Cygnar Musings

Not even two months ago I wrote a piece about the current state of the meta. It was after the errata hit and I had a pretty good idea of what to expect then and what worked. Since then, so much has happened in this little game of ours! It's incredible how much it's changed the meta in general and Cygnar in particular. In this post I'll elaborate on my thoughts for Cygnar. With no less than 3 theme forces out, a new caster and a new character warjack I anticipate that we will not be getting anything new for a while. Hopefully this piece will remain relevant for more than a couple of weeks!

Let's start with a brief rundown of viable casters. I think Haley2, Haley3, Stryker1, Maddox and Nemo3 are our 5 strongest casters now. Behind them we have probably another handful, Caine2, Caine3, Siege, Stryker2 and maybe another Nemo. The first 5 here include 4 casters who get a lot out of the Storm Division theme, and Haley3 which is innately powerful and flexible. The key thing here really is Storm Division. It is a complete game-changer for us. I was recently interviewed by the Boxcars podcast (watch the episode here). While on the show I was asked what would make some of our poor units more playable. I argue that points is the number one balancing mechanism in the game. To take an extreme point of view, would you not take Long Gunners if a max unit was 1 point? Anyway, the point is that Storm Division allows for tons of points. Sure, you give up a few utility models, but you gain so much. Take Maddox for example, she can build 60 points to get 3 free choices. With Junior, Squire and a Stormblade UA that's +14 points. She's already +30 so against a non-theme force +25 point caster she's playing 19 points up. That's a lot. 

Let's take a look at the specific casters! 

I can't help but start with my favourite caster in the game: Haley2. Until recently I had not played her for a long time and it was refreshing to be back again, despite facing a supposed counter in my first game with her for months! Storm Division is great for Haley and it allows her to build a list which basically gets her everything she wants. The list pretty much builds itself:

(Haley 2) Major Victoria Haley [+25], Storm Division, Fuel Cache
- Thorn [13]
- Stormwall [39]
- Squire [0]
Storm Lances (max) [20]
Storm Lances (min) [12]
Journeyman Warcaster [0]
- Firefly [8]
Major Katherine Laddermore [8]

We give up Ragman and get 9 free points. I tried to build lists like that before Storm Division but it wasn't doable. The free points are amazing though and the theme benefits really, really helps her in mirrors. I have lost Haley2 to electro leaps before, it is a big weakness for her. Heavy Metal actually shows promise with Haley2 as well, she can get a staggering +17 points on top of an extra 2 inches for deployment. I've dojoed around a bit and my problem is that I can't find what I consider to be a good balance for her. Whatever I do she seems to end up struggling with too many usual suspects. Consider this for example:

THEME: Heavy Metal
Major Victoria Haley - WJ: +25
- Squire - PC: 0
- Stormwall - PC: 39 (Battlegroup Points Used: 25)
- Lightning Pod
- Thorn - PC: 13
- Charger - PC: 9
- Charger - PC: 9
- Ironclad - PC: 12
Journeyman Warcaster - PC: 0
- Charger - PC: 9
Captain Arlan Strangewayes - PC: 0
Lieutenant Allison Jakes - PC: 0
- Charger - PC: 9

Without the POW16 shooting and PS15 charges from the Lances I fear that this will struggle against arm-skew variants, which I really need Haley2 to handle. Harkevich and Amon stand out, the latter could possibly sing Passage all the way to the bank. For Haley2, if all else fails, the vanilla list I played pre-theme forces is probably still decent.

I'm going to keep this short. The advent of so many interesting casters and builds means that we might have another drop for Circle than Haley3. What's so interesting about this? The Ironclad was a central piece for combating Una2. Tremor was a key defensive ability to counteract Una's feated Griffons from jamming. Without the need for that I can see the list going for even more firepower. Consider this for example:

(Haley 3) Major Prime Victoria Haley [+25], Bunker
- Grenadier [9]
- Grenadier [9]
- Thorn [13]
- Defender [16]
Storm Lances (max) [20]
Trencher Infantry (max) [16]
Journeyman Warcaster [4]
- Charger [9]
Ragman [4]

I'm not sure whether losing Rhupert's worth it. I am sure however that I'm confident that the optimal Haley3 list is pretty close to this.

