is Time Bomb but this was the perfect situation: I could hit just about all the Vengers with it! The plan was simple then, run the Stormwall up so that I threatened the objective but Fire of Salvation could not threaten me and start establishing control on the left flank. I activated Thorn and Haley first to ensure I had control. I did kill a Lance so the vengeance move was a legit concern. I took care not to get surprised by it. Minuteman and Tinker physically blocked LoS to Haley so that the Redeemer wouldn't get a solid bead on her without quite a bit of luck. Lances set up just outside of the Time Bombed Vengers' threat range. Ironclad was a little cautious, I figured Gustav would be smart enough not to leave me with a 3-0 move possible given the state of the board so I wanted to save it. Besides, its position on the left flank denied the Vengers a solid jam move on the Lances.
Daughters fan out in front of Fire of Salvation and the rest of the list basically creates a "fuck you scenario Haley" formation. I really love this move, it will likely be costly but it will draw the game out, drain me for time and force me to feat early without getting a solid alpha on either of the heavy jacks.
There is no way I can let that screen live and give him this much table space. I have to feat and I know it. The question is, how much work can we get done? The idea is to kill 2 Vengers, Vilmon, all Daughters and the Devout. This works out perfectly and I hope my position is strong enough to continue attrition post-feat.
I don't remember if the Guardian was outside of the choir's range or if Gustav made a mistake by moving it first, but it somehow ended up in the zone without Shielding. Kreoss used it to arc a Force Hammer onto one of my Lances I think and created some space, including knocking down Thorn and the Ironclad in the process. He did go back with Fire of Salvation and Kreoss himself though, which I found odd given that he had covenant (how can I kill Kreoss with 'ward up if he camps?).
The Guardian has Enliven and I surely don't intend for it to get any use of it! The idea this turn is to Dominate it out with Haley, block it in physically and pummel it with the Stormwall. This works out very well and I take out the objective as well. Truth be told I thought I was moving to 3-0 here but I forgot about the Covenant so it was not to be.
Fire of Salvation commits! Kreoss feats and goes in for the counter-punch at least but the jack cannot determine whether Thorn or the 'clad is most dangerous so he ends up killing none of them (yet severely damaging both). Another Force Hammer gets some work done on the Lances again but terrible dice end up killing none of them.
I kill Fire of Salvation with the Ironclad after the Tinker has repaired him. Stormwall shoots and Haley moves back. The game is effectively over now, I just have to make sure he can't kill Haley or the 'wall.
Contest plays are made.
I clean up and move into the zone with Haley. If memory serves she also had Arcane Shield now just to be safe.
A final move by Kreoss sees him kill a 'jack for points.
Victory to the Swans!
:: Evaluation ::
Another surprisingly interesting game against the Protectorate! Throughout the game I was worried that Kreoss might be able to pressure the Stormwall personally. I know from previous games that his output can be significant and with DEF16 ARM18 and immunity to spells he is very problematic to deal with. I might be underestimating the Stormwall but an aggressive Kreoss is something I find hard to play against. If nothing else it forces a dicey situation which I would consider to be a pretty good deal given the nature of the matchup.
Gustav's T2 was pretty interesting. It forces out a feat but preserves both the scenario and all jacks. I'm beginning to think that the Reckoner might be a trap (the more I think of it the less useful I think it is against Cygnar at least) and that possibly a list centered around melee powerhouses with shenanigans such as Fire of Salvation and Scourge of Heresy are better, behind a solid layer of screen (Haley struggles to remove enough of a screen quickly enough in Mk. 3 I find).
Another good game and I was 3-0. If I could win one more game I would be in both the Gauntlet rounds -and- the Sunday invitational tournament!
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