Battle Report #317: Haley3 vs Lylyth3

:: Prologue ::

I got in a game today against Lylyth3. This is a hard opponent for Haley3 to meet I think and I really need practice here. An excellent opportunity in other words.

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Major Prime Victoria Haley - WJ: +25
- Haley Past
- Haley Future
- Grenadier - PC: 9 (Battlegroup Points Used: 9)
- Grenadier - PC: 9 (Battlegroup Points Used: 9)
- Thorn - PC: 13 (Battlegroup Points Used: 7)
- Ironclad - PC: 12
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 4
- Charger - PC: 9
Ragman - PC: 4
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord - PC: 4
Storm Lances - Leader & 4 Grunts: 20
Trencher Infantry - Leader & 9 Grunts: 16

Opponent:

(Lylyth 3) Lylyth, Reckoning of Everblight [+29]
 - Archangel [37]
 - Typhon [24]
 - Nephilim Bolt Thrower [11]
 - Naga Nightlurker [8]
Blackfrost Shard [9]
Blighted Nyss Shepherd [1]
Blighted Nyss Shepherd [1]
Blighted Nyss Shepherd [1]
The Forsaken [4]
Strider Deathstalker [4]
Strider Deathstalker [4]

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

We were playing The Pit and I went first. Basically I was aiming to get Prime behind a piece of cover and play around the denied assassination this helps provide me. I set up the army symmetrically and intended to respond to his positioning.

:: Game ::

With the Grenadiers firmly opposite the Archangel I was good to advance. Distortion is cast but I have no use for Supremacy in this matchup.

Lylyth kills the two Lances on my right flank. In hindsight I should probably have sent them all over on my left flank. Wind Wall is cast. The Archangel takes care to stay outside of 16" from the Grenadiers. Typhon runs up aggressively.

With the big distances and no scenario angles I feel like I'm at a loss here. What do I do? Pushing up doing nothing feels like a bad play. In the end I find an opening on Typhon: Feat, Force Hammer into Lylyth, follow up with Future and lastly charge with 2 Trenchers. I fail to kill him unfortunately (I later checked OddsMachine which put it at 61%) but I'm now committed. The Grenadiers try and land lucky scatters on Blackfrost's but the boosted damage rolls aren't high enough.

Lylyth needs to get a lot of work done and feats. I lose 7 Trenchers, one Grenadier and the Ironclad. All in all this isn't half bad, especially considering how much he has to commit positioning-wise to get this done.

My main objective this turn is to kill Typhon + Archangel. I reckon the first will go down to Future and Thorn while the latter will likely go down to Lances + Grenadier + Charger with help from Ragman.

It all works out in the end and I even have some left over shots to pump into the Bolt Thrower. It ends up surviving on but a single box, Spirit intact.

Lylyth has lost the attrition game, her CPs aren't high enough and thus it's down to Legion's favourite win condition: Assassination. She needs some crazy dice to make this happen. Lady luck doesn't offer the necessary help and with that, the game is over.

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

I struggle to truly understand this matchup. It feels so bad when I play it but whenever I look at pictures afterwards it doesn't seem half as bad. I guess it boils down a lot to not really understanding Haley3 properly.

Getting Prime behind an obstruction is obviously big in this matchup, however most of the maps I've played in Mk. 3 enable this somehow. Using jacks to block off some angles might be necessary though.

The Archangel struggles in this matchup because it is so vulnerable. I'd be eager to see how a non-Gargantuan Lylyth list performs here. Perhaps I get the chance soon.

Battle Report #316: Haley2 vs Issyria

:: Prologue ::

I build a lot of Retribution lists with a couple of friends and try and help them with improving their lists and game. This time around we found an Issyria list we really liked and we decided to have a slow game where we discuss a lot of the openings, fears, ideas and angles openly for both sides so as to better learn the matchup. An interesting approach which I highly recommend!