Stryker1 is a strong caster. Not our flashiest one, but he has an impressive set of support abilities and a feat which is so strong that in some matchups it's in effect as much of a time walk as Haley2's is. Stryker can probably be tailored a bit depending on what you want him to face, however no matter what I see him playing with Storm Division, Stormwall, Junior and Firefly. Consider this for example:

(Stryker 1) Commander Coleman Stryker [+30]
 - Squire [0]
 - Charger [9]
 - Firefly [8]
 - Stormwall [39]
Storm Lances (max) [20]
Storm Lances (min) [12]
Major Katherine Laddermore [8]
Journeyman Warcaster [0]
 - Charger [9]

Tons of firepower, cycle-able snipe on Chargers make them terrifying. Tooled for mirror, swapping out Chargers for Stormblades for example would give it a lot more punch in melee. Many options!

Like Stryker, Maddox brings a toolbox to the table. Lots of tools, in fact. Unlike Stryker her skill-set doesn't scream for a Stormwall and she does even more for her troops so I can see her taking advantage of the Storm Division bonus points even more so than Stryker. Spamming dudes and cheap-ish jacks ensures that she always has something to apply the feat to which will deal all sorts of damage.

Cygnar Army - 74 / 75 points
Theme: Storm Division
(Maddox 1) Major Beth Maddox [+30]
 - Firefly [8]
 - Charger [9]
 - Brickhouse [18]
 - Squire [0]
Storm Lances (max) [20]
Storm Lances (max) [20]
Stormblade Infantry [10]
 - Stormblade Infantry Storm Gunner (1) [2]
 - Stormblade Infantry Officer & Standard [0]
Major Katherine Laddermore [8]
Journeyman Warcaster [0]
 - Charger [9]

As many dudes as we can get and the double Charger setup again to cycle Snipe. I'm not 100% on Brickhouse but he's easily swapped for a Stormclad. Suffice is to say that Maddox can take a ton of strong models and she supports them very well. 

My new shiny toy! Initially when I tried him out I wasn't quite convinced, I couldn't make lists which I found to be strong enough. But then, of course, Storm Division happened and he got the free points he needed to reach critical mass: With lists like his based on a very powerful ranged alpha you need both enough models to saturate the table and enough output from said models to make the alpha absolutely lethal. I find that Nemo manages both and since I made the Storm Division list I have not been able to make any improvements: 

Theme: Storm Division
(Nemo 3) Artificer General Nemo [+25], Bunker
- Storm Chaser Adept Caitlin Finch
- Squire [0]
- Firefly [8]
- Firefly [8]
- Firefly [8]
- Dynamo [18]
- Lancer [10]
Storm Lances (max) [20]
Storm Lances (min) [12]
Major Katherine Laddermore [8]
Journeyman Warcaster [0]
- Firefly [8]

The list has kept impressing me. It has tons of good matchups and it's so hard to play against. It's made to play a game of attrition but has scary strong assassination angles and a legit scenario play. It also contests fairly well, making it hard for control-casters to do their thing. Magnetic Field is a game-breaker in this regard. Pre-theme force I had Reinholdt and a GMCA here. I have missed them surprisingly little. In fact the Squire's awesome and I love the Lancer, he's been an MVP piece in many, many of my games.

A lot of these lists are still very fresh. The meta's yet to adapt to all of the releases as of late and there are more coming almost by the week now. There could be some hidden gems out there, Heavy Metal looks promising for example and maybe Stryker2 can make a really strong list which nobody's found yet (Storm Division?) etc. That said the casters and list concepts above have all shown very promising initial results thus far. I won't have time to test them all personally but I know people who play just about every concept I don't. It's an amazing time for Swans for sure!

How does all of this fit together? The way I see it we need something to deal with melee monsters (and preferably accompanying casters, e.g. Amon in theme with High Reclaimer) and someone to take on the ranged wars. For the first category, Haley2, Stryker1 and Maddox all seem to fit the bill. They should all have game into arm-skew variants as well as mirror matchups. List specifics depend on how the meta evolves and what the pairing is. For the second part of the pair I see Haley3, Nemo3 and Stryker1 as the potential candidates. Haley2's time-walk effect works poorly against shooting. Stryker1's feat though is pretty legit against shooting!

So what will I be doing? I'm still not 100%, but the more I think about it, the more matchups I consider etc the more I find myself gravitating towards Haley2 and Nemo3 (with the lists above). SmogCon's up in a little over a week so there's a handful of games left at least. Furthermore SmogCon's Masters Heats are 3-lists so I'll just run with Haley2, Haley3 and Nemo3.

