Iron Moot: Steamroller #1 (#261): Haley2 vs Madrak2

:: Prologue ::

The very first game of Iron Moot 2016! Ok, so before we get to the first report I'd like to take a moment and discuss a few things. For those of you who don't know the Convention format, it is basically a big event with multiple tournaments running in parallell all the time. On Friday for example there were 2 Steamroller events, 1 Hardcore event and 1 Champions event. There may have been more, I am not sure. The best X players from each event get a ticket to an "Invitational" event which runs on Sunday. On Iron Moot there was also a big event on Saturday, the Iron Gauntlet Qualifier. Basically if you perform well in multiple Iron Gauntlet Qualifiers you get invited to the Iron Gauntlet event at Lock and Load. I was signed up for a Steamroller on Friday, IGQ on Saturday and another Steamroller on Sunday.

Secondly, a note on player skill, expectations and competitive mindset. In any game, I look at the game at hand and respect my opponent and his ability to execute amazing moves. It does not matter how many games you win or play, if an opponent knows his army well enough he can always find openings that can potentially win the game. That is why my expectations are often fairly modest, something I've had multiple people question me about. When I go into a 6-round event, I never think about anything else than the game at hand. If I am done and waiting for the next game I'll try and get a break, sit for myself and just do something else to clear my head, go outside with friends to draw some fresh air or whatever. Naturally when the field narrows it's common to start thinking about what you'll likely meet. If you start a 6-round event with a dozen people easily capable of beating you I think your focus will be off even if you are the best and have the best shot at taking it home. If you start a 6-round event with all of your opponents easily capable of beating you I think you will effectively have a "paralysis by analysis" situation. In any case then, I think it's important to solely consider the one game at hand, expect the best from your opponent and just try and do your best.

With that out of the way, it's time to start this string of reports! My very first tournament at Iron Moot turned out to be a Shark Tank where the average player skill was through the roof. A true joy to play and I had 5 absolutely amazing games. First up was David with Trolls. A perfect start, I get way too few games against Trolls and I love to play things I don't usually meet. Unfortunately my inexperience would be glaringly obvious in this game...

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

(Haley 2) Major Victoria Haley [+25]
- Thorn [13]
- Stormwall [39]
- Squire [5]
- Ironclad [12]
Journeyman Warcaster [4]
- Minuteman [9]
Captain Arlan Strangewayes [4]
Gobber Tinker [2]
Storm Lances (min) [12]

Opponent:

Madrak Ironhide, World Ender - WB: +28
-    Trollkin Runebearer - PC: 4
-    Dire Troll Mauler - PC: 15 (Battlegroup Points Used: 15)
-    Mulg the Ancient - PC: 19 (Battlegroup Points Used: 13)
-    Pyre Troll - PC: 9
-    Troll Bouncer - PC: 9
Fell Caller Hero - PC: 5
Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes - Leader & 5 Grunts: 9
-    Stone Scribe Elder - PC: 3
Trollkin Fennblades - Leader & 9 Grunts: 15
-    Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer - Officer & Drummer: 5
Trollkin Warders - Leader & 2 Grunts: 10

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

The lists were fairly obvious drops I think, he had Calandra paired and I had Sloan. Calandra looks really dicey into Sloan so I was expecting him to drop Madrak2 (which might also be dicey given my 2x 3 Storm Lances to be honest but not as much). I have always been comfortable with Haley2 into Trollbloods because of shenanigans and I wasn't about to start experimenting now, doubly so because the scenario was Outlast. I got first turn and weighted as per usual so that I would likely have the option to feat early and force him to let me score in his turn.

:: Game ::

Stuff runs, I get far up. Double TK from Haley to get herself and the Ironclad as far up as possible as well.

Madrak has the balls to charge (!) up ahead in front of his entire army. I didn't understand this move at all...

...until my opponent told me he thought that Earth's Blessing stopped Telekinesis. Unfortunately for him, it does not. Ok so I can get the Stormwall on full focus, the Ironclad on full focus, 3 Storm Lances assaulting and the Minuteman shooting Madrak. He'll have 4 models to transfer hits to. He was camping 1 Fury. I figure I -have- to go for this play.