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Major Victoria Haley - WJ: +25
- Squire - PC: 5
- Stormwall - PC: 39 (Battlegroup Points Used: 25)
- Lightning Pod
- Thorn - PC: 13
- Ironclad - PC: 12
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 4
- Firefly - PC: 8
Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress - PC: 3
Ragman - PC: 4
Storm Lances - Leader & 2 Grunts: 12

Opponent:

Issyria, Sibyl of Dawn - WJ: +29
- Hyperion - PC: 36 (Battlegroup Points Used: 29)
- Phoenix - PC: 18
Arcanist Mechanik - PC: 2
Arcanist Mechanik - PC: 2
Elara, Tyro of the Third Chamber - PC: 4
- Discordia - PC: 18
Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress - PC: 3
Dawnguard Invictors - Leader & 9 Grunts: 16
- Dawnguard Invictor Officer & Standard - Officer & Standard: 4
- Soulless Escort - PC: 1

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

Same scenario and map as in the previous games, I moev first. The thing about this matchup is that Issyria has devastating long-ranged shooting but she is prone to being blocked out on scenario quite frankly, which is Haley's edge for sure. I wanted to spread out to maximize this advantage.

:: Game ::

Stuff runs. Tk on Clad, Deflection, TA on wall. Thorn on cover, both flanks threatened in terms of scenario angles.

Issyria advances cautiously.

I spend about forever considering what to do. I find no good angles for an attrition alpha, I can't take a ranged fight and I can't let him have Hyperion charging my Stormwall. I eventually find a pretty sweet angle for scenario where I can feat on his entire army basically and guarantee 1 point scored, 2 if he doesn't want to lose a heavy. The Stormwall shoots Phoenix but I roll miserably.

The Phoenix is the sacrificial lamb and moves up on the left. Hyperion decides to not only contest middle but also move far enough up so that ancillary hits the Stormwall in melee. Balsy move. I go to 1-0.

Now, with Hyperion that far up I can get both the Ironclad, Stormwall and Firely all on full focus with Death Field into him. I can't -not- take this chance. Issyria was in an exposed position though so in a tournament setting I kill her 9 times out of 10 or so (power strike shenanigans. We rolled it out and she died). This does affect the game a lot as her specific placement is pretty important. In any case I played for the Hyperion attrition instead and we just let her be. The big beast goes down and Phoenix uses Admonition as I charge the Ironclad past it to move closer to Haley. Hyperion dies before the Stormwall spends his last focus so I disrupt Phoenix. Lances charge it as well and it survives on a few boxes.

Issyria finds an angle where she can feat + blinding light Haley, ancillary Discordia and have 3 Invictors mini-feat + shoot her. This requires the Phoenix to kill a Lance which it does despite being disrupted and the opening is clear. Haley unfortunately does go down and I lose the game.

Sadly, a Loss to the Swans.

:: Evaluation ::

An interesting game which showcases the various strengths of these two lists. The Hyperion play is a mistake. I'm not sure what I do if I don't alpha it. To be fair I'm not sure going for the alpha on it is the right play even because I can move to 3 on scenario. How fast can it get work done before it has to walk away to contest?

The eventual assassination which gets Haley is in part because I don't check the angles but also in part because we don't take the time to reset a little after I could've killed Issyria. The specific positions here matter a lot. In any case it's a mistake to move the Hyperion to allow me such a hard counter for it so the entire Retribution T2 should probably have been different. All that being said sometimes it's good just to play things out. Issyria found the angle here and made the most of it, taking down Haley to secure the game! Her ability to put amazing amounts of firepower out is a real thing with a setup like this and Haley does have a tendency to die, unfortunately. For all her power, she is very squishy and loves to spend her focus!

Battle Report #315: Haley2 vs Magnus2

:: Prologue ::

Having played the Kingmaker's and been pretty impressed by its abilities I was eager to bring out the big guns. I helped my opponent tweak his list a bit to get in the Boomies and get more free stuff, as well as a Buccaneer which I think is amazing for Magnus2. Off we went!