Will another caster knock out a Haley from our optimal pairing? I don't know, but it feels like it could certainly be a thing. Is a pairing without a Haley at all possibly our best? I mean it really could be, so many casters have gained so much from these recent releases. Hopefully this piece has given you a thing or two to think about, go out there and show everyone that the Age of Cygnar is upon us!

Battle Report #414: Haley2 vs Harkevich

:: Prologue ::

Following a round against Circle it was time for Khador! I requested Harkevich as I anticipate him to be a standard drop into Cygnar. My opponent happily obliged and off we went!

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

(Haley 2) Major Victoria Haley [+25], Storm Division, Fuel Cache
 - Thorn [13]
 - Stormwall [39]
 - Squire [0]
Storm Lances (max) [20]
Storm Lances (min) [12]
Journeyman Warcaster [0]
 - Firefly [8]
Major Katherine Laddermore [8]

Opponent:

Theme: Winter Guard Kommand
(Harkevich 1) Kommander Harkevich, The Iron Wolf [+28]
 - Juggernaut [12]
 - Juggernaut [12]
 - Kodiak [13]
 - Kodiak [13]
 - Kodiak [13]
 - Marauder [10]
 - Marauder [10]
Jozef da man [0]
Winter Guard Infantry (max) [10]
 - Winter Guard Rocketeer (3) [6]
 - Winter Guard Infantry Officer & Standard [4]

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

Harkevich I anticipate will be a classic pairing into Cygnar. He's combination of speed, durability and LoS-denial coupled with the innate damage output in everything Khadoran could overwhelm Haley. A perfect test for the Storm Division!

:: Game ::

Going second on Take and Hold means I anticipate an attrition-fest. I don't see anyone getting the upper hand here on scenario. That being said I'll position Haley nearby so I can jump to the flag if need be. Khador runs up and clouds.

I fan out, trying to get as good lances as possible for Lances.

Khador keeps on coming. The Clouds are focused on the big Lances.

I did consider the following here: Walk in with a Stormwall and hopefully kill a jack and dominate another to have Lances charge. Covered by Temporal Shift, of course. However, if I do that he can counter-feat and probably jam lances. Doesn't sound good.

Instead I am able to send Thorn around to see past the edge of the clouds, Dominate + TK a Kodiak out and kill it without any other retaliation.

Harkevich commits and feats. I don't expect to get a lot of work done under his feat so I counter-feat and jam with the minimum amount of models needed. The Stormwall tries to smack a Kodiak but dice off 3 coupled with low damage rolls mean I just tickle it.

Under my feat the Khadorans can't do a whole lot.

I can't find very good angles for the Lances. Too much terrain in my way. Grinding ARM20 jacks without Lances fully operational? Hard. Thorn bashes out the Cortex on one of the Marauders and disrupts the other. I TK a Juggernaut so it's outside of Harkevich's control range. The Stormwall kills a Kodiak and Laddermore + Lances leave the last Kodiak on a few boxes.

With this I have ensured 4 jacks receive no focus next turn out of the 5 remaining. Let's see if it's enough.

The infantry is getting up the Field and are making its presence felt. Lances lose a couple. Marauders miss Thorn with combo-smite. I giggle as I dodge away. Lucky, but I'll take it! A lucky Kodiak dismounts Laddermore while the Jugger which received focus killed the Firefly.

I need a good turn now and I get it: The remaining Kodiak's killed alongside the 2 Marauders (both harmed from before). I start wacking the juggernauts with the remaining Lances but don't cripple anything.

My opponent makes one last attempt at winning the attrition was and commits both Juggernauts to the Stormwall. It's not enough (not even close) and we call the game.

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

This matchup feels fairly even. It's very skill-intensive with Khador threatening to overrun everything Cygnar in sight whereas Haley has to be very careful to allow her to pick off pieces at a time and Divide and Conquer the Khador jacks.

I look forward to playing more against Harkevich and learning the little bits here and there of how he works. I didn't get enough out of my Lances in this game and that can surely be improved.

Battle Report #413: Haley2 vs Krueger2

:: Prologue ::

Finally back to Haley2. I don't even know when I last played her but it's been long enough, that's for sure. The feeling I had when I planned my first turn is accurately described in this tweet: https://twitter.com/courageofcaspia/status/828320795730518016

The amount of Nemo3 locally combined with the Storm Division Haley lists have seen some Circle players reach out to one of their less popular casters: Krueger2. Immunity to Electricity in CMD is a good start. However Lances are about more than shooting, right?