It all goes well until he starts to transfer to the Krielstone Leader. What I hadn't thought about was that this model can have other models in its unit sacrifice themselves to keep it alive, thus enabling him to keep transferring hits. Oh my, I could've just TK'd that model and be done with it. The long story short is that I killed all models he could transfer to and dealt... 1 box worth of damage to Madrak. I felt so stupid, I knew very well that Madrak2 is one of the hardest casters in the game to try and assassinate but yet I went for it and I failed so miserably. Oh well, live and learn.

With Shift up there shouldn't be any solid retaliation at least. I figure Madrak should just tank a free strike here, transfer damage, move out and position himself for the long run. After all I feated without being able to get either an alpha or points and I even forgot to toe the left zone with Thorn so this is absolutely huge for him. In any case he goes for the fancy play which is feat to kill a Stormlance, move Mulg in and have Mulg munch his way to the Stormwall. The math on such a move doesn't add up on average, even with Mulg, so it's an unecessary risk in my opinion, but I am super happy to see him try for this as Madrak's greed puts him on 0 fury. The Stormwall survives Mulg as well...

...so now I can finish what I started. I TK Madrak away from his sac-buddies, get the minuteman into the thick of it clearing out Fennblades with Flak Field and the repaired Stormwall murders Madrak at last.

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

There's not a whole lot to say about this game I think, it boils down to a big mistake on my opponent's part (thinking Earth's Blessing stops TK), followed by an equally big one on my part etc. A mess of a game, in other words. At least we both learned very valuable lessons! The game was great fun though and I hope David enjoyed it as well.

I think feating for 2 would have been a viable option but I'm not 100% on how it should be set up. It's kind of risky considering I don't know his tricks and likely requires multiple TKs.

At the end of the day this is an excellent example of why you simply need experience with matchups.

Iron Moot 2016 - Pre-Tournament Thoughts

I promised a couple of people that I would write this post if I had the time. Turns out, I do have the time! As such, here are a couple of words on my thoughts prior to Iron Moot.

For those of you who don't know, Iron Moot is one of Scandinavia's biggest conventions. It might be the biggest, I'm not sure. You can read more about it here. I have never been before, last year at this time I had barely bought my first models and was learning the game. However my trip to Lund in April was awesome so my expectations for this event are very high.

Throughout the weekend I expect to play at least 2-3 tournaments, possibly more. It all depends on how I am doing, how tired I am etc. I have packed 4 casters and enough models to let me play around with various lists and concepts. The idea is to try and find answers to a number of the problems I feel Cygnar encounters. I won't go into too much detail now because I don't have the time and my thoughts aren't clear enough to put it down in writing. I just know that there's something that doesn't feel right now.

I do however have two smaller events (one win and a runner-up finish) and 98 games in Mk. 3 behind me going to Gothenburg. My play is better than it has ever been and I feel I have an edge with pre-measuring from my years playing Warhammer. I am confident in my lists in most situations and I have some ideas about how to play around their weaknesses. Especially the Haley2 list feels solid. Yesterday's game against Kaelyssa was just incredibly brutal for example.

In terms of the meta I expect a fair share of Cygnar (Caine2, Sloan, Haley2, Haley3), Legion (Vayl2, Absylonia2), Circle (Wurmwood), Khador (Vlad1, Butcher3), Retribution (Issyria, Kaelyssa, Ossyan, Rahn, Vyros2) and Trolls (Madrak2). With the exception of Trolls, these are all matchups I have quite a bit of experience against and I'm hoping this will help carry me. Trolls I hear are very strong in Mk. 3 but I'll have no option but to wing it when/if we get there. I believe Cygnar is still naturally strong against Trolls so I'm just banking on the inherent imbalance of the matchup, really.

I finished the last three models today (strictly speaking they are not 100% yet but good enough to field) and I am now beginning to get really psyched. A couple of people have asked me what my ambitions are but truly I have none other than delivering solid games throughout. I know there are lots of highly skilled players attending and I know I owe the dice gods from my last trip to Sweden so anything can happen.

No matter how I perform and no matter how the games turn out you can rest assured there will be reports galore! Stay tuned, and good luck to all fellow Swans attending Iron Moot!

