Invasion is an annual tournament in Norway which spans multiple gaming systems. Its timing coincides with the WTC final preparation period, meaning it's become a de facto WTC warmup tournament for the Norwegian WTC teams.
Last year I attended Invasion as my first major Warmahordes tournament. Sadly the games were played before I started this blog so no record exists. I finished with a 3-2 score, winning Haley2 vs Deneghra1, Vayl2 and Butcher3 and losing Haley2 vs Jarl and Siege vs Ravyn. This time however I knew the game a lot better and felt prepared to improve on last year's performance!
First up was a first-time tournament player, Franz. He brought Kryssa and Lylyth2 I think it was. I dropped Haley3 and was very surprised to see Kryssa being dropped!
:: 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:
:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::
The scenario was Entrenched and I won the roll-off. Playing Haley3 it's pretty much a no-brainer to go first as going second means you essentially threaten nothing bottom of 1. You simply won't get any work done. Anyway. The idea was to have my Lances threaten his flank, park Prime in cover and have solid shooting anchoring my right flank. He deployed defensively and we were good to go!
:: Game ::
I summon Past and Future and throw up Distortion. No need for Tactical Supremacy in this matchup.
Kryssa makes a very aggressive move and even dumps all (!) of her fury into various spells. She did receive Blizzard and was sat on a hill so I suppose DEF18 might help one feel safe. The Neraph was placed in front of Kryssa to block out Lances from getting to her.
Fatigue is a thing in any tournament and playing a pair like Haley2 and Haley3 can quickly become mentally taxing as literally every game can become super drawn out and hyper complex. Because of this I always look for the quickest and best way to seal the game and try and consider all angles. With Neraph being less than 3" away from Kryssa here I decided to go for the assassination play with dual Force Hammer and fueling the left Grenadier with Future. The idea was to slam the Neraph to KD Kryssa of course.
After Thorn moved into place I feated. However Past's boosted Force Hammer missed. This is kind of a tricky spot to be in because feat is usually huge for Haley3 and blowing it this early to accomplish nothing could be a problem. Now granted Prime still had her focus left but relying on a 3+ is not odds I am comfortable with. I concluded that I'd try and follow through with the original plan and if it failed I would just have to start the grind. Dice happen anyway you know so it's a good lesson. I didn't boost Prime's Hammer as I wanted to at least have Distortion up if I failed. I made the 4+ an rolled a '5' for distance so Kryssa was knocked down. Before the Lances could activate the smoking gun on the Grenadier had claimed Kryssa's life. Phew!
:: Evaluation ::
Franz had never previously played against Cygnar and I offered a walkthrough of my list prior to the game which he accepted. I did my best but seriously trying to tell someone what Haley3 is very very hard even for someone who knows other Cygnar casters fairly well, let alone someone who's never played against the faction before. I could and perhaps should have played for attrition in the interest of having a more meaningful game (and tie breakers for that matter), but as I wrote in a previous blog post I respect all of my opponents and their ability to find openings and execute solid moves. In this game, the assassination run was in my opinion my easiest way to win given the state of the board and with acceptable odds to do so.
Kryssa is a caster I've never encountered before and I can sort of understand why. She has a fairly shallow spell list and a straight-forward feat. I imagine she can be quite fearsome if she pulls off a wombo-combo multiple-heavies engagement. Against Cygnar however and Haley3 in particular I don't think this is what you need. I advised Franz to drop Lylyth2 in future games vs Cygnar, at least while he had this pair.
First game down and an abrupt end. The second game would prove to be quite a different beast to handle...
Game 2 can be found here.
Kryssa, Conviction of Everblight - WB: +31
- Succubus - PC: 4
- Typhon - PC: 24 (Battlegroup Points Used: 24)
- Carnivean - PC: 19 (Battlegroup Points Used: 7)
- Angelius - PC: 17
- Neraph - PC: 12
- Nephilim Bolt Thrower - PC: 11
- Nephilim Bolt Thrower - PC: 11
- Raek - PC: 8
:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::
The scenario was Entrenched and I won the roll-off. Playing Haley3 it's pretty much a no-brainer to go first as going second means you essentially threaten nothing bottom of 1. You simply won't get any work done. Anyway. The idea was to have my Lances threaten his flank, park Prime in cover and have solid shooting anchoring my right flank. He deployed defensively and we were good to go!
:: Game ::
I summon Past and Future and throw up Distortion. No need for Tactical Supremacy in this matchup.
Kryssa makes a very aggressive move and even dumps all (!) of her fury into various spells. She did receive Blizzard and was sat on a hill so I suppose DEF18 might help one feel safe. The Neraph was placed in front of Kryssa to block out Lances from getting to her.
Fatigue is a thing in any tournament and playing a pair like Haley2 and Haley3 can quickly become mentally taxing as literally every game can become super drawn out and hyper complex. Because of this I always look for the quickest and best way to seal the game and try and consider all angles. With Neraph being less than 3" away from Kryssa here I decided to go for the assassination play with dual Force Hammer and fueling the left Grenadier with Future. The idea was to slam the Neraph to KD Kryssa of course.
After Thorn moved into place I feated. However Past's boosted Force Hammer missed. This is kind of a tricky spot to be in because feat is usually huge for Haley3 and blowing it this early to accomplish nothing could be a problem. Now granted Prime still had her focus left but relying on a 3+ is not odds I am comfortable with. I concluded that I'd try and follow through with the original plan and if it failed I would just have to start the grind. Dice happen anyway you know so it's a good lesson. I didn't boost Prime's Hammer as I wanted to at least have Distortion up if I failed. I made the 4+ an rolled a '5' for distance so Kryssa was knocked down. Before the Lances could activate the smoking gun on the Grenadier had claimed Kryssa's life. Phew!
Victory to the Swans!
:: Evaluation ::
Franz had never previously played against Cygnar and I offered a walkthrough of my list prior to the game which he accepted. I did my best but seriously trying to tell someone what Haley3 is very very hard even for someone who knows other Cygnar casters fairly well, let alone someone who's never played against the faction before. I could and perhaps should have played for attrition in the interest of having a more meaningful game (and tie breakers for that matter), but as I wrote in a previous blog post I respect all of my opponents and their ability to find openings and execute solid moves. In this game, the assassination run was in my opinion my easiest way to win given the state of the board and with acceptable odds to do so.
Kryssa is a caster I've never encountered before and I can sort of understand why. She has a fairly shallow spell list and a straight-forward feat. I imagine she can be quite fearsome if she pulls off a wombo-combo multiple-heavies engagement. Against Cygnar however and Haley3 in particular I don't think this is what you need. I advised Franz to drop Lylyth2 in future games vs Cygnar, at least while he had this pair.
First game down and an abrupt end. The second game would prove to be quite a different beast to handle...
Game 2 can be found here.
Ingen kommentarer:
Legg inn en kommentar