Iron Moot: Nordic Championship Finals (#564): Haley2 vs Coven

:: Prologue ::

This game was recorded by WarRoomPL, check out the video here: link.

For the Finals I was paired against another Norwegian, Sverre. Sverre had been tearing up the 'moot throughout the weekend with his Coven banes, winning the Masters on Saturday and winning all games thus far in the Nordic Championship. We play in the same club and I know that he's a very strong player. My mind was certainly in the game by now and I was eager to see if I could make some magic happen here.

:: Lists ::

:: Cygnar ::

TimeStorm v2
Theme: Heavy Metal
4 / 4 Free Cards 75 / 75 Army
Major Victoria Haley - WJ: +25
- Squire - PC: 0
- Firefly - PC: 8
- Thorn - PC: 13
- Stormwall - PC: 39 (Battlegroup Points Used: 25)
- Lightning Pod
Storm Strider - PC: 18
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 0
- Charger - PC: 9
Lieutenant Allison Jakes - PC: 0
- Cyclone - PC: 13
Captain Arlan Strangewayes - PC: 0

:: Opponent ::

Coven, Bane Theme
- Desecrator
- 2x Arc Node
Wraith Engine
Tartarus
2x Max Riders
2x Min Warriors + UA

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

The scenario was Spread The Net and Sverre went first. I wanted to try and deal with the right flank first, isolate the left and then move on later, if possible. To that end I deployed Junior's Charger and the Strider on the right flank, enabling me some anti-bane moves there, with the 'wall situated in the middle.

:: Game ::

Sverre runs up very aggressively with the Wraith Engine and an Arc Node (sporting Infernal Machine) B2B with Egregore in the center.

I have a very interesting play here: Thorn is within 17" of the Arc Node, meaning I can run and TK it around, reaction drive, TK the Wraith Engine and hopefully blast the both of them for great justice. To do this I need to feat to cover my exposed models (there's no way to keep Thorn safe if I do this), but feating isn't that bad: If Haley charges the Wraith Engine she gets pretty much the entire army, forcing a number of tough decisions on Sverre's part: How does he contest the middle zone? Where do the Witches go? How long will it take Warriors to come online when they can't run now? How does he feat on the Strider? Will the Riders on the right flank be able to do their job properly? And so on. I premeasure to ensure that if Jakes' Cyclone runs up, there's no LoS to Haley for the other Arc Node and thus I can camp 0.

The plan works out decently enough. The Wraith Engine doesn't take as much damage as I had hoped but I love my position and the Arc Node is left on 2 boxes, neither of which are its node system.

Sverre is annoyed at his mistake to let me get the Arc node like that and set up so he wants to blind the Strider with Stygian Abyss (critical hit) to get back in the game. This might see his right flank make it through the day, for now. However after 2 attempts without a single crit he ends up killboxing a Witch and simply concedes the game.

Tournament Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

When in doubt, push! I live by this motto and I wholeheartedly believe it's the best way to approach this game. Pouncing on opportunities lets you completely change how this game plays. It's something I practice and pursue relentlessly. You might not think it based on my slower and more calculated games (such as the semi-finals vs Thexus), but I love to make plays like in this game.

Indeed Coven banes is a very hard matchup for Haley2 and I believe the matchup is sort of playable because Haley2 has crazy angles and plays available. They are very hard to find, but also very hard to shut down to her innate flexibility. True, the Arc Node positioning here was easily preventable, but there are a million angles to consider all the time. Slips will happen, and when they do, I'm there to look for ways to take advantage of them.

Winning the Nordic Championship felt amazing, especially considering my lack of preparation for the event. The weekend as a whole, many thanks to the community of course, has raised my motivation significantly for Warmachine & Hordes again. A big thanks to the organizers, opponents and fellow players at this year's Iron Moot. I had a blast!

I hope you enjoyed the tournament reports. If you have any feedback for me, please leave it in the comments. 

Iron Moot: Nordic Championship #3 (#563): Haley2 vs Thexus

:: Prologue ::

This game was recorded by WarRoomPL, check out the video here: link.

For the semi-finals I drew Oskar yet again! We had the exact same map and scenario we played on the day before. I was expecting another tough fight against Ossrum, much to my surprise Oskar dropped Thexus! I was super relieved as dismantling Thexus should be trivial for my list.