Battle Report #260: Haley2 vs Kaelyssa

:: Prologue ::

Last practice game before Iron Moot! Haley2 vs Kaelyssa. Bring it, Retribution!

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

(Haley 2) Major Victoria Haley [+25]
- Thorn [13]
- Stormwall [39]
- Squire [5]
- Ironclad [12]
Journeyman Warcaster [4]
- Minuteman [9]
Captain Arlan Strangewayes [4]
Gobber Tinker [2]
Storm Lances (min) [12]

Opponent:

Kaelyssa, The Night's Whisper - WJ: +29
-    Sylys Wyshnalyrr, The Seeker - PC: 4
-    Hyperion - PC: 36 (Battlegroup Points Used: 29)
Elara, Tyro of the Third Chamber - PC: 4
-    Discordia - PC: 18
Arcanist Mechanik - PC: 2
Arcanist Mechanik - PC: 2
Fane Knight Skeryth Issyen - PC: 8
Arcanist Mechanik - PC: 2
Dawnguard Invictors - Leader & 9 Grunts: 16
-    Dawnguard Invictor Officer & Standard - Officer & Standard: 4
Heavy Rifle Team - Leader & Grunt: 4
Heavy Rifle Team - Leader & Grunt: 4

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

We were playing The Pit and I went first. The idea was pretty straight-forward classic Haley2 on The Pit: Jam that Stormwall far up the field, Lances flank strong side, Ironclad towards the center and adjust as needed,

:: Game ::

I cast Acceleration on 'wall, Deflection and TK on Ironclad.

Banishing Ward on Discordia, Blur on Hyperion, Refuge on Kaelyssa (right behind Hyperion). Feat goes up.

Feats are cool. I also have one, and it's way cooler than Kaelyssa's. At least it is now. The idea is to deal as much damage to Discordia as possible. Minuteman gets TK'd, Acceleration on 'wall, Deflection up. Feat on the majority of the Invictors, Kaelyssa, Skeryth and of course the jacks. Stormwall tramples, hits Discordia with its 3 attacks (focus + TA) and pods to let the Lances e-leap to kill the HRT on the left. Thorn and Ironclad both in cover. Both repair boys in range of jacks. Life is good!

Retribution tries to shoot down the Stormwall. It fails miserably, 20-25 boxes or so.

Max. focus on the 'wall and Ironclad. Acceleration on 'wall. I walk around Discordia to whack Hyperion. Minuteman kills all Arcanists. Ironclad finishes Hyperion. Storm Lances + Thorn finish Discordia. Haley moves outside of 18" from Kaelyssa and I move to 3-0.

No angles for assassination and my opponent concedes the game.

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

I can see Kaelyssa shooting being a big deal. I don't see how it's a big deal in this scenario when I go first however. Preferably I would've played the game going second to better understand how hard it can be. In two rounds I think Kaelyssa can take out the 'wall and that is a problem. The question is how you play around it I suppose.

In this game I discovered the joy of getting work out of the Minuteman for 2 turns in a row. I must learn to look for situations like this where I can safely move Junior up, due to defense from Shift or terrain.

The list is solid. I do miss Lanyssa but the Minuteman is a very interesting piece which adds to Haley's shenanigans. I feel ready for the Moot now and have packed a ton of models (including 5 casters!) so I can switch up if I want to throughout the weekend. If I have time I'll write up a short pre-tournament piece before I leave.

Battle Report #259: Caine2 vs Ossyan

:: Prologue ::

On the request of a friend I played a matchup he recently lost. The lists were nearly identical and the scenario + map as close as I could manage. Caine2 vs Ossyan everyone, let's see this explosive pew pew matchup in action!