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

(Haley 2) Major Victoria Haley [+25], Storm Division, Fuel Cache
 - Thorn [13]
 - Stormwall [39]
 - Squire [0]
Storm Lances (max) [20]
Storm Lances (min) [12]
Journeyman Warcaster [0]
 - Firefly [8]
Major Katherine Laddermore [8]

Opponent:

(Krueger 2) Krueger the Stormlord [+27]
 - Feral Warpwolf [18]
 - Pureblood Warpwolf [17]
 - Megalith [20]
Sentry Stone & Mannikins [5]
Sentry Stone & Mannikins [5]
Tharn Bloodtrackers (max) [16]
Una the Falconer [4]
 - Scarsfell Griffon [8]
 - Scarsfell Griffon [8]
Swamp Gobber Chef [1]

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

We are playing Extraction and Krueger's getting first turn. My plan is to stay cautious in the beginning, spread out to try and force him to give up some lightning immunity and pressure scenario from bottom of 2.

:: Game ::

Circle advances. Krueger puts up his -4 RNG spell and a LoS-denial section is put down.

Bloodtrackers at ARM11 are juicy targets for Time Bomb. No less than 3 of them are positioned close enough to a Mannikin for Haley to try her fun with this. Because of Una's Scarsfell ignoring the cloud from my Fuel Cache I have to get Thorn back to safety as well which involves a TK. Oh well, don't have anything better to spend my focus on so here we go. The 3 Bloodtrackers die. Lances spread out.

With the way I'm positioned the Sentry Stones have to commit to get any work done. They do push the LoS-denial further up on the left flank. Pretty much expected. Some boxes are dealt to my Firefly.

I kind of want to send a ton of my models up the field now and cover them with Temporal Shift. To do this the Feral ends up outside of 16" but within 18" so that he's in my feat but a simple TK will allow him to charge the Stormwall, for example. I'm fine with this really as there's no other pressure here and that could lead to a collapse of the center for Circle.

I TK the Griffon on the hill around. Doing this allows the Stormwall to go in, establishing itself in a dominating position and taking a point while killing the bird. Furthermore it's within range to pod behind Haley so that Krueger cannot feat her 3" back. Tricks! I also send the Firefly in to kill a Sentry Stone (awesome!) and the Lances get a couple of Mannikins.

Krueger counter-feats and withdraws. The last Griffon is put up to contest. 1-1.

I underestimate Megalith's durability. My plan is to charge him with Laddermore and a Lance following a TK around and then shoot him to death with the Stormwall. Odds Machine puts this at around 40% so it's a fairly dicey move, and uncalled for, but the dice are with me and he dies. I guess I'm just used to Circle heavies dying. Megalith's a different one though for sure.

A couple of Lances are killed with the Pureblood committing to the two on the left. This effectively puts the beast out of the game as it's too far away, so I'm ok with losing the Lances for this. Laddermore is dismounted in the middle.

I clean up the Feral and leave the Stormwall outside of the Pureblood's range. There are hardly any Circle models left so my opponent concedes.

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

It's good to be back! Going into the anti-Storm Division tech from Krueger2 wasn't the easiest start but a good test for sure. The lack of shooting and electro leaps doing, well, anything at all was definitely a big factor. We'll see how popular this build ends up being, I can see variants of it proving problematic. If you can get control of the heavies though I believe scenario openings should definitely exist.

In this game I got off to a good start, taking out infantry models whenever you can is important as Cygnar. The turn 1 Time Bomb made my life a lot easier. On my feat turn I had a couple of Lances a little too exposed and paid the price as they died. Oh well. Lastly, the Megalith situation could've been handled a lot better. Maybe the Stormwall could've charged him or something.

In any case it's great to be back to Haley2 and this list is really promising!

Understanding Mistakes

"Do you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to kill your caster." The crowd started laughing. I thought it was a joke. I was in complete control of the game. Was I not? What on Earth was he talking about? "I am going to charge your Stormwall, buy attacks and use beat back all the way around the Stormwall and then kill your caster. At least that's the idea!" Now he was laughing. What I thought was just a joke at first was quickly materializing as a nightmare, a slight mistake on my part to an otherwise exceptional game in which I had created all the openings I needed and capitalized on mistakes ranging from strategical to technical from the very first turn. Would it all come down to unknowingly leaving Haley2 vulnerable in her spot as opposed to literally moving her like 1" to the left? 