:: Lists ::

:: Cygnar ::

TimeStorm v2
Theme: Heavy Metal
4 / 4 Free Cards 75 / 75 Army
Major Victoria Haley - WJ: +25
- Squire - PC: 0
- Firefly - PC: 8
- Thorn - PC: 13
- Stormwall - PC: 39 (Battlegroup Points Used: 25)
- Lightning Pod
Storm Strider - PC: 18
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 0
- Charger - PC: 9
Lieutenant Allison Jakes - PC: 0
- Cyclone - PC: 13
Captain Arlan Strangewayes - PC: 0

:: Opponent ::

Thexus, Operating Theater
- 2x Heavies
3x Adrenal Flood units
3x Non-flood units
Aiyana & Holt
2x Overlords
3x heavy-buff solos

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

I got first turn on Outlast. The idea was to run stuff up and then back up and shoot without feating top of 2, feating top of 3 and grinding from there.

:: Game ::

I take care to have backline elements safe.

Drudges fan out.

I take care to squeeze together in the middle to avoid Ambushers ruining my day. I kill ~10 models this turn.

Oskar pushes as hard as he can.

I reply with feat and kill ~20-25 models. The Strider charging and having Temporal really clears stuff out. The Stormwall pods an Adrenal Flood leader.

Thexus can't do a whole lot this turn, as per usual in Shift.

It's all about cleanup now, but I make my single biggest mistake of the entire weekend. In a moment of pure stupidity and greed I send Haley into the left zone instead of simply backing off. This is a terrible move as it puts her in range of Aiyana, Holt, Overlords and Thexus and there really is no need for me to score here. I haven't seen the recorded game at the time of this writing, but I'm sure the commentators (rightfully) roast me for this move.

Oskar goes for the kill. Luckily for me, he misses the boosted 8+ to land TK. Without that hit he doesn't have the necessary damage to kill me. I take 8 boxes.

I heal 6 boxes and back off with 2 focus to spare. Anything not Thexus is killed. Oskar gets one last incredible long-shot which fails and I kill Thexus.

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

There's not a whole lot to say about this game. It's very straight forward, I know the matchup and my list is very well suited to taking on Thexus. I make a very greedy mistake, dice gods somehow love me and I survive to win. I hope I never, ever this again.

Also, yay finals!

Iron Moot: Nordic Championship #2 (#562): Haley2 vs Coven

:: Prologue ::

This game was recorded by WarRoomPL, check out the video here: link

For the second game I drew Magnus and his Cryx. I first played against Magnus in the finals for this year's Swedish Masters (link), where I beat his Deneghra1 Ghost Fleet with my Haley2 Technical Death Metal list. How times have changed in the months since, this time Magnus dropped his Coven bane theme list and I had the TimeStorm configuration.

:: Lists ::

:: Cygnar ::

TimeStorm v2
Theme: Heavy Metal
4 / 4 Free Cards 75 / 75 Army
Major Victoria Haley - WJ: +25
- Squire - PC: 0
- Firefly - PC: 8
- Thorn - PC: 13
- Stormwall - PC: 39 (Battlegroup Points Used: 25)
- Lightning Pod
Storm Strider - PC: 18
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 0
- Charger - PC: 9
Lieutenant Allison Jakes - PC: 0
- Cyclone - PC: 13
Captain Arlan Strangewayes - PC: 0

:: Opponent ::

Coven, Bane Theme
- 2x Flying, finisher-birds
- 2x Arc Node
Wraith Engine
Tartarus
Machine Wraith
Min Riders
Max Riders
Min Warriors + UA
Max Warriors + UA

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

The scenario was Standoff and Magnus got first turn. My plan here was to overwhelm a flank, hopefully start scoring and deal with the Banes piecemeal.

:: Game ::

Stuff runs up, Riders on the left receive Occultation.

I go for a cheeky play: Pod in the center allows leaps via objective to Banes. Crap dice result in only a single Warrior dropping. Worth a shot since I had nothing to do save for setting up.

The Riders on the left consolidate and fan out. Smart. Riders on the right send one charging into the Strider while the rest form up with Warriors. Magnus intended to feat this turn but forgot to do so...

...which allows a decisive move for me! The idea is to charge ahead with the Strider into Warriors and Stormwall into Wraith Engine. Despite all of this presence dice don't cooperate with me at all and I cannot kill off the Bane Warriors UA on the left. I lose my train of thought for a moment and send Thorn to contest. Very, very dumb move. The Warrior UA toughing the Stormwall's pod made me lose my focus for a bit...

...which meant Magnus was able to put a ton of pressure on Thorn and the Strider, killing the former and leaving the latter on a single box.

I realized I had forgotten to move the Squire when I wanted to pull a focus now. I apologized to Magnus as this was an honest mistake. I believe the only piece which mattered was the Arc Node, we agreed to play on.

