Battle Report #510: Haley2 vs Thexus

:: Prologue ::

Lately I've been wanting to test out whether I can play Haley2 into Mercenaries. Previously Thexus was an issue for her because scenarios were so fast and Ossrum was an issue because she was so exposed. With SR2017 for Thexus and Force Field + Heavy Metal vs Ossrum I was now curious to see how she would handle these matchups.

:: Lists ::

:: Cygnar ::

Cygnar - Technical Death Metal v6
[Theme] Heavy Metal
(Haley 2) Major Victoria Haley [+25]
- Cyclone [13]
- Stormwall [39]
- Thorn [13]
- Firefly [8]
- Squire [0]
Captain Arlan Strangewayes [0]
Journeyman Warcaster [0]
- Charger [9]
Lieutenant Allison Jakes [4]
- Stormclad [18]

:: Opponent ::

Theme: Operating Theater
2 / 2 Free Cards 75 / 75 Army
Exulon Thexus - WJ: +29
- Wrecker - PC: 14 (Battlegroup Points Used: 14)
- Wrecker - PC: 14 (Battlegroup Points Used: 14)
Cephalyx Agitator - PC: 3
Cephalyx Agitator - PC: 3
Cephalyx Overlords - Leader & 2 Grunts: 0
Cephalyx Overlords - Leader & 2 Grunts: 0
Cephalyx Mind Slaver & Drudges - Slaver & 9 Drudge Grunts: 12
Cephalyx Mind Slaver & Drudges - Slaver & 9 Drudge Grunts: 12
Cephalyx Mind Slaver & Drudges - Slaver & 9 Drudge Grunts: 12
Cephalyx Mind Bender & Drudges - Mind Bender & 9 Drudge Grunts: 11
Cephalyx Mind Bender & Drudges - Mind Bender & 9 Drudge Grunts: 11
Cephalyx Mind Bender & Drudges - Mind Bender & 9 Drudge Grunts: 11

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

We were playing Recon 2 and I got first turn. Between ambushes and Thexus' feat, my plan here was to box up in the middle and play for attrition from there.

:: Game ::

Stuff ran up.

Cephalyx spread out in return. Thexus took great care to keep himself and heavies out of threat ranges.

I figure I should start with clearing out the center because this is where I want to box up. Additionally I had terrain protecting my flanks to an extent. My dice are pretty bad (Firefly missing one attack and barely hitting the temporal shot, which bounced to one dude) and my opponent toughs a -lot- (8/8). This leads to not nearly as many dudes cleared as I had hoped.

It turns out that Thexus is able to move into a position where he can feat on my Firefly and Cyclone without being extremely exposed. I didn't anticipate this and the Firefly died. Luckily the Cyclone survived.

I'm still not sure how safe Thexus really is but I'll give him the benefit of doubt and play for attrition as per the original plan. Stuff moves up to claim table space and I feat, catching virtually everything. It's worth noting that due to Thorn and the Stormclad being able to engage in melee now I kill a lot more dudes. Feat timing is very important in this matchup. The Stormwall takes out 2 leaders, one by charging, one by podding.

Thexus tries to swarm me post-feat.

I carve out a safe haven for myself on the left flank. No points yet, unfortunately.

Cyclone finally goes down.

Now, on the other hand, Thexus -is- very exposed. I figure with a single camp he should be killable. I'm not sure how attrition is from here, we don't have that many turns left and my opponent is ahead on CPs. Could be dodgy with both the Cyclone and the Firefly down. The assassination is pretty sweet, Odds Machine puts it at ~80%, but dice don't agree and Thexus survives on a single box. I forfeit the game, which is a mistake I do believe as Haley isn't exposed and even killing the Stormwall doesn't mean he's safe, but it's a practice game so it's not a big deal.

Sadly, a Loss for the Swans.

:: Evaluation ::

First of all: This feels playable. I make a lot of mistakes here which are mainly because I don't know the matchup. Usually the 'wall goes in the middle but in this matchup I feel he should anchor a flank. This helps contain ambushers and their threat projection. The Stormclad needs to be on the other flank. With Sidekick it requires a ton of commitment from Thexus to effectively deal with this play, which should result in it being easier for me to keep Firefly and Cyclone alive.

Haley shouldn't be afraid to use her focus to keep my own jacks alive. Positioning is a big deal in this matchup and a TK goes a long way to getting my stuff back in line. If this is done properly and the feat is well-timed I believe I can even add the various Hand Cannons to the mix here and at that point attrition should be in my favour.

Lastly it's worth noting that this is a matchup where I really value the Stormwall over the Hurricane. Being able to pod out key models, put down covering fires and electro leap to drudges... MVP!