Game 111: Kaelyssa vs Kraye

Game 111 – Vs Stuart Groves – Cygnar – 11/11/17

My list:

Kaelyssa, The Night’s Whisper (Legions of Dawn)

-Helios

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

Eiryss, Angel of Retribution

Max Dawnguard Sentinels

-Dawnguard Sentinel Officer and Standard Bearer

Max Dawnguard Sentinels

-Dawnguard Sentinel Officer and Standard Bearer

Min Dawnguard Destors

Min Dawnguard Destors

Dawnguard Sentinel Scyir

His List:

Captain Jeremiah Kraye (Heavy Metal)

-Squire

-Centurion

-Centurion

-Cyclone

-Hammersmith

-Hammersmith

-Minuteman

-Minuteman

-Sentinel

Captain Arlan Strangeways

Viktor Pendrake

Min Battle Mechaniks

Min Battle Mechaniks

Round 2 of Blood and Oil and I am the one player paired down into a player who lost the first round. Not ideal for SoS but that doesn’t matter if you keep on winning. Stuart had a list pairing of Kraye, Nemo3 and Sloan, and I was certain enough that the threat of Issyria would scare off Nemo, and that Kaelyssa could play into the rest. I was right as Stuart dropped Kraye. I won the first turn and we got moving.

Nothing too complicated here, get the army up the table (with the theme benefit the Sentinels can get to the 19” line which is so much better than pre-theme) and throw out some upkeeps, with Refuge goes on Kaelyssa and Blur on Helios. There isn’t really any infantry jam for the Destors to deal with so they flank to cause problems or finish off jacks later on.

Kraye casts Admonition on himself and Countermeasures onto the central Minuteman before he and his forces advance quickly up the table. Both Centurions use Polarity Field in order to prevent charges and Trample-Reposition into aggressive positions. The Cyclone puts down a Covering Fire in front of the Sentinels to hold them back.

Time to get ahead in the game and keep tight so that I don’t have to give anything back in return. Kaelyssa Feats and advances up, shooting a Dispel shot into the Minuteman to remove Countermeasures and a Stall shots into both the Minuteman and the right Centurion, making both Stationary. Eiryss then Disrupts the Centurion, making it effectively a paperweight for a turn. My forces on the left then destroy the Centurion on that side as well as the Minuteman, and I sit out of threat a heavy and a light to the good. A strong start.

With limited options due to Kaelyssa’s feat being up Stuart just repositions and tries to limit my choices in the next turn. The Covering Fire from the Cyclone gets moved over and he takes a few unsuccessful potshots at Destors. All the zones are contested, so no points are scored.

Getting hold of Kraye for an assassination is always going to be difficult, so I start looking towards scenario as my main victory condition, and the left zone is pretty weakly defended. The Destors clear out 3 of the Mechaniks and the Sentinels destroy the objective. Helios moves up and puts 3 boosted pull shots into the Cyclone, moving it into range of several Sentinels. Kaelyss and Eiryss lock down the right Centurion again. Things go worse on the right flank as I roll really badly on the Cycone, leaving it alive. I mess up my Destor activation, taking an Assault shot before resolving movement on the rest, and so miss my opportunity for some charges into the Minuteman. I score 2 points to lead 2-0.

My mistake with the Minuteman causes me real issues here, as he Leaps in, kills Eiryss, and Repositions into a threatening position behind my caster. The Hammersmiths deal some damage to Destors and some damage is done to my objective. The last Gobber on the left contests the zone so that nobody scores.

Other than the Minuteman behind my caster I have almost nothing to worry about, so just concentrate on continuing to push ahead. I kill the Hammersmith on the left flank and move several Sentinels back to deal with the light jack. Sadly most of them miss and it is left alive, so Kaelyssa just runs away, taking a bit of damage from a Free Strike. I clear the rest of his chaff leaving him with just a few models left. I move to a 3-0 lead, and he has nothing that can get into the left zone.

The writing is on the wall here, and so Stuart just looks to score points where he can. He finishes off the objective and kills off another Destor and a handful of Sentinels, but he is quickly running out of options. We both score to move to 4-1

With only the Hammersmith contesting the central zone I decide not to mess around and just finish the game. The Sentinels walk away, Helios aims and pushes the jack out of the zone. I score my final 2 points to win 6-1.

VICTORY

A reasonably standard Kaelyssa game into this kind of list. Other than the Minuteman I wasn’t really under any pressure at any point, and once I realised I could just run away from it that issue was removed. Kaelyssa is so good at getting ahead and then staying there to ride out a victory, and this was a perfect example of that. I always judge myself in large events by my ability to get to 2-0, as from that point you are in the event and properly competing. From this point anything else is a bonus.