I had spent a ton of time up until now and thus pictures were not my top priority for the rest of the game. What happened next was a series of sad dice rolls on my part: I could not for the life of me get rid of the Riders on the left flank, despite committing all of my forces there to it. The Strider charged the Riders on my right flank and sent some bolts into Banes but Magnus had some amazing tough rolls which, with rise, essentially leaves the effort void.

Little did I know that tides were about to change! Magnus charges in with a number of Banes and Tartarus on my Stormwall and they all fluff! I survive on a ton of boxes, which I have no business doing. The Riders there try and mess with my backline but they aren't doing a whole lot of work either, luckily.

I clear up the stuff in the left zone, run the Squire to contest the rectangle and consolidate my position. Unfortunately I forget to activate the Firefly, which could well have been a big deal here.

Banes rush ahead yet again.

My shooting's really lacklustre and this leaves a ton of Banes alive in the bottom part of the table...

...however, yet again Magnus fluffs utterly and the Stormwall survives! From here on out I'm able to clear it up and win on CP bottom of 7!

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

What a batshit crazy game! I don't know where to start. This matchup is super hard and I was lucky I found an opening. I blew that my mis-positioning the Strider and giving away Thorn though, on top of a couple of turns of shit dice. Then things started turning around and Magnus had his share of shit dice (to say the least!), making the game weave back and forth multiple times.

The mistakes in this game are amateur level mistakes: Forgetting to feat, move Squire, activate Firefly, we both had our issues. More than anything I believe this is fatigue setting in, it's a tense game in a very hard matchup on day number 3 in the most important tournament of the event. When you look at it in hindsight it looks silly but in every single event I've been to, day number 3 sees considerably worse plays than days 1 and 2. It's just the way things are. With more practice games behind me this summer I believe I would have made less of these mistakes. Volume matters, you gotta make this game a habit.

I was very happy by how I managed to come back in this game. At one point I very, very nearly conceded so I could go home early (we had a 3-hour drive ahead of us) but then I thought "what the heck, it's the Nordic Championship after all and dice can happen". Dice indeed did happen and this certainly helped me.

I strongly suggest you guys check out the recorded video of this match. A lot of the finer points are missing in this report because I didn't take enough pictures. It was a super tense and enjoyable game!

Iron Moot: Nordic Championship #1 (#561): Haley2 vs Haley2

:: Prologue ::

This game was recorded by WarRoomPL, check out the video here: link

Iron Moot this year was a shark tank. That is a big reason for why I love this event, it brings together a large amount of very strong players. It makes for excellent games and hard challenges, the stuff I've come to love about Warmachine & Hordes in a nutshell. The Nordic Championship spots reflected this accordingly, take a look at the list below:

Last year I lost to Johan Dyrlind's Karchev in the semi-finals of the Nordic Championship (link), this year I was hoping to go all the way. As always though I do my best to keep 100% focus on the game at hand and not drift away in dreams of glory or what not. It's always about your one next game.

My first draw was a fellow Cygnar player, Daniel with a Haley2/Haley3 pairing. His Haley2 list was very similar to the one I took to Battle at Lund in April, meaning more melee power and less shooting presence, while his Haley3 list was the good old vanilla list from last year. I'm not comfortable with Stryker1 into Haley3 due to a lack of practice but I figured Haley2 with shooting is better than Haley2 with melee, and my Haley2 list has plenty of lightning generators to dismantle Haley3. Thus I dropped Haley2. Daniel paired his Haley2 in return and off we went!

:: Lists ::

:: Cygnar ::

TimeStorm v2
Theme: Heavy Metal
4 / 4 Free Cards 75 / 75 Army
Major Victoria Haley - WJ: +25
- Squire - PC: 0
- Firefly - PC: 8
- Thorn - PC: 13
- Stormwall - PC: 39 (Battlegroup Points Used: 25)
- Lightning Pod
Storm Strider - PC: 18
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 0
- Charger - PC: 9
Lieutenant Allison Jakes - PC: 0
- Cyclone - PC: 13
Captain Arlan Strangewayes - PC: 0

:: Opponent ::

Haley2, HM
- Stormwall
- Thorn
- Ironclad
- Squire
- Charger
Junior
- Charger
Jakes
- Stormclad

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

The scenario was The Pit 2 and I got first turn. This is big in this matchup as pushing your colossal far up the table provides so many angles and presents the opposing Haley2 with a ton of problems. The idea was to bully him out of the center, capitalize on this and ensure that my superior shooting would make its presence felt.