The assassination run described above occured at my first major Warmachine & Hordes event: The Swedish Masters in 2016. On top of that this was the final game. The one where, you know, the winner kinda takes it all. It was a painstakingly long endeavour to sit through it as the judges meticulously measured up Axis' position as he bought 2 attacks per focus spent to dance around the Stormwall.

In Warmachine & Hordes, mistakes are made all the time. Quite literally I believe that every turn ever played has mistakes. I believe that mistakes define our games. There are too many variables to calculate, too much to remember, too little time, too many unknowns. Succumbing to paralysis by analysis is common and people clock out. At the end of the day a lot of the things we do are based on our gut feeling.

:: Simplicity ::

Consider chess. Chess has existed for many hundreds of years. It has been played competitively for decades. The best chess players in the world make a pretty decent living off of the game. Comparing chess to Warmachine & Hordes reveals a glaringly obvious difference: Chess is so simple! Everything's in a fixed starting position, you have a very finite set of options and you only move one piece at a time. Despite this simplicity, the age of the game and the level of skill involved from the many experts who have dedicated their entire lives to this, mistakes are made. All the time.

:: Own Your Mistakes ::

Acknowledging that you will make mistakes is one of the first steps to truly understanding mistakes. We start second-guessing ourselves. We become unsure. We let our mistakes consume us. Indeed, the mistakes own us. Acknowledging that mistakes are inevitable is a necessity in order to turn this around: Do not let the mistakes own you. Own your mistakes. Here's an example from one of my own games: In the Iron Moot Iron Gauntlet Qualifier finals against Karchev's Mad Dogs I needed to get the most out of my turn, truly maximize my list's damage output to be able to grind him down. A stupid mistake with my Firefly (more on this matter later) did not allow my Ironclad to charge and kill a Mad Dog as intended. This would frustrate anyone and it frustrated me quite visibly (report can be found here). If you check out the YouTube video linked in the report you can even hear the commentators mentioning that I'm visibly annoyed. At that point in time I knew I had to let it go. I had to own that mistake and put it behind me. There was still a game to be played. When my opponent finished his turn, I was honestly over it. I was clear to focus again, paying no heed to this mistake and my focus was 100% for the task at hand. I played an amazing turn, dice co-operating certainly helped, and the advantage I forced here ensured I won the game. I might not have if the mistake had still disrupted my concentration. Everyone makes mistakes. Make sure you own yours.

:: Mistakes Define Games ::

In my experience, Warmachine and Hordes is a surprisingly well-balanced game. With a few outliers. most games I play tend to be won or lost when one side manages to find an opening and press the advantage. What's interesting is that these openings are, more often than not, the result of one player making a mistake. I was recently told that I'm very critical of both my own play and that of my opponents in my reports. That's probably true! When I write reports I'm always looking for mistakes on both sides. Did I overlook something? Could I have played better? Likewise: Did my opponent let me get away with a mistake which should've cost me the game? Could he have punished me for it?

In practice games I often play with a lot of open discussions, take backs, resets and concessions. We are, in a nutshell, trying to minimize our mistakes. Often times you don't see a mistake up front. I've often told my opponents - and have them tell me - stuff like "If you do that, you lose the game". We then discuss why and typically reset. Although you can't necessarily see it up-front, once you're in the position and your opponent is explaining it to you, you'll probably realize your error. At that point in time, you've got the valuable lesson you needed. There's no point playing it out. If your main goal is to become a better player, your time is best invested in resetting (either an activation, a full turn or even the entire game, depending on the situation). People ask me how I get to play so much. Open discussions during games, take-backs and concessions help me have shorter practice games, leaving room for more situations to learn, more lessons to take away and more mistakes hopefully avoided.

:: Mistakes And The Deathclock ::

I play a lot with proxy bases. Especially with casters like Haley2 and Haley3 where specific positions are key, I play with proxy bases no end. I had a game recently where I had 20 proxy bases in play at one point in time, on top of 15 other markers to help me visualize what I wanted to do. Obviously, this consumes a ton of time. Referring back to the Firefly incident above, what happened was that I was pretty sure my Firefly could run far enough to get out of my Ironclad's charge lane. I didn't bother spending time putting down the proxy base and finding the precision measuring tools, I just started moving the model. Suddenly I had spent the entire 12" and he was in the middle of where he should definitely -not- have been.

