Game 257: Vyros2 vs Haley3

Game 257 – Vs Brett Wilkie – Cygnar – 13/09/18

My list:

Vryos, Incissar of the Dawnguard (Forges of War)

-Sylys Wyshnaylrr, The Seeker

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Griffon

-Griffon      

-Griffon

-Aspis

-Manticore

-Manticore

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

Arcanist Mechanik

House Shyeel Artificer

Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress

House Shyeel Arcanists

House Shyeel Arcanists

His List:

Major Prime Victoria Haley (Gravediggers)

-Ironclad

-Thorn

Captain Maxwell Finn

Commander Anson Hitch

Patrol Dog

Ragman

Trench Buster

Trench Buster

Trencher Master Gunner

Alexia Ciannor & the Risen

Trencher Express Team

Trencher Express Team

Min Trencher Infantry

-Officer & Sniper

-Rifle Grenadier

Max Trencher Long Gunners

-Officer

On the Thursday morning of WTC week I went to go and get some culture in Warsaw. It is an incredible city and I recommend anyone going to visit. Then the afternoon came and I went back to the apartment for some more practice games. First up was my team mate Brett with Haley3. This is a matchup that we feel I will have to take fairly often, so any practice is useful. I think that Brett’s version of Haley is stronger into me, as the Express teams get a lot of control work done. Brett win the first turn and we get moving.

The Echoes are cast, Tactical Supremacy is put onto the Trencher Infantry and everything runs up the table.

Vyros casts Deceleration and I advance up the table, using the central cloud and the forest on the left to screen my advance. Vyros throws a Twister at the long gunners hoping to get a good scatter but it moves away.

Brett repositions his forces, takes a few shots with the Express Teams and contests the two left zones with Haley Past, and the right with the Patrol Dog. He goes for a Dominate play against a Griffon, but misses the attack, so there is no Temporal Flux out for a turn.

I realise a mistake that I had made last turn and suffer for it here. Vyros being behind the wall means that I can’t charge and take out Haley Past, and so I have to build a fort of Jacks to protect against her. Vyros tries to take out Ragman with a Twister but leaves him on a box. I take out a few Trenchers and, more importantly, a Trench Buster without committing too much. 0-0

Brett takes out one of my forward Griffons and puts up Temporal Distortion. Some guns and a couple of charges from Thrall Warriors take out my objective, allowing the Ironclad to score the right zone and give Brett a 2-0 lead.

I look at an assassination this turn, slamming Thorn over Haley and then shooting her with Vyros and the Manticores, but I misallocate, forgetting to give the Aspis a focus to boost with, which takes it off the table. Instead I go for a sub-optimal attrition play, taking out Past Haley and the objective, as well as the second Trench Buster. Had I properly committed to attrition, I could have taken the Ironclad as well, but my indecisiveness let me down. I level at 2-2.

Brett kills 2 more Griffons and again scores the right zone. I still have enough jacks to feel well in the game but need a big next turn. 3-2 to Brett

The target for this turn is taking out both warjacks, and hopefully pulling back the attrition game to let me grind the game out. Again here I should have made a bigger play for Ragman, but needed Easy Rider to get the left Manticore into Thorn. Sadly I missed my second attack allowing him to Dodge away. I take out the Ironclad and the score remains 3-2.

Alexia and Haley past both come in under Ragman and the attrition game