:: Game ::

Stuff runs and I abuse the house to shield my things from a batshit Thorn going out on a mission.

Daniel's Junior allocates a focus to his Charger and it looks like Daniel's considering trying to start a shooting war on my Stormwall. Somewhere along the way this plan changed and said Charger ended up running. With Junior putting up Arcane Shield on the Stormwall this left him on 0 camp...

...which is too good of an opportunity to pass up. By running Thorn and casting TK on him I would be in range of Daniel's Junior with an Arcane Bolt. I based my turn around this play, intending to tear his Stormwall a new one following the demise of Arcane Shield. This all worked out tremendously with my Charger and Cyclone putting boosted pow12s to great effect into the enemy 'wall. My Stormwall then finished him off with Temporal Acceleration. I feated in case the enemy 'wall would survive, which it did not (keep in mind that Haley activated before I had shot anything so I didn't know if I could kill it off or not). The Strider casually followed up with taking out Daniel's Thorn's Arc Node.

Daniel tried to get some sort of comeback but after a fruitless turn he conceded the game, understandably.

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

Haley2 mirrors are crazy because of the angles and threat ranges involved. I know this from past experience and was constantly looking to both prevent angles for my opponent and take advantage of those I could find. Thorn's reach is incredible if you are willing to TK him and protecting the weaker backline elements is essential.

I'm not sure how Daniel could've approached this game differently. Had his Junior been safe I would still have taken out Thorn and possibly a Charger. At that point I'm so far ahead because suddenly my backline elements are a lot safer. Again, my shooting also a lot stronger so he has to push into me. Pushing melee pieces into Haley2 is rarely a good idea.

A great start to the Championship!

Iron Moot: Masters #4 (#560): Stryker1 vs Stryker1

:: Prologue ::

For the 4th game I finally drew a Cygnar opponent! Julien had a Haley2/Stryker1 pairing so I was getting ready for a slug-fest. Indeed I dropped and received Stryker1 so it was Jaeger time!

:: Lists ::

:: Cygnar ::

"Jaeger Team"
Theme: Heavy Metal
4 / 4 Free Cards 75 / 75 Army
Commander Coleman Stryker - WJ: +30
- Squire - PC: 0
- Hurricane - PC: 39 (Battlegroup Points Used: 30)
- Stormwall - PC: 39
- Lightning Pod
- Charger - PC: 9
Captain Arlan Strangewayes - PC: 0
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 0
- Charger - PC: 9
Lieutenant Allison Jakes - PC: 0
- Charger - PC: 9

:: Opponent ::

Stryker1
- Hurricane
- Stormwall
- Squire
Junior
- Sentinel
Arlan
Jakes
- Defender
Min Meks

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

The thing about two Cygnar colossals fighting two Cygnar colossals is that it's all about isolation. If you can isolate one colossal with both of yours you're likely to win the grind. As such I deployed slightly skewed upon seeing Julien's start (he went first).

:: Game ::

Julien runs, I skew further to isolate as planned. Do note that my Hurricane here (the left colossal) is within charge range of his Stormwall. I don't mind this at all as one going in on one lets my isolate his and feat last (or outright kill it if he miraculously doesn't feat).

Julien shifts left. Defender and Hurricane land a hit on Jakes' Charger, DEF19 isn't enough.

To further isolate Julien's flanked colossal I now take the opportunity to run with the Hurricane in front of the Stormwall. I'm now very comfortable with my position and I really don't know what he'll do from here.

Stormwall goes in, kills Squire with a pod and starts beating my Hurricane. Dice aren't exactly stellar for Julien so the damage is negligible. Hurricane and Defender roll some crazy dice though and kill the Charger outright. He feats.

I make a very bad play here: I'm so happy my isolation play worked that I completely forget that it isn't necessarily permanent...

...so although I have 2 colossals on his one and feated last, Julien finds an amazing play: By tanking a free strike he can reverse the isolation, with the rock in my zone I am unable to get both of my colossals against his flanked one. Brilliant. Meks also run up, however...

...Julien forgets elector leaps and doesn't have the Sentinel closer to the Hurricane. This lets my Stormwall wipe out all meks. Coupled with my scoring more hits and rolling better damage, the attrition play is basically won here.

Towards the end the scenario is iffy but I keep my cool and count it out: I'm good to go.

In the end I win on 1 CP more I think it was, bottom of 7.