Two things are important here: In a proxy-world I see a lot of people, even in tournament settings, giving themselves take-backs in situations like this. They'll simply go "eh, no that doesn't work" or something like that and retract their movement. This is, quite literally, cheating. It's not a particularly bad case of cheating, but it's clearly against the rules. In the heat of the moment I can completely understand it, I've probably done the same myself, but I aspire not to. In this specific game I did no such thing, if memory serves I didn't even ask my opponent. I knew I had made a big mistake, but I respect the rules enough to let it be and just move on. Likewise I expect my opponents to respect the rules as well. Depending on how serious the tournament is, (a local 16-man Steamroller is a quite different thing than an Iron Gauntlet Qualifier event) this might vary of course and I may be more lenient, with my opponents at least.

The other important thing is that the clock provokes mistakes like this. We are all stressed out by our lack of time. At some point or another it affects us. We think we're fine but suddenly realize we're not. Time management is a very important skill in this game. You forgot to feat? Chances are it's the clock messing with your head, just like I forgot to pre-measure my Firefly's landing spot. A mistake is a mistake and in my opinion they're all fair game to capitalize on. I also have a principle regarding nudging, which happens too often when we want to measure something in detail: "My nudge, my fault, you get the benefit of the doubt, your fault, vice versa". See an example in this report.

:: Summary :: 

Mistakes happen. All the time. We cannot let them affect us. We must respect them, learn from them and look for them. To become better players we need to cope with them, not let them drag us down. In practice games, identifying mistakes is one of the most important things you can do. In tournaments, be strict but fair. All mistakes are essentially the same: We simply aren't playing optimally. Sometimes it's forgetfulness, sometimes we don't know better, sometimes we assume. Learn to understand mistakes and their importance in defining the games you play.

'Another snake eyes?!' Axis had somehow managed to miss the Stormwall on two of his attacks, needing 3+ to hit. I was hoping so badly that he would fluff even more. My experience against Convergence was limited to say the least and I had never seen a move like this before. "Ok, I'll buy another attack. Hit! Move..." Axis was getting dangerously close to Haley2 but he was also running out of focus. I did the math, he needed at least two attacks or a boosted damage roll to theoretically kill her. A few more attacks and beat back on the Stormwall to inch ever closer. "Ok, I am now within melee range of Haley. I have 2 focus, enough to buy 4 attacks." I knew he needed two hard nines to make it. The first missed. The second missed. The two last would both need to hit. The first missed! I couldn't quite believe the math despite having been over it many times. My opponent looked resigned. "I'll just roll the last one anyway." Another miss. Yes!! "Good game. man. I tried!" A minor mistake nearly cost me the game, but sometimes dice have their say as well. Next time, I might not be this lucky. 

PS! The full report can be found here. 

Battle Report #412: Haley3 vs Ossrum

:: Prologue ::

Rematch time! This time Ossrum went first and my opponent had learned a few lessons on threat ranges, aggressive commitment etc. Let's get to it!

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

(Haley 3) Major Prime Victoria Haley [+25], Bunker
 - Grenadier [9]
 - Grenadier [9]
 - Thorn [13]
 - Defender [16]
Storm Lances (max) [20]
Trencher Infantry (max) [16]
Journeyman Warcaster [4]
 - Charger [9]
Ragman [4]

Opponent:

(Ossrum 1) General Ossrum [+28], Fuel Cache
 - Grundback Blaster [6]
 - Grundback Blaster [6]
 - Grundback Gunner [6]
 - Grundback Gunner [6]
 - Grundback Gunner [6]
 - Grundback Gunner [6]
 - Grundback Gunner [6]
 - Grundback Gunner [6]
 - Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator [4]
Horgenhold Forge Guard (max) [16]
Horgenhold Artillery Corps [6]
Horgenhold Artillery Corps [6]
Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios [7]
Kell Bailoch [5]
Anastasia di Bray [3]
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt [8]

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

Not much changes because Ossrum goes first in terms of game plan.

:: Game ::

Bunnies, bunnies bunnies! The nimble chickens are running up with the Forge Guard following behind.

Clouds are put up.

Bunnies decide to consolidate for one turn, getting the Forge Guard further up.

I figure I can push the clouds a little further and get a bunny or two: By reviving a Trencher I can inch up the right Grenadier and put shots from him and the Defender into Bunnies, along with the Charger. I only got 1 because DEF12 is a thing against RAT6, apparently.