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Captain Allister Caine - WJ: +27
- Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator - PC: 4
- Stormwall - PC: 39 (Battlegroup Points Used: 27)
- Lightning Pod
Captain Arlan Strangewayes - PC: 4
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 4
- Charger - PC: 9
Gobber Tinker - PC: 2
Ragman - PC: 4
Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress - PC: 3
Rangers - Leader & 5 Grunts: 9
Storm Lances - Leader & 2 Grunts: 12
Storm Lances - Leader & 2 Grunts: 12

Opponent:

(Ossyan 1) Lord Arcanist Ossyan [+28]
 - Discordia [18]
 - Manticore [14]
Dawnguard Sentinels (max) [18]
 - Dawnguard Sentinel Officer & Standard [4]
Mage Hunter Strike Force (max) [16]
 - Mage Hunter Strike Force Commander [4]
Stormfall Archers [9]
Stormfall Archers [9]
Arcanist Mechanik [2]
Arcanist Mechanik [2]
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution [6]

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

The scenario was Recon and my deployment was pre-determined by my friend's. It's pretty good and I have no major changes I would've done. I would have wanted one of the lances from the right unit on the left side of the house there to get more trick shot angles T1, but apart from that it's all good!

:: Game ::

Strike Force shuffle right. It is a wise move since it prevents Caine skewing hard right early on. I think it is disastrous for Ret if I choose to do so because I can probably get ahead on scenario and get a very advantageous position for attrition. My opponent takes care to keep the MHSF outside of wall-throwing-charger-to-trick-shot-strike-force threat range. He's had that treatment before and would have none of it now. The Sentinels received Quicken and ran up on the left flank.

It's a brilliant squeeze by my opponent: The Strike Force prevents the Stormwall from getting up the field on the right and the Sentinels are flanking hard enough so that I can't effectively deal with them. Note to self: Going second Caine should probably deploy opposite the Sentinels so that they will be unable to perform such an aggressive move without possibly facing repercussions. Mind you it's not their move this turn which is necessarily the problem (it could be), it's thinking ahead and having Caine in position. Anyway. I pre-measure to ensure Strike Force can't go for a juicy assassination (he'll only get roughly half in range and with Bullet Dodger and 4 focus I should be able to dodge out and kill them in return if he goes for this move).

The problem with the Stormwall is that he'll most likely die next turn. I don't see a way around that. What I need to try and do then is to ensure Ossyan has to really commit to get to it. I make a slight mistake as I allow a couple of Sentinels to charge as I run it up, I could probably have avoided this. Lances on both sides pre-measure to stay outside of SFA range. Deadeye on those guys make them lethal.

Oh and yeah, I forgot Rangers! They were originally deployed behind the house so this was a fairly obvious T1 move.

The Sentinels jam Lances and charge 'wall. Discordia takes up cover in the rubble. Strike Force shuffle back left as they'll face inevitable death by Lances/Trick Shots/Rangers on the right flank. Manticore sets up and his heavies are in a very strong scenario position.

I need to buy space on the right flank. The left flank is too much in Ret favor. True, I need to get some work done here as well but there's no way I can clear it. My big problem now is how on Earth do I deal with the scenario? He might find an angle to feat from where he can catch both the objective, Stormwall and Charger. With MHSF mini-feat he might get them all. I pre-measure though and the Charger should be fine, not to mention Ossyan can't get all these in range without opening up for Caine. As such the idea is to have the Charger be the anti-scenario piece and sell the Stormwall as dearly as possible. On the right flank I run up 2 Lances and the idea is to trickshot off of the both of them to take out Eiryss2 and some Stormfall Archers. I get 3 or 4 models down I think but both Lances die as well. That's too bad. On the left side the 'wall has to tank a Free Strike to free up the Lances. This is easily worth it as the combined effect of the Lances help reduce the Sentinels to insignificant numbers. Sure their mini-feat and wall of steel are cute but PS15 is just too much for them. Moving the Stormwall further down to the left also has the effect to force him to commit positioning-wise to take it out. I hope I've made it expensive enough.

Ossyan indeed goes for the 'wall, but it is extremely close: He kills it with the last attack at just one more damage than he needed. It basically boils down to me letting 3 Sentinels charge me top of 2, which is kind of unnecessary as the 'wall itself isn't a relevant long-ranged threat piece here. It is an enabler for the rest. Anyway, wall down, but he paid the price! Objective still alive as he had nothing he could commit to it.

Usually when people see this they think "oh-oh, Cygnar in trouble". Usually, that is not the case with Caine2. It certainly can be, but for Caine it can be a big advantage to trade the 'wall for a positional advantage. All I need to do now is kill Discordia and wipe out the right flank.

