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.