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Major Victoria Haley - WJ: +25
- Squire - PC: 5
- Stormwall - PC: 39 (Battlegroup Points Used: 25)
- Lightning Pod
- Thorn - PC: 13
- Ironclad - PC: 12
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 4
- Firefly - PC: 8
Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress - PC: 3
Ragman - PC: 4
Storm Lances - Leader & 2 Grunts: 12

Opponent:

Magnus the Warlord - WJ: +28
- Freebooter - PC: 9 (Battlegroup Points Used: 9)
- Buccaneer - PC: 6 (Battlegroup Points Used: 6)
- Mangler - PC: 15 (Battlegroup Points Used: 13)
- Nomad - PC: 11
- Nomad - PC: 11
- Talon - PC: 7
Kell Bailoch - PC: 0
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor - PC: 0
Raluk Moorclaw, the Ironmonger - PC: 4
Greygore Boomhowler & Co. - Boomhowler & 5 Grunts: 11
Steelhead Halberdiers - Leader & 9 Grunts: 11
Trencher Infantry - Leader & 9 Grunts: 16
- Trencher Infantry Rifle Grenadier - PC: 2

THEME: The Kingmaker's Army

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

The scenario was Incursion and I went first. Easy plan: Get -far- up the field and force the issue.

:: Game ::

I run stuff up. Don't you love doing that T1?

Trenchers move up and cloud up in return with Steelheads on the right flank.

In a game of control feat vs control feat it can feel like a game of chicken to feat first. However when you can get an amazing alpha, it's not really something to worry about. The Trenchers were so close I could get a ton of impact hits here, the Stormwall could charge in and take out Orin, I could neutralize the scenario, be safe from ambushing Howlers. In short: It was a huge opening. I took it. Lances and Firefly with TA made a mockery of his infantry, leaving but a handful alive, and it was looking good!

Magnus tried to counter-feat, catching Haley. He moved up and was knocked down by the Buccaneer.

I sent Haley as far back as I could (as the picture above shows) and disabled 3 heavies with disruption x2 (Thorn + pod) and the Ironclad on full focus + free charge.

Following this Magnus nearly found a flying assassination hail mary angle. Because he was knocked down in the previous turn he could be slammed + thrown now and then Boomies could move in to negate KD and he could charge Haley. He was -just- out of range (seriously this flying jank thing is stupid beyond belief) and he had no way to play attrition what-so-ever so the game was effectively over.

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

Haley2 definitely felt good here. Magnus might need a different list setup but it was really good to get a game in with Haley2 again -and- play against Kingmaker's feeling I was in control.

Thorn ended up way too far out on the flank. Apart from this I was happy with my execution here. I managed to present and find all the angles I needed and denied him an opening to effectively strike back. Very satisfied with that!

Battle Report #314: Haley3 vs Vyros1

:: Prologue ::

I need more training with Haley3. It really is that easy. I have a friend who wanted to try out Vyros1 and I offered to play Haley3. He took me up on the offer and off we went!

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Major Prime Victoria Haley - WJ: +25
- Haley Past
- Haley Future
- Grenadier - PC: 9 (Battlegroup Points Used: 9)
- Grenadier - PC: 9 (Battlegroup Points Used: 9)
- Thorn - PC: 13 (Battlegroup Points Used: 7)
- Ironclad - PC: 12
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 4
- Charger - PC: 9
Ragman - PC: 4
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord - PC: 4
Storm Lances - Leader & 4 Grunts: 20
Trencher Infantry - Leader & 9 Grunts: 16

Opponent:

Dawnlord Vyros - WJ: +28
- Sylys Wyshnalyrr, The Seeker - PC: 4
- Chimera - PC: 8 (Battlegroup Points Used: 8)
- Griffon - PC: 8 (Battlegroup Points Used: 8)
- Griffon - PC: 8 (Battlegroup Points Used: 8)
- Griffon - PC: 8 (Battlegroup Points Used: 4)
- Griffon - PC: 8
- Griffon - PC: 8
- Griffon - PC: 8
- Sphinx - PC: 13
- Griffon - PC: 8
Arcanist Mechanik - PC: 2
Arcanist Mechanik - PC: 2
Arcanist Mechanik - PC: 2
Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress - PC: 3
Mage Hunter Infiltrators - Leader & 9 Grunts: 13

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

The scenario was Incursion and I went first. The Amon matchup was scary because of synergy. This matchup is more scary because of his speed. The idea was to get far up, quickly, so that he could not jam scenario shut and take a big lead.

:: Game ::

With last game's cav failure fresh in mind I weaved them into my lines this time around and made sure I had plenty of angles to engage through. I didn't bother with Tac. Supremacy because of Bird's Eye.

