WTC 2016 Game 1 (#304): Haley3 vs Wurmwood

:: Prologue ::

Game time! I was playing on Norway Red and I believe we had solid lists. With a few exceptions our lists were top notch in my opinion and they even helped us earn a Dark Horse status from a couple of analysts. I completely disagreed with that but that was because I knew how little practice we had as a team, both individually and together. We had no ambitions at all going into the tournament.

For round one, we drew France Asterix. I paired up against Wurmwood and the scenario was Incursion.

:: 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:

Wurmwood, Tree of Fate & Cassius the Oathkeeper - WB: +27
- Wurmwood, Tree of Fate & Cassius the Oathkeeper (Cont.)
- Feral Warpwolf - PC: 18 (Battlegroup Points Used: 18)
- Ghetorix - PC: 21 (Battlegroup Points Used: 9)
- Warpwolf Stalker - PC: 19
Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress - PC: 3
Blackclad Wayfarer - PC: 4
Sentry Stone & Mannikins - Leader & 3 Grunts: 5
Sentry Stone & Mannikins - Leader & 3 Grunts: 5
Shifting Stones - Leader & 2 Grunts: 3
Shifting Stones - Leader & 2 Grunts: 3
Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters - Cylena & 9 Grunts: 19
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew - Leader & 1 Grunt: 2

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

Haley3 is the mandatory drop here. Wurmwood goes last, he won the roll-off and chose the side with a huge forest between the left and center flags. I figure I should be able to contest middle and left with echoes and Trenchers and pressure the right flag with Lances, possibly wheeling around to his flank post-feat and have the Charger score the flag or whatever.

:: Game ::

I forget that I should dig in instead of clouding up top of 1 and my Trenchers + Grenadiers end up too far back. The Lances receive Arcane Shield and run up.

Nyss spread out on the left flank. Wurmwood "extends" the wood in the middle.

With one sentry stone behind the forest and another one with nothing but contest duty I keep pushing the cloudwall. I get Past within 4" of the central flag. Unfortunately I make a big mistake as I put my Ironclad way too close to the clouds. Arcane Shield is switched over the Haley. Charger does a few boxes to Ghetorix.

Due to how my games against Wurmwood have gone recently (TL;DR Sentry Stones are handled) I've sort of forgotten how strong Hellmouth is. The left Sentry Stone sends up a mannikin within 3" of the Ironclad which WW pulls out and feats. The Stalker kills the clad and Lightning Strikes back to safety. A Blackclad scores the left flag. 0-1.

Losing the Ironclad is a big, big problem for my attrition game. I am in a very poor position to retaliate under his feat. I also fear that he might be able to get up on scenario so I have one echo contesting each flag. This puts Prime fairly far up but with the Ironclad down this is a risk I feel I have to take as scenario is probably my biggest chance now with the right flank so open. If I can just stall and survive I might be able to kill the sentry stone and score the right flag consistently. It's a long shot but I don't see a better option.

Unfortunately for me Prime is too exposed and Hellmouth shenanigans puts her in harm's way where the Circle beasts kill her. It's a mess of an assassination run as my opponent makes a big mistake but he still finds the opening he needs so I die and the game is over.

Sadly, a Loss to the Swans.

:: Evaluation ::

There's no excuse for losing this game. That Wurmwood list is definitely one of the easier for me to face and I have plenty of game. I think that going for the right flank in the first place is a mistake and I should've deployed my Lances so they could have moved to where I'd need them. Furthermore the technical mistake with the Ironclad is just terrible and sets me up in a very difficult spot.

I need more practice with this matchup. The fact that Hellmouthing things out into the clouds hasn't been a problem for me in practice games in itself says that I need to get more games in.

The scenario and terrain combination is disastrous for me, about as bad as it gets. Haley really doesn't like to stretch out her forces against Wurmwood. Some flanking elements are fine, but this combination was just the perfect setup for Wurmwood. However that's a part of the game as well, so we're back to more practice!

Unfortunately my team largely had similar experiences and we went down 1-4.