Battle Report #534: Haley2 vs Deneghra1

:: Prologue ::

From the last game I learned that I probably do indeed want my objective. I also want to carefully time my feat. Most importantly I need to deal with non-pirates stuff ASAP.

:: Lists ::

:: Cygnar ::

"TimeStorm"
Theme: Heavy Metal
4 / 4 Free Cards 75 / 75 Army
Major Victoria Haley - WJ: +25
- Squire - PC: 0
- Firefly - PC: 8
- Thorn - PC: 13
- Hurricane - PC: 39 (Battlegroup Points Used: 25)
Storm Strider - PC: 18
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 0
- Firefly - PC: 8
Lieutenant Allison Jakes - PC: 0
- Reliant - PC: 14
Captain Arlan Strangewayes - PC: 0

:: Opponent ::

Theme: The Ghost Fleet
3 / 3 Free Cards 75 / 75 Army
Warwitch Deneghra - WJ: +28
- Stalker - PC: 8 (Battlegroup Points Used: 8)
- Stalker - PC: 8 (Battlegroup Points Used: 8)
- Deathripper - PC: 6 (Battlegroup Points Used: 6)
- Deathripper - PC: 6 (Battlegroup Points Used: 6)
Wraith Engine - PC: 15
Captain Rengrave - PC: 0
Pistol Wraith - PC: 0
Hellslinger Phantom - PC: 0
Blackbane's Ghost Raiders - Blackbane & 9 Grunts: 17
Revenant Crew of the Atramentous - Leader & 5 Grunts: 9
- Revenant Crew Rifleman - PC: 2
- Revenant Crew Rifleman - PC: 2
- Revenant Crew Rifleman - PC: 2
Revenant Crew of the Atramentous - Leader & 5 Grunts: 9
- Revenant Crew Rifleman - PC: 2
- Revenant Crew Rifleman - PC: 2
Revenant Crew of the Atramentous - Leader & 5 Grunts: 9
- Revenant Crew Rifleman - PC: 2
- Revenant Crew Rifleman - PC: 2
- Revenant Crew Rifleman - PC: 2

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

Opponent goes first again. I skew the opposite side this time around.

:: Game ::

Stuff spreads out.

I put Hurricane within range of 1 Stalker yet again. Thorn tries to hide behind it and a Firefly...

Unfortunately it's just a tiny bit too much and my opponent finds an angle where he can Grasp him. Wraith Engine moves up far on the left flank. Stalker does not commit.

I can make a decisive feat play here: Shoot the Engine with my 2 big boys, move up and claim my right flank.

Deneghra still struggles to get work done under Temporal Shift. Applying and timing the feat correctly is crucial in this matchup.

I keep blasting stuff apart. The Reliant's a real hero on the right flank this game.

My opponent tries to feat and hit back but the damage just isn't there. We keep playing for a turn or two and even with some crazy dice he just can't get back in the game following my devastating feat turn.

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

There are some interesting dynamics in this matchup. Whoever starts has the initiative. However Haley2 can gain it by feating at the correct time. The game is so slow in SR2017, you can afford to chill and take pot-shots, not committing until you have a favourable position. It feels as though Deneghra needs to find patterns which deny this in order to handle this matchup. I'm not sure what they look like to be honest.

Again I managed to clear Blackbanes and neutralize jacks early. This meant that I got to work on the vulnerable pirates early on. Despite Thorn staying defensively and having Grasp on him the Lightning Generators and the big boys did enough: It's quite frankly very hard to keep the Pirates both relevant and have recursion alive. The nature of my list means that it reaches very far despite Thorn being gimped. That is a very valuable trait in this matchup.

I look forward to playing this more as it feels very even. I think it's a super-exciting and skill-intensive matchup. Warmachine at its best!