Sphinx hits a Grenadier, Lanyssa lands Hunter's Mark despite needing 9+ and it's on bottom of 1! A griffon goes in and does some damage. The rest run up behind to jam.

My opponent certainly has forced the issue here. I have to go in hard in return and it's what I do, feating and all. It turns out that Griffons are easier to kill than Crusaders...

...and they also hurt less in return. I feel quite comfortable here.

I mop up a lot and establish myself far up the field.

Vyros makes a desperate move personally.

Easy assassination setup which I go for. Vyros dies.

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

It's a bit of a weird matchup but good training none the less. Haley3 definitely felt up here, it might be different if Vyros gets to move first though. In any case this was a lot better for me to face than Amon. I fear durability and sustainable hitting power over the speed this list has for sure.

Good training and I felt I managed my list better this time than last.

Battle Report #313: Stryker3 vs Magnus2

:: Prologue ::

Finally I had the chance to play Kingmaker's! I had no idea what to expect so I fielded the Strykeforce.

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

(Stryker 3) Lord General Coleman Stryker [+28]
- Squire [5]
- Ironclad [12]
- Ironclad [12]
- Ironclad [12]
Trencher Infantry (max) [16]
Storm Lances (max) [20]
Storm Lances (max) [20]
Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress [3]
Gobber Tinker [2]

Opponent:

Magnus the Warlord - WJ: +28
- Mangler - PC: 15 (Battlegroup Points Used: 15)
- Nomad - PC: 11 (Battlegroup Points Used: 11)
- Nomad - PC: 11 (Battlegroup Points Used: 2)
- Talon - PC: 7
- Nomad - PC: 11
- Renegade - PC: 10
- Vanguard - PC: 11
Kell Bailoch - PC: 5
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor - PC: 5
Trencher Infantry - Leader & 9 Grunts: 16

THEME: The Kingmaker's Army

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

Some Merc janky jacks, Trenchers. Seems like a lot of meh choices. How hard can it be? Famous last words...

We play Outlast and Maggy goes first. I spread out. I fear scenario the most. I want to create space and hopefully set up to contain the feat and keep attritioning.

:: Game ::

Magnus runs everything up. Trenchers Dig In I believe.

I cloud up. Don't want alphas. Lances spread out. Fury on the left Lances, iron aggression on a clad and escort are all cast.

I make am istake as a Lance in the middle can be seen by the Mangler. It charges in to try and cripple an Ironclad, but rolls poorly and fails. Magnus moves up, gets thrown or slammed or whatever and feats left + top, catching a ton of my models.

Hot damn that feat is nasty! With Feigned Death I really don't have a play to do much either. Magnus feating left is a mistake for sure and I intend to make him pay for it. I get a clad into melee and put up Fury on Trenchers + feat. The Trenchers kill a Nomad and the clad does a bit of work.

The slugfest ensues.

Since I had to commit Stryker to remove a crucial model I was highly exposed. An assassination is fairly probable here (we rolled it out and it failed though) so I think it's a mistake. In any case Magnus plays for scenario. This could get scary as I feel I'm losing attrition.

So basically I have to contest or I lose. I send in as much stuff as I can.

The Ironclad and Tinker are the models Magnus has to kill to win. The Ironclad goes down. Because of that the game boils down to two attacks on the Tinker needing 8+ to hit, unboosted. They both miss and thus the game is over!

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

Wow, crazy game. The Magnus list is pretty raw and definitely could use some improvement. However the sheer power and flexibility of the combination of calamity, unyielding, feat... It's a lot stronger than it looks like on paper I think. Nomads don't scare me but throw in Unyielding, Escort and Calamity to the mix and it's a fairly nasty choice for its points.

The Strykeforce felt way out of its comfort zone here. I really missed the presence and flexibility of the Stormwall in this game, both for anchoring purposes, disruption, scenario presence and punching power. I might have to re-think my list.

It was a very, very tight game but I think we both felt we made too many mistakes. That being said I was super happy I finally got to play Kingmaker's though and I love seeing Mercs having so many powerful builds in Mk. 3!

