Battle Report #293: Haley3 vs Lylyth3

:: Prologue ::

I got in a couple of games tonight! First up was Haley3 vs Lylyth3, a matchup I've been wanting to try out for some time. Let's get right to it.

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Major Prime Victoria Haley - WJ: +25
- Haley Past
- Haley Future
- Grenadier - PC: 9 (Battlegroup Points Used: 9)
- Grenadier - PC: 9 (Battlegroup Points Used: 9)
- Thorn - PC: 13 (Battlegroup Points Used: 7)
- Ironclad - PC: 12
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 4
- Charger - PC: 9
Ragman - PC: 4
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord - PC: 4
Storm Lances - Leader & 4 Grunts: 20
Trencher Infantry - Leader & 9 Grunts: 16

Opponent:

(Lylyth 3) Lylyth, Reckoning of Everblight [+29]
 - Naga Nightlurker [8]
 - Nephilim Bolt Thrower [11]
 - Raek [8]
 - Raek [8]
 - Archangel [37]
 - Seraph [14]
The Forsaken [4]
The Forsaken [4]
Strider Deathstalker [4]
Strider Deathstalker [4]
Swamp Gobbers Bellows Crew [2]

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

The scenario was Recon and I went first. The idea was to spend the trio of Thorn/Ironclad/Charger to protect Prime as best as I could and simply push up, waiting for an opening to get work done on key pieces and/or open up the scenario.

:: Game ::

I head Prime straight for the big obstruction on my left and skew the army so as to get maximum effect out of Distortion.

Lylyth tries to kill a Trencher but can't make it and has to move back again with reposition. She casts Battle Host.

One Grenadier is in range of the Seraph, the other of the Archangel. I load them up with 2 focus from Past and 2 from Future and let them rip. The damage is decent. Prime casts Distortion. Trenchers dig in. Lances and jacks move up.

Legion has to commit to avoid a scenario disaster next turn. One Grenadier is killed, the other loses its cortex and melee weapon. The Raeks also get into the thick of it but don't accomplish a whole lot. Lylyth feated but the damage simply isn't there.

It's go time! Ragman moves in and Trenchers charge Archangel. They were originally put on fire by its animus but not a lot of them went down so I was good. With Death Field the armor on the gargantuan was really low. I followed up with feat and Future killed it with shooting. Past killed a Raek while the Ironclad, fueled by Prime who only cast Distortion, killed the other. Thorn took up protection duty for Prime.

Legion tries to make an impact with the few remaining models but there's hardly any damage done.

I clean up more beasts and take out the objective for a 2-0 lead.

My opponent concedes the game.

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

There were 3 problems with this game from Legion's point of view. First of all, I went first. This allowed Prime to get her things up and get into position before Lylyth does anything. To stress-test this matchup I need to go second. Secondly, Lylyth didn't seem to have a plan here. Deathstalkers performed a flanking move which accomplished nothing instead of staying close so as to perhaps get off some stationary aim shots on feat turn. Furthermore Lylyth was never sure what she wanted to do, she didn't receive Wraithbane from Naga to try and take out Echoes nor did she cast Far Strike to try and get to the Lances from a safe distance. Lastly, the list is fairly bad into Haley3. The Archangel is more of a drawback than anything else here. It's clumsy, exposed and doesn't benefit from Wind Wall. When you want to strike hard into Haley3 you typically need multiple smaller pieces to get work done so that you can get to the juicy pieces. The AA doesn't help do this at all.

The way the game developed I was never really threatened. Legion did have some bad dice early but the situation was so bad that it hardly mattered, unfortunately. When you have to start trying your luck against DEF19 Trenchers you are in for a long, long day.

I hope I'll get to play another Lylyth3 list soonish with a stronger setup vs Haley3. I have a feeling that my approach here had loads of flaws as well but the list simply wasn't able to capitalize on it and punish me. Perhaps next time!