Battle Report #377: Baldur2 vs Stryker3

:: Prologue ::

Sometimes I enjoy playing matchups in reverse. It helps you better understand the dynamics and the strengths, weaknesses, concerns and key plays for both lists. I don't always report these because they aren't Cygnar games per se, but this one proved to be very interesting. Read on to see me noob around with Circle!

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

(Stryker 3) Lord General Coleman Stryker [+28]
 - Stormwall [39]
Storm Lances (max) [20]
Storm Lances (min) [12]
Trencher Infantry (max) [16]
Journeyman Warcaster [4]
 - Firefly [8]
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord [4]

Opponent:

Baldur2
- Megalith
- Ghetorix
- Woldwrath
Gobber Chef
Blackclad Stonething
Lanyssa
2x Sentry Stones
Shifting Stones 

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

Same map and scenario. I give my opponent first turn because he feels that it's so big for Stryker3 because of the Lances. If they get first turn they are literally half-way across the table. Being immune to the Woldwrath's gun is also a big plus.

What I want to accomplish is to have solid control of 2 flags, i.e. leaving Stryker no way to effectively bully me off of them. At the same time I needed throw-away pieces to contest the last one now and then. I put Megalith on my left flank intending to use the wall on said flank with him and support to deny that while the Woldwrath would move up the center. I placed Ghetorix on the right flank to feign a symmetrical approach but I placed the Shifting Stones to port him in my first turn.

:: Game ::

Stryker runs his forces up. They spread out as per usual. Escort goes up.

Ok, time to take care of business! First things first: Trenchers need to die. They are strong enough to legitimately be a threat to my Woldwrath (if they survive in numbers) so I really, really have to thin them out. The Sentries and the Woldwrath both start working on them and I kill a couple.

Ghetorix shifts left via Stones. I forget for a moment that he doesn't have Pathfinder. Kind of a derp move.

With Rhupert being out of range to provide the left lances with March I knew I was safe there with my advance. They push up, as do the Lances on the right, while the Stormwall and Trenchers keep pushing the middle. The Stormwall shoots the Woldwrath for about 6 boxes or so.

Lances are strong when they charge, however denying them charges is fairly easy if you have what you need. I jam the lances on the right with Shifting Stones. The Lances on the left are contained with the Chef blocking one out, Megalith killing one and Mannikins moving up towards a third.

Lanyssa lands Hunter's Mark on the Stormwall, Ghetorix charges in with Primal and does a little over one side. The Woldwrath gets a couple of Trenchers. Baldur moves up, throws down Rock Wall to physically block off charge landing spots around Ghetorix and provide him with DEF16 vs the Stormwall. Legit.

The neutralized Lances have to be satisfied with clearing out chaff, much to my amusement. Stryker feats but there simply aren't a lot of models left to benefit from it. The Stormwall does fairly little against Ghetorix and Stryker scores 0 points.

Ghetorix kills a Trencher with Frenzy, Megalith kills another Lance and puts up his Animus to lower the defense on the last Lance on that flank.

On the right flank my Stonethingy solo and the Mannikins get some work done on jamming Trenchers and Lances. The Woldwrath finishes off the Stormwall and Baldur gives it Roots and a Rock Wall to prevent Lances from getting to him, camping 1 fury.

Cygnar has no attrition, scenario or assassination game left and my opponent concedes.

Victory to the Stones!

:: Evaluation ::

Well, that happened! First of all: Trenchers. They are so terrifying under Stryker3. I think that the play here is to keep them safe from Mannikins and the Woldwrath as best as you can and position Lances to threaten over-aggressive moves. They are so strong that I seriously consider getting another unit.

The Stormwall feels just wrong with Stryker. It doesn't benefit enough from his abilities, some real Skornergy going on with all the upkeeps. Also, Junior is a huge points sink.

Woldwrath feels like the wrong idea for Baldur2 in my opinion. I fail to see what problems he solves. The double-wrath build might have merit but I would so much rather have 2 Purebloods here.

The way this game developed Stryker was unable to get the Lances to apply pressure on my flanks. I countered his plays and kept the attrition going in my favour. The defensive capabilities of Ghetorix with his Animus, Rock Wall and Roots are just amazing. Typically one might think of a heavy as a follow-up piece when there's a huge based thingy around, but on the contrary I found that using them the opposite way here worked out very well.

A very interesting game which left me with lots of thoughts about Stryker3. First and foremost I think the 'wall is dead for him for now. Back to the drawing board!