Charger puts 2 boosted Pow12s into Disco to start it off. Caine then feats following Reinholdt's reload but I roll pretty poorly and she survives on 2 boxes. Lances clear up on the left and the remaining Lance from the right unit moves in to contest, making it kind of hard for him to clear the scenario.

There is again an assassination opening on Caine but he can't get all models in range and without feat it's dicey. He tries to go for a scenario play by charging the objective with the Manticore and have disco follow up. Disco has no useful systems though. The Strike Force mini-feat to try and take out the Storm Lance but they fail, Ossyan had to spend his focus taking out a Lance on the left flank.

I move Ragman up for Death Field. The last Lance charges the Manticore and deals pretty massive damage. Discordia dies to electro leaps and the Charger takes out the Manticore. Caine shifts right, shoots a ton of trick shots at the objective to wipe out 6 models or so and said objective. He then gate crashes onto the right flag and I move to 3-1.

The game is pretty much over now. Retribution can't contest me or move ahead on scenario in time. I have too many pieces spread out which can contest and control and Caine is a master of cleaning up a table like this.

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

I must admit, the matchup was closer than I had thought. I handled the Sentinels poorly. Part of it was deployment not threatening them enough with Charger and Caine2, but the biggest part was letting them get 3 models onto the wall. Unnecessary and easily avoidable.

This is another matchup where Rhupert would've been great. Caine's defense is a little on the low side against MHSF with Deadeye to be honest. Sure it's dicey to go for him but it's not out-of-this-world lucky if he dies. It really pains me but I must admit that my current list doesn't feel 100% considering what I want it to play into.

The big thing in this matchup is how the Strike Forces zones the Stormwall and how Caine zones them. Usually the Stormwall is a solid scenario piece but in this game he can just forget about it. It should be possible to keep him alive until T3 but to do so you need a solid understanding of the matchup and have positioning so that Ossyan can never move to 3-0 without seriously compromising himself. In this game I managed to draw out Ossyan's feat and the positioning of his units to deal with the 'wall and that sealed the deal.

A very interesting game and I hope my friend will find that I did the matchup justice. As the astute reader might notice I've written quite a bit more than I usually do, which I've done on purpose to elaborate my thoughts and evaluations throughout the game.

Battle Report #258: Caine2 vs Vayl2

:: Prologue ::

Rematch was up, same lists, scenario, map and starting player. Let's get to it.

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Captain Allister Caine - WJ: +27
- Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator - PC: 4
- Stormwall - PC: 39 (Battlegroup Points Used: 27)
- Lightning Pod
Captain Arlan Strangewayes - PC: 4
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 4
- Charger - PC: 9
Gobber Tinker - PC: 2
Ragman - PC: 4
Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress - PC: 3
Rangers - Leader & 5 Grunts: 9
Storm Lances - Leader & 2 Grunts: 12
Storm Lances - Leader & 2 Grunts: 12

Opponent:

Vayl, Consul of Everblight - WB: +28
-    Ravagore - PC: 19 (Battlegroup Points Used: 19)
-    Typhon - PC: 24 (Battlegroup Points Used: 9)
-    Nephilim Bolt Thrower - PC: 11
-    Seraph - PC: 14
Blighted Nyss Shepherd - PC: 1
Blighted Nyss Shepherd - PC: 1
Blackfrost Shard - Sevryn, Rhylyss & Vysarr: 9
Blighted Nyss Raptors - Leader & 4 Grunts: 18
Hellmouth - Hellmouth & 3 Tentacles: 6

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

A quick re-rack and we started over. Same deployment and everything! Having learned my lesson I was now actively looking for a flank to overwhelm and start putting the pressure on as soon as possible. I find that it's often useful to think various possibilities through during your opponent's turn and do this a lot.

:: Game ::

No tentacle is committed this time around so no top of 1 slings. The line is also skewed quite heavily towards the right. Ravagore receives Admonition, Raptors receive Occultation.

I have to finish the game in 90 minutes and I don't want to rob my opponent of his time so I decide to play all turns quickly and this naturally leads to some mistakes. In this position I should've taken the time to do the math, pre-measure threat ranges and keep Caine safe. I failed all of the above.