Battle Report #312: Haley3 vs Amon

:: Prologue ::

I've played a handful of games this week which I haven't had the time to report on just yet. Expect a string of them to come up now in short time! First up is Haley3 vs Amon. I think this is an interesting test because if Haley3 has game into him, she might just be a decent Protectorate drop. The TL;DR of it is that it depends on a lot of things of course but this is a start.

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

Major Prime Victoria Haley - WJ: +25
- Haley Past
- Haley Future
- Grenadier - PC: 9 (Battlegroup Points Used: 9)
- Grenadier - PC: 9 (Battlegroup Points Used: 9)
- Thorn - PC: 13 (Battlegroup Points Used: 7)
- Ironclad - PC: 12
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 4
- Charger - PC: 9
Ragman - PC: 4
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord - PC: 4
Storm Lances - Leader & 4 Grunts: 20
Trencher Infantry - Leader & 9 Grunts: 16

Opponent:

High Allegiant Amon Ad-Raza - WJ: +29
- Hierophant - PC: 3
- Crusader - PC: 10 (Battlegroup Points Used: 10)
- Crusader - PC: 10 (Battlegroup Points Used: 10)
- Crusader - PC: 10 (Battlegroup Points Used: 9)
- Crusader - PC: 10
- Crusader - PC: 10
- Templar - PC: 15
- Devout - PC: 9
- Dervish - PC: 7
Allegiant of the Order of the Fist - PC: 3
Vassal of Menoth - PC: 3
Vassal Mechanik - PC: 1
Wrack - PC: 1
The Covenant of Menoth - PC: 4
Choir of Menoth - Leader & 3 Grunts: 4
Choir of Menoth - Leader & 3 Grunts: 4

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

We are playing Recon and Protectorate moves first. My plan is to see if I can force him to commit unfavourably and possibly even threaten a scenario angle.

:: Game ::

Fortify goes up on the Templar, Mobility + Synergy are cast. Shielding across the board.

Clouds, Distortion, Supremacy. Lances flank right. Probably too far out. I was afraid I would get jammed but with Ghost Walk it really is a non-issue. Furthermore, jamming that far out right puts them out of control. Poor play.

The Protectorate jacks decide to commit and try and form an impervious wall of steel. The thought is that hopefully there will be enough left alive post-alpha to hurt me.

I brainfart as I decide to send in Grenadiers instead of simply shooting and boosting. Since I have to buy melee attacks as opposed to getting them for free this is a waste of potential. My opponent also sang Shielding to prevent shenanigans (which I think is fair). In any case I decide to melee-commit just about everything. With aiming Grenadiers coupled with Flux they hit on 4s on engaged jacks and with Ragman are still PS15. I lose a lot of potential going into melee instead but oh well. The Lances are also horribly out of position. I send in Thorn to disrupt Templar +2 more. The alpha at least does work in the middle.

Synergy helps offset the worst of the disruption somewhat and Templar receives Empower. The retaliation is worse than I had hoped it would be. Amon's list really is tough.

The Ironclad was lucky to survive and even luckier as it rolls crazy dice with its open fist (hammer was crippled), killing a Crusader on full health I believe. I also manage to get some of the Lances in but it's still not spectacular.

The lines are really thinning out by now and it's a solid slugfest. For the next few rounds we just trade blows. My team is starting to run dangerously low...

Getting Haley out on the flag was something I should've done sooner. It finally puts the pressure on my opponent to commit to unfavourable fights and I manage to take the game home on scenario eventually, though at this point in time the attrition was in my favour as well because of the scenario pressure.

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

This much armour definitely felt uphill. That being said, I'm fairly sure I played my Lances way, way wrong here. I seem to often do this with Haley3 and it pisses me off. How hard can it be? They're a broken cav unit, I should be able to produce stellar results with them. It's like I'm still stuck in Mk. 2 revive mindset with them. I really have to work on this.

Although chewing through all of this felt like an uphill battle I think better play on my part (Lances in better positions, shooting instead of going into melee with Grenadiers for example) might change the course of this game. I really want to try and get a rematch soonish to see if I can improve my play here and how that affects the matchup.

