Battle Report #357: Sloan vs Vlad2

:: Prologue ::

I thought I would get to play Khador and Convergence but it turned out I had arranged a Cygnar mirror match. Neither of us were particularly keen on playing Sloan vs Sloan so instead I got a series of interesting games against Vlad2! The benefits of having an active club are amazing.

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

(Sloan 1) Captain Kara Sloan [+28]
 - Grenadier [9]
 - Grenadier [9]
 - Hunter [11]
 - Hunter [11]
 - Hunter [11]
 - Hunter [11]
 - Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator [4]
Trencher Infantry (max) [16]
Rangers [9]
Captain Arlan Strangewayes [4]
Gun Mage Captain Adept [5]
Anastasia di Bray [3]

Opponent:

(Vladimir 2) Vladimir Tzepesci, The Dark Champion [+27]
 - Conquest [37]
Iron Fang Uhlans (min) [12]
Iron Fang Uhlans (min) [12]
Winter Guard Rifle Corps (max) [13]
 - Winter Guard Rocketeer (3) [6]
Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich [4]
Man-O-War Drakhun [9]
Man-O-War Drakhun [9]

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

There are some legit jamming angles here which I don't really know what I should do about. As ever you simply need to play stuff to learn how it works. The big question is whether Vlad2 has enough speed and meat to keep me at bay.

We played The Pit and I went first. Idea? Claim table space and try to set up for a decent round of shooting T2.

:: Game :: 

Stuff runs and I spread out.

Vlad opts not to feat and clump the horsies together instead in semi-exposed positions. The trio on the left likely should've jammed the Hunter with feat I think. Anyway a mistake on my part there. I think this should have been his feat turn, but I'm not sure.

Given the terrain on my side I need to buy space. The plan is to kill off all of the Uhlans and unhorse both Drakhuns. I want to pressure the WGRC to start coming up as well so Sloan heads for the flag, which I get with Refuge. I take care to be in cover.

The Uhlans die but the colossal is hardly scratched. I fail to unhorse one of the Drakhuns and I am not careful with the Hunters' placement on the right flank so they are both jammable with feat.

Feat goes up and Drakhuns run to jam me. WGRC clear up infantry in the middle and Conquest charges with Assail.

My objective is fairly clear: I need to kill the Conquest. If I succeed I win the game, as he didn't contest me I'll move too far ahead on scenario.

This turn is an excellent example of why I have Grenadiers in the list. Outside of my feat turn they are an amazing way to apply tons of damage to tough targets. I can fully boost all of their shots and Sloan's own with her 6 focus. I also have the GMCA left alive and Arlan can help out so I can even camp 1.

The sheer power is awesome and the Conquest takes some serious damage. After the two Hunters on the left, Sloan, Trenchers (assaulting), Grenadiers and GMCA have all done their worst he is down to 5 boxes. I take a free strike with the left-most Hunter. Sadly, the gun is crippled. Regardless I have a focus and cortex intact so I get to boost. I'm off 4, the dice come up 6. 2 boxes. Conquest is left on 3 boxes: Movement, Right Weapon System and Cortex. Fairly typical for a colossal and it has happened many times to me as well. Foolishly I spent the other Hunter on the right flank to try and kill the jamming Drakhun, I could've saved him, tanked another free strike and gotten another chance.

In any case, with the Conquest alive and kicking it's down to dice. A couple of WGRC are in as well. Odds Machine puts the assassination at 51% favouring Khador. My opponent goes for it and he rolls the dice he needs.

Sadly, A Loss for the Swans.

:: Evaluation ::

Very interesting matchup! The position-game with Sloan is so crucial and I really struggle to master it. That being said understanding matchups is, as per usual, a learning process. It's vital and this was a good game. Mistakes were made but we both learned a lot.

I like my list changes very much. It feels like it's coming together with Anastasia and the Rangers.

The reason I didn't take the rock top of 2 was largely because I was afraid of Drakhuns jamming Sloan. If I could've established control on the right flank (definitely doable I think) this is the better move. With a proper feat turn I think I can kill all cav models here, including the Drakhuns on foot. I overkilled the left flank a bit which let me put shots into the Conquest, however at this point in time that's kind of irrelevant. My list has a lot of firepower but I overestimated the Hunters in this game which caused me to mess up the right flank, which led to the Conquest surviving turn 3 and subsequently winning the game for Khador.