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

Stryker1 vs Stryker1 isn't the most exciting of games. That being said, it's a lot about knowing what to do and how to do it. After an amazing setup I nearly ruined this for myself by not completing the isolation (I should have charged the Stormwall to deny him being able to escape my double-trouble setup). Dice were certainly in my favour which helped out in the end in a very close game.

The Jakes module on the left flanked disappeared all too quickly. I was hoping to get more value out of it. I could have been more careful I guess, an aiming Defender is a pain.

Julien didn't contest the central zone top of 2, which was a major mistake as he could've done so easily without fear of any counter-plays from me. This CP pushed me to 2-0 and helped me find the plays I needed without compromising my scenario game throughout.

After this game I drew Cryx for the Semi-finals. I decided to forfeit that game. There are a lot of reasons why I decided to do that. I will not disclose all of those reasons here. What I will say however is that fatigue is a thing, and my opponent had the Bane theme list. My main goal for the weekend was the Sunday event (and the Nordic Champion title) and given my performances on Friday and Saturday thus far I reckoned that was within reach, something I had doubted before I went to Iron Moot. A 5th game on Saturday, possibly followed by finals, would severely drain me. Furthermore I think a lot of my strength in this game comes from being able to accurately analyze what I need to do in a given matchup. Following my recent games vs Coven and some spectated ones I didn't want my Cryx opponent(s) to find out what I had learned. As such I went 4-0 in the Masters, forfeited my 5th game and ended up in 3rd place. I went to bed early and was as ready as I could be for Sunday's Nordic Championship!

Iron Moot: Masters #3 (#559): Haley2 vs Ossrum

:: Prologue ::

For my third game the field was beginning to tighten and I drew Oskar, whom I first faced at Norwegian Masters in the finals (link). Oskar is a very strong Mercenaries player and indeed his Ossrum list looked like it was made to give Haley2 a bad day. I couldn't drop Stryker1 though seeing as he had Thexus in his pairing, and besides I've become pretty comfortable against Ossrum with Haley2. Indeed he dropped Ossrum and I was preparing myself for a tough fight!

:: Lists ::

:: Cygnar ::

TimeStorm v2
Theme: Heavy Metal
4 / 4 Free Cards 75 / 75 Army
Major Victoria Haley - WJ: +25
- Squire - PC: 0
- Firefly - PC: 8
- Thorn - PC: 13
- Stormwall - PC: 39 (Battlegroup Points Used: 25)
- Lightning Pod
Storm Strider - PC: 18
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 0
- Charger - PC: 9
Lieutenant Allison Jakes - PC: 0
- Cyclone - PC: 13
Captain Arlan Strangewayes - PC: 0

:: Opponent ::

Ossrum, Dwarf Theme
- 4x Gunners
- 1x Spraybunny
- 3x Drillers
Crit Stagger Battle Engine
2x Artillery
2x Min Forge Guard
Herne & Jonne

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

The scenario was Outlast and I finally got to start a game. The idea was to push the 'wall hard, force him far back and then deal with the threats as they appeared.

:: Game ::

Stuff runs and as you can tell I'm no fan of his artillery.

Crit stagger attempt is made on the 'wall to no avail.

His artillery pieces are very exposed, by TK-ing the siege engine around I can have leaps run to them. The Strider receives TA to wipe out one piece while the 'wall charges in to pod the other. Sadly for me the dice are crappy beyond belief as the Strider's 3 (!) shots with leaps fail to wipe out ARM15 boys and one artillery piece survives. I feat.

Oskar repositions his forces. I made a mistake forgetting to reaction drive Thorn behind cover so he takes a bit of very unnecessary damage from Bunnies. Ossrum feats.

The plan is simple enough: Deal with things which the 'wall is afraid of. This means Dwarfs and heavies primarily. Thorn disrupts two heavies, I finally wipe out the artillery and a single heavy is all that's left to really threaten me.

The Crit finally lands on the 'wall but it's too little too late it feels like: The Dwarfs are mostly wiped out and the heavies are fairly trivial to control now.

As I have no initials I just buy attacks but it's easily enough. The situation is becoming desperate for Ossrum.

He tries to strike back but it's essentially a mop-up here.

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

This game felt pretty representative for what happens in this matchup: Cygnar pushes, Ossrum tries to shoot, Haley feats, Ossrum feats, Haley controls too many elements, Ossrum loses on attrition. I'm not sure what Mercs can really do here, perhaps there's a way for them to push while conserving heavies (read: Not let Haley control their melee elements). This makes it hard for the colossal to go in. Might be a thing.

The way this game played out I believe Oskar was down to dice. He needed some crazy rolls which he didn't get and that was that.