Interview with Patrick Dunford & Olov Winroth

One of the reasons why I keep posting tons of stuff about Warmachine is because I want to keep learning. I also want the people around me to learn, both because it motivates me and because I think that they in turn can help me improve. I've already gotten a ton of good discussions, valuable feedback and ideas from this blog so I most definitely intend to keep doing it. 

Obviously, with this being my blog the content here is polarized. Lately I've had several people comment on my lack of diversity in terms of what casters and lists I play for example. In order to broaden my perspective and provide you with something that isn't purely my ideas and thoughts, I've been lucky enough to have two of the very best Cygnar players on the planet sit down with me for an interview. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Patrick Dunford, who recently won the UK Masters, and Olov Winroth, who recently won the Iron Moot Invitationals. Let's take a look at some of their thoughts on Cygnar and recent experiences!

.::. What was the hardest game you had in the event you won?

Olov: 

"I had 2 really hard games. My first game vs. Tom Guans Wurmwood, because of unfamiliarity with the matchup and obviously facing a very skilled player. Also the final game vs. Johan Dyrlinds Vlad1, but mostly because I misplayed the final game horribly. Not to take anything away from Johan, he went for the right plays and is a skilled player but I had such a good matchup and almost screwed it up royaly."

Patrick: 

"There were two games that really stand out. Both were against members of WTC team Scotland. Not a coincidence. The first was against Frazer McFetridge playing Rask. I’d heard a lot about Rask and his tricks but had never played that matchup. I chose to drop Haley3 because her list had no hard targets where Rask could get value from the +6 damage buff on his beasts. The cloud wall and Temporal Distortion were also both really helpful. In the end the game played more or less as I suspected so I was pleased with my decision to pick Haley3 as it definitely gave me an edge in the matchup. The second was the finals against Alasdair Johnstone. We played the Haley2 mirror. The matchup is really weird but also very interesting. It plays out like a big puzzle in which both players have a ton of great options every turn but also have to think about a lot of threats. Dominate is especially scary and lets each Haley pick and kill an opposing warjack each turn basically for free. I got lucky and had an Arcane Shielded Stormclad survive being dominated into an opposing heavy. This swung the game in my favor and allowed me to Snowball from there."

.::. Going into the tournament, what matchups did you fear the most?

Olov:

"Wurmwood and Ossyan, the rest I thought I could handle somewhat reliably. As it turns out Haley3 is an ok drop into wurmwood though."

Patrick:

"Early in the edition it’s impossible to play against everything. I’ve found a lot of old casters have a new lease of life and many have a bunch of tricks that can catch you out if you’re not aware. I wasn’t worried about any caster in particular, but rather an opponent who was well practiced with a dark horse caster that I knew nothing about."

.::. Olov, you did not take Haley2 for any of the 2-list events at Iron Moot and the list you took to the IGQ was never played. Did you miss her? Do you consider a pairing without Haley2
to be our best one, potentially?

"I missed her ability to control games at times. Caine2 games tend to be quite volatile."

.::. Patrick, you have pioneered a rather unique approach for Haley2 for quite a while. Can you describe how you went about transforming your Mk. 2 variant of her to Mk. 3?

"I like to play hyper aggressive builds for Haley2 that maximize threat range and armor cracking. The idea is to deliver the army first and hard, feat to minimize retaliation and then hit again. Usually after that there’s not enough left of opposing forces to fight back. To achieve this I was running Stormclads and Lances in Mk2 so it was easy to transition to Mk3! One thing that made my lists unconventional was that I didn’t run Thorn in Mk2. There simply wasn’t enough Focus to fuel a hard hitting Stormclad and arc effectively. Of course Haley2 changed more than most casters between editions. Although she received numerous nerfs, Future Sight was a massive buff. With this ability she is the premier spell slinger in the game. For this reason I now always play her with an Arcnode. Powerup allows Haley2 to run a bunch of heavies and still arc all the spells she needs every turn. It’s the best of both worlds!"

.::. There has been a lot of talk about Cygnar's success recently, especially in Europe. Do you believe we are top dog now? If yes, why? If no, then who are?