...and Junior's hiding, anticipating a commitment + feat.

Bunnies go in and wreak havoc. Lots of shots connect and I lose more than I had hoped.

It's hard getting a lot of work done on Ossrum's feat turn so I decide to focus on shooting the Forge Guard, clouding up and pulling back. I do send in the Lances, hoping Reposition will help them out again.

I lose no less than 4 Lances. Not good. Is there enough retaliation left in my list now?

No option but to go all in. The Haleys charge and feat. I cloud up Prime and wipe out most of the Bunnies.

This fight of attrition is swinging back and forth. I think I'm slightly ahead but my opponent gets a very good turn. However, he's been a little greedy...

...and an exposed Ossrum goes down to a Force Hammer from Prime with follow-up shooting!

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

A great game, surely better than the first! My opponent managed to time his commit very well now and gave me tons of problems. He got a lot of work out of Eiryss and even Aiyana + Holt helped out in the end game.

This matchup feels really even where the best player will likely come out ahead on attrition. The clouds are so problematic for Ossrum, but on his feat turn the sheer speed and durability of his list can create the opening he needs to just power through.

I'm sure I'll play this matchup many more times as one of my most active opponents recently switched to Mercs (hence the proxy-heavy army). A very good couple of games to get back into Haley3 for sure!

Battle Report #411: Haley3 vs Ossrum

:: Prologue ::

NM is over. We've had a weekend filled with angry birds, lightning, High Reclaimer assassinations and so on. What do we do? Take a break? Nah, back to work! This is from our club last night. Game on again, no rest for the wicked:

Stryker3's back where he belongs: On the shelf. It's been a crazy ride, but it's time to get back to business. I haven't yet decided what my pairing will be but suffice is to say it will likely include at least one Haley! I know Nemo3 quite well by now so it's time to practice Haley2 and Haley3 again. I was up against Mercs which means Haley3.

:: Lists ::

Cygnar:

(Haley 3) Major Prime Victoria Haley [+25], Bunker
 - Grenadier [9]
 - Grenadier [9]
 - Thorn [13]
 - Defender [16]
Storm Lances (max) [20]
Trencher Infantry (max) [16]
Journeyman Warcaster [4]
 - Charger [9]
Ragman [4]

Opponent:

(Ossrum 1) General Ossrum [+28], Fuel Cache
 - Grundback Blaster [6]
 - Grundback Blaster [6]
 - Grundback Gunner [6]
 - Grundback Gunner [6]
 - Grundback Gunner [6]
 - Grundback Gunner [6]
 - Grundback Gunner [6]
 - Grundback Gunner [6]
 - Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator [4]
Horgenhold Forge Guard (max) [16]
Horgenhold Artillery Corps [6]
Horgenhold Artillery Corps [6]
Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios [7]
Kell Bailoch [5]
Anastasia di Bray [3]
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt [8]

:: Pre-Battle Thoughts & Deployment ::

The scenario was Recon and I won the roll-off. The ideas to get up the table here and slowly get ahead on attrition until the Mercenary forces have to commit, at which point I can evaluate whether to go for a counter-charge or consolidate my position.

:: Game ::

Long time no Haley means traffic jam's a little harder than it should be. It's far from a crisis but it shows the need for more practice.

The proxy-based bunny army is very cautious. Too afraid of Grenadiers, if they move max to shoot they won't be covered in clouds.

I edge up and keep Lances far back because I anticipate a feat-push from Ossrum.

The push never comes, yet the feat does. Spray-bunnies take out a few Trenchers.

I simply consolidate and wait out the feat.

Bunnies commit.

The counter-charge is devastating and my opponent concedes at the end of my turn:

Victory to the Swans!

:: Evaluation ::

A typical mistake against Haley3 is pushing too hard, too fast. Another typical mistake is to play the waiting game. Finding the right balance between these two can be very hard. In this particular game the problem for the Bunnies was that they didn't commit on feat turn. By simply consolidating my position I didn't have to care about the +3 ARM from the feat and could wait it out.

It's good to be back with Haley3. I've made a small change in the list, ditching Rhupert to get the Defender "upgrade" from the Ironclad. The idea is to get more firepower and I think Haley2 will be the designated Circle drop, meaning Tremor's not as essential as it has been (because of Una2 no longer being a Haley3 matchup). It'll be interesting to see how that goes in the games to come.