Ok so a Ravagore into a Stormwall surely can't be fatal? Unless of course said Ravagore was effectively PS18 and I was stripped of Arcane Shield and he had follow up damage. Adding insult to injury I think Vayl has a pretty juicy shot at Caine himself here by running a tentacle up behind the 'wall and arcing through it. I was only camping 2 focus.

Anyway the play is made to kill the 'wall. Kiss lands after a Slipstream gets the guy in range, Vayl strips Arcane Shield and puts boundless up on the Ravagore as well as Slipstream. Luckily she had to feat at least. Due to messing up some of his movements however the Legion forces were unable to kill the Stormwall. It survived on a single box. Unfortunately that wasn't the cortex but hey, still good right?

I had an excellent opening here for scenario but I had to keep my cool: If I feated with Caine now I would still have multiple beasts to deal with later on and I thought I could take out the Ravagore without said feat. As such the decision was made to have Caine move up, shooting down a couple of things and then jump back. Before this however the rest had to clear the Ravagore. Ragman got in range for Death Field, a Ranger got in range for Mark the Target and the Stormwall + Charger took it out. Caine cleared up things on the right flank and Rangers took the flag. 1-0.

Vayl kills the Stormwall and establishes presence on the left flank. 1-1.

I am able to clear out most models on the right flank and score 2 more while still contesting the left flag. 3-1.

Seraph and Typhon move up to contest the flag. Due to a mistake in priorities the Typhon doesn't get to charge Ragman so he doesn't provide a whole lot of usefulness. 3-2.

Ragman casts Death Field. Charger moves up and pounds Typhon a bit. I get a Ranger up for Mark the Target and Caine aims + feats. I roll snake eyes on the second shot and kill Ragman, thus losing Death Field. Wow, ok. At least I get them both anyway because the Charger did a number on Typhon previously. I am able to run one solo to the middle flag and another to the right:

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

A bit of a rushed game with a couple of mistakes. The Stormwall simply cannot be charged by a heavy, at least not if Kiss is up. Even without that it is very dodgy. Vayl removing Arcane Shield is huge here. I'm not sure how I should try and play around this.

Once the Legion beasts commit they suffer a great deal of damage. The Charger did a lot of work in this game, its only weaknesses being the short range and junior having to stay close-ish. 

I think that in most games between Cygnar and Legion we have to position ourselves such that we threaten the scenario angle. I was able to do so here successfully and quickly, but I might not have if the 'wall had gone down to the alpha.

A great couple of games vs Legion and although they were littered with fairly basic mistakes I still learned a lot and have tons of thoughts as to the matchup and what I need to do. 

Battle Report #257: Caine2 vs Vayl2

:: Prologue ::

Usually when I play I have more than enough time. I hate playing under stress. Don't get me wrong, I love the clock, but being able to discuss the matchup and not rush packing up etc are things I appreciate. Anyway yesterday was not such a day and I only had time for a quick game. Perhaps fitting then that the matchup was to be Caine2 vs Vayl2, explosive!

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Captain Allister Caine - WJ: +27
- Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator - PC: 4
- Stormwall - PC: 39 (Battlegroup Points Used: 27)
- Lightning Pod
Captain Arlan Strangewayes - PC: 4
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 4
- Charger - PC: 9
Gobber Tinker - PC: 2
Ragman - PC: 4
Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress - PC: 3
Rangers - Leader & 5 Grunts: 9
Storm Lances - Leader & 2 Grunts: 12
Storm Lances - Leader & 2 Grunts: 12

Opponent:

Vayl, Consul of Everblight - WB: +28
-    Ravagore - PC: 19 (Battlegroup Points Used: 19)
-    Typhon - PC: 24 (Battlegroup Points Used: 9)
-    Nephilim Bolt Thrower - PC: 11
-    Seraph - PC: 14
Blighted Nyss Shepherd - PC: 1
Blighted Nyss Shepherd - PC: 1
Blackfrost Shard - Sevryn, Rhylyss & Vysarr: 9
Blighted Nyss Raptors - Leader & 4 Grunts: 18
Hellmouth - Hellmouth & 3 Tentacles: 6

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

The scenario is Incursion and Legion moves first. This means I have to premeasure 31.6" to anything juicy from Vayl2. I park Caine behind a Charger and the Stormwall and leave only the Tinker and Rangers exposed. Lances are within 33.6". The deployment is fairly symmetrical.