Patrick:

"Cygnar are great right now, but so are a lot of other factions! It’s early days and I think people are often too quick to jump to conclusions about what is strong without getting enough games in. Most factions have powerful options and can hold their own. Standouts that have impressed me the most include Ret, Circle, Menoth and Mercs."

Olov: 

"I do believe Cygnar is in the very top, together with Ret and Khador."

.::. A lot of Cygnets out there struggle to grasp Cygnar's ability to deal with other competitive powerhouses. Do you have any tips for them?

Patrick:

"Cygnar is a faction that has a lot of powerful options to answer opposing threats. It can be tough to identify which of those options are necessary and figure out the best way to play them in specific matchups. The solution to this is practice! The more you practice the better you will be able figure out how powerful opposing options work and how to use our own forces to beat them. My second piece of advice is to not rely too much on standard Cygnar gun lines. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good gun line as much as the next guy, but your opponents will see them coming a mile away. Guns are what our opponents expect to see from Cygnar and know how to beat. If I take a gun line to a tournament I always make sure to pair it with a melee focused list that plays very differently. This gives a lot more flexibility in choosing your lists and helps you avoid bad matchups."

Olov:

"1. Play Haley3
2. Summon Echoes
3. ??????????????
4. Profit"

.::. Patrick, I know you have a lot of love for Maxwell Finn. Can you explain what makes him so great?

"Have you read his card? He’s insane! Seriously, Maxwell is a powerhouse. He’s an excellent piece that can be used in a variety of ways. His defensive stats are high enough that he can play out on a flank and beat most things or contest a scenario indefinitely. However, it’s his melee abilities that make him really shine. Killing spree and grievous wounds combine to punish tightly packed infantry. Most of the commonly used infantry in the meta right now fall into this category. Sentinels, Trenchers, Ironfangs and Reeves all tend to have to clump up to benefit from defensive abilities or to make CRAs. Finn also makes great use of a lot of faction buffs. He’s a lot of fun with TK and Temporal Acceleration from Haley2, is a nightmare to deal with when he has Bullet Dodger and works miracles with feats such as Siege’s Breach and Jake2’s Powerhouse."

.::. Olov, your Haley3 build has become pretty popular with Grenadiers being picked up left, right and center. I've heard multiple players wonder if they can deal with multiple heavies with this setup. Is this a problem you've experienced in your games?

"My Haley3 list has 0 issues with multiple heavies, thanks in large to the Grenadiers. They are amazingly good at putting the hurt on heavies from range. Basically everything in the list kills heavies and you even have some control tools in Domination, Force Hammer and Disruption from Thorn."

.::. What is your favourite caster to play?

Patrick:

"I like to play a lot of different casters and enjoy the variety. Haley2 is certainly the caster who I have played the most though and that’s because she’s the most fun. Every game with her is a puzzle to be solved and even after 4+ years of playing her in tournaments I still find that executing effective turns can be really satisfying."

Olov:

"Haley3, hands down, with Caine2 as a close second."

.::. Following your experiences thus far in Mk. 3 and your tournament wins, what is your current 2-list even pair? How did you end up there?
Patrick:

"I chose Haley2 plus Caine2 for WTC this year. Between the two I was able to cover a lot of bases. Haley2 did armor cracking and strong scenario play. Caine2 was more of a gun line, though not a totally dedicated one. I also ran a Stormwall in my Caine list. Stormwall has been given a lot of flak in Mk3 for being a less efficient choice, but it presents a big problem for opponents to deal with and its presence in a pair can be a help in list selection. Colossals are also not vulnerable to a lot of the anti-heavy control options that are becoming increasingly popular in the meta. I expect that they will continue to play an important role in Cygnar lists going forward."

Olov:

"My current pair is Haley3 and Haley2. Caine2 is good, but Haley2 added some much needed stability to the pair and more matchups where I could drop both lists potentially which put me ahead in list-selection."

.::. Thanks a lot for taking the time to reply! Any closing words or shoutouts?

Patrick:

"You’re welcome! Thank you for tirelessly creating content that’s interesting and helpful to the community. The volume and quality of writing on your blog is second to none. Keep up the amazing work!"

Olov:

"Thanks for having me!"

Thanks a lot for your time guys and the kind words, Patrick! I'll try my best to keep posting quality content.