Internal Affairs Mk. VII Game 4 (#399): Nemo3 vs Lylyth3

:: Prologue ::

Finals! I wasn't expecting Nemo3 and Stryker3 to make it this far. As far as Cygnar pairings go they're far from the ideal candidates. In a world of Circle, Protectorate, Khador and other Cygnar players there are a lot of obstacles, yet here I was.

The finals saw me face Legion, with a Lylyth3/Absylonia2 pairing. The first was in theme and I was fully expecting my opponent to drop it. He did and I reckon this would be an interesting challenge for Nemo.

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Theme: Storm Division
(Nemo 3) Artificer General Nemo [+25]
- Storm Chaser Adept Caitlin Finch
- Squire [0]
- Firefly [8]
- Firefly [8]
- Firefly [8]
- Dynamo [18]
- Lancer [10]
Storm Lances (max) [20]
Storm Lances (min) [12]
Major Katherine Laddermore [8]
Journeyman Warcaster [0]
- Firefly [8]

Opponent:

(Lylyth 3) Lylyth, Reckoning of Everblight [+29]
 - Angelius [17]
 - Naga Nightlurker [8]
 - Nephilim Bolt Thrower [11]
 - Nephilim Bolt Thrower [11]
 - Seraph [14]
Blighted Nyss Raptors (max) [18]
Grotesque Raiders (max) [12]
Strider Scouts [9]
 - Strider Scout Officer & Musician [0]
The Forsaken [4]

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

We are playing Incursion. Ugh. All I'm hoping for is first turn. I don't get it. Hard life will be hard! I pick the side with the best defensive terrain and hope to establish a safe zone for Nemo. If my opponent respect my damage output I won't be able to get a lot of work done bot of 1, but probably bot of 2 almost regardless.

:: Game ::

Legion advances cautiously.

I can't exactly stay still so I move up a bit and use lances to screen important models. I figure he'll likely feat for a combination of an attrition and scenario play and keep his Ambushers off the table for more scenario pressure top of 3. Fort Nemo is created but crucially I forget to cast Magnetic Field. Ugh, that's bad.

My opponent does not feat, brings on the ambushers and does not go for Nemo... Ok, so the Lances are largely shot up but I have a couple remaining. Let's see if this can be done.

Part of the reason why I love Fireflies in this list is that some opponents can deal with the Lances somewhat easily, by simply killing them, making them stationary etc. Long story short, Lances don't take incoming firepower very well. Fireflies are a lot more durable.

So, playing against a glass-cannon army like Legion I was hoping to have the Fireflies do some work now that the Lances were dealt with. Feat turn was on for sure. The idea was to take out as many Raptors as I could, have the Dynamo shoot Angelius and Seraph (boosting to hit) and let the Fireflies just rip apart as much as they could.

I tried to make a sort of half-circle wall of jacks in front of Nemo on one side but without Magnetic Field it wouldn't be worth all that much. I try to find a position for him which is safe, but the Seraph's alive, as are 2 raptors...

By trampling to the left Lylyth of course finds an angle to Nemo. My opponent declares: "I now have 23 minutes to plan this assassination!". What he needs to do is feat, bring the Raptors around to shoot and then finish off with the Seraph if need be. I was camping 2 focus.

Lylyth moves up and feats. She needs a 10+ to hit me and makes it. We later set this up in Odds Machine. If he does everything perfectly he's now sitting on a 96% chance to kill me. The follow up shots do some damage. Lylyth then forgets to reposition so that the Seraph can be forced. The Raptors follow up and when they're done Nemo has 1 box left and 0 focus. Oh-oh.

The Lance in front of the Seraph is killed with the remaining Bolt Thrower and the Seraph is free to walk in and shoot Nemo to death. Crucially, my opponent forgets that Dynamo has a 2" melee range when he lands it (despite explicitly asking about all of my melee ranges when planning his turn). In a friendly I'd let this slide any day of the week but a tournament is a tournament. This mistakes means the Seraph cannot shoot and there is no other follow-up on Nemo. He immediately concedes the game.

Tournament Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

Forgetting to cast Magnetic Field turn 1 was such a big mistake in this game. Due to Lylyth's second turn getting so many Lances out I had to make a big feat turn to get back and thus spend a lot of focus. Without a jack wall protecting Nemo it was impossible to find an angle where he couldn't simply push a jack with a bolter (or hope for a crit KD). Impossible might be a strong word, but this mistake was huge.

Legion's second turn was a mess. I think that a feat + scenario play is viable here. If I have to shake stationary I have to expend a ton of allocation focus. That means less damage in return. True, it takes assassination off the table but it seems like the better play. Given the play which was made I definitely had a chance and I think that attrition-wise I was significantly up by the time my second turn was over.

The game concluded in one of the worst ways to lose a game: A stupid mistake which could easily have been avoided. I've said it before, fatigue is a thing. There are so many things in this game that can go wrong, this time I was lucky to be on the beneficial side of it. I doubt my opponent will make that mistake again anytime soon.

This matchup was very interesting and I'd love to play it more. Maybe I will! If you remember to cast Magnetic Field I believe Nemo should have solid game into Lylyth3. That is worth a lot in Cygnar!

I really loved the games this tournament. They had a bit of everything. Furthermore, winning with this pairing was just amazing. Compared to running Haleys this definitely feels like hard mode. I highly suggest you step out of your comfort zones now and then to experiment. What's the worst that could happen?