:: Game ::

Vayl decides to go for the Charger. You know, why not just throw out a POW12 on it when it costs you nothing? It cripples the gun. The Raptors are placed 19.1" away from Caine.

I see an excellent opening: I can charge the Tentacle with Caine, kill it and start shooting all those juicy raptors. Vayl even camps 0 fury because she got greedy (and she thought she had all angles pre-measured correctly) so I can trick shot and force her to play a dicey game if not outright kill her.

The problem is that I can't for the life of me roll the necessary 4+ to kill the Hellmouth. When I try to kill it with my 6th attack and fail I forfeit the game.

Sadly, a loss for the Swans

:: Evaluation ::

The big lesson learned here is to boost the second shot if the first shot doesn't kill the tentacle. I simply can't afford not to. Why the second shot you ask? I'm glad you asked! Mk. 3 introduced a curious rule stating that if you charge and you have the gunfighter rule and you choose to use said gunfighter rule to make ranged attacks in melee, all of your initial ranged attacks are limited to targeting models in your melee range. Yeah, it's wonky.

Since the game was over bottom of 1 I actually had time for another!

Battle Report #256: Caine2 vs Lylyth3

:: Prologue ::

Following a tense and drawn-out second game, we went for a rematch. While Legion won the roll-off again, we switched sides and starting player to better our understanding of the matchup.

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Captain Allister Caine - WJ: +27
- Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator - PC: 4
- Stormwall - PC: 39 (Battlegroup Points Used: 27)
- Lightning Pod
Captain Arlan Strangewayes - PC: 4
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 4
- Charger - PC: 9
Gobber Tinker - PC: 2
Ragman - PC: 4
Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress - PC: 3
Rangers - Leader & 5 Grunts: 9
Storm Lances - Leader & 2 Grunts: 12
Storm Lances - Leader & 2 Grunts: 12

Opponent:

Lylyth, Reckoning of Everblight - WB: +29
- Archangel - PC: 37 (Battlegroup Points Used: 29)
- Naga Nightlurker - PC: 8
- Nephilim Bolt Thrower - PC: 11
- Typhon - PC: 24
Strider Deathstalker - PC: 4
Strider Deathstalker - PC: 4
The Forsaken - PC: 4
Blighted Nyss Shepherd - PC: 1
Blighted Nyss Shepherd - PC: 1
Blighted Nyss Shepherd - PC: 1
Blackfrost Shard - Sevryn, Rhylyss & Vysarr: 9

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

I deploy with Caine on the left side of my objective and Stormwall on the right. The idea is to use Caine and sweeping Lances as deterrents on the left side to deny the Legion heavies the trench and woods there while the Stormwall can anchor the opposite side. Legion replies with the beasts opposite Caine and the huge bases opposite the Stormwall.

:: Game ::

Caine moves up 7", casts Heightened Reflexes and jumps another 5", onto the hill. I am now sitting on 2 focus and DEF19. The idea is that Lylyth shouldn't prioritize going for this because it's too dicey. Lances move up aggressively on the left flank whereas I forget that Deathstalkers are actually semi-decent on the charge in melee and push up a little too far on the right. Stormwall moves up centrally.

Lylyth considers going for Caine right off the bat but decides against it. A problem with my reasoning here is that Lylyth doesn't have a lot to spend her fury on so she may as well go for pot-shots: The moment Caine starts losing boxes is the moment I have to change how he plays. Anyway, Legion shifts left.

At the start of this turn I say to myself that I need to camp 2 and upkeep Heightened Reflexes. This time around it's different for Lylyth to shoot because now she will have something to spend her fury on regardless. Furthermore I have a scoring opening in my next turn so now I can allow myself to be a little aggro. Anyway. Lances on the left move up just outside of 16" of Typhon. Stormwall can't shoot anything so he pods a Deathstalker and makes sure to contest the flag. The remaining Lance fails to kill the last Stalker. Rangers spread out and Charger runs up to the flag while Junior runs behind the house. The problem here is that Caine gets too greedy vs the Typhon and I end up only camping 1.

We debate the assassination opening for a bit and decide that I've basically made a mistake. The board position is so much in my favour that there's no need to be this aggressive, I'll have plenty of time to pump shots onto Typhon later on. Furthermore the assassination is dicey, I don't know how much but I estimate 35-40%. In any case we decide to play it out without going for it (dice were rolled for fun and Caine survived on 2 boxes by the way). Legion's plan is to shift right and force a commit from the Stormwall vs the Archangel. The Bolt Thrower pushes the Charger off of the flag.

The deployment problem for Legion was not getting Typhon opposite the Stormwall. On the left flank he could've utilized the wall for cover and threatened the huge 16" shooting alpha which he killed the Stormwall with in the previous game. However he was now too far away so I could shoot the Bolter and still be safe from Typhon with the Stormwall. I'd have to tank an Archangel in melee but even with Wraithbane that should be fine as he couldn't get kiss in range. The Rangers spread out to get the Bolter within 5" and the Big Guns fired true, killing the Nephilim outright! I thought I would need Caine for this as well as the Charger but now I had the luxury of putting Caine outside of 24" from Lylyth, making it theoretically impossible for her to shoot me. I also went to 2-0 and the Lances on the left kept swinging further around, but to be honest I swung them too much as the Forest ironically worked against me getting into the middle with them.

2-0.

The biggest winged shark goes into the 'wall and takes out 30-35 boxes or so. Typhon has to run to contest. The rest of the list deals insignificant damage.

I figure I don't have to feat nor stress the scenario points as I'm still up 2-0. Instead I max out the focus on the 'wall from Caine, put a grievous bullet onto both the Archangel and the Typhon and jump back out beyond 24" from Vayl. Arlan repairs the 'wall so both fists are intact and it starts bashing the Archangel, leaving spirit crippled. Lanyssa makes Typhon stationary (boosted rolls vs Legion are yummy!) and the Charger, Junior and Lances follow up with crippling mind and spirit.

With spirit crippled from both major beasts, no assassination angle and no scenario possibility my opponent calls the game.

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

Ok so my Caine play here is unnecessarily aggressive and I don't really accomplish much by doing what I do anyway. On the other hand, Lylyth pretty much reaches across the table and she has absolutely nothing she has to cast. I suppose Wind Wall and Escort is an option and stay 19.1" away from Caine, but I don't see this as a particularly game breaking move. She basically can afford to spend her fury and the 5" reposition takes her out of danger. DEF19 really isn't that much vs RAT8. I could've gone Blur but it's super dodgy to not have Heightened Reflexes in this matchup. In any case I think the Cygnar part of this matchup, aka I, has to find the balance between how aggro Caine can be (he does threaten beasts quite a bit after all) and how much he has to respect Lylyth. My turn 1 move isn't half bad, I could've ran instead to camp 2 more focus but that's unnecessary as Lylyth is Fury5 and needs to boost to hit. However the turn 2 move is just uncalled for and I should've seen that my position was so superior that there simply was no need for it.

Strategically I'm unsure if it's the right decision to go Caine left and Stormwall right instead of the other way around. The piece of Rubble on the right flank would be pretty great for Caine to camp around as DEF21 is just next level defensively. It costs me a little over an inch's worth of threat range but I think that would've been better. It also makes it harder for the Legion heavies to take the wall (which they should have in my opinion) for cover.

Following these 2 games I must say I really enjoy this matchup. Tons of angles and hard decisions and we largely struggle with the same: Big threat ranges and difficulties with claiming table space. I believe Caine is up in this matchup but not massively so. The inherent problem for Lylyth is that her really powerful shooting relies on not only the Typhon's RNG8 sprays, but also Kiss, both of which have significantly shorter threat ranges than the Stormwall and Caine.

Oh, and I love Lances. While they never shone in this matchup (I find them very hard to play to the best of their abilities vs Legion), they were ace in game 1 and the sheer presence of the 3-man unit on the left flank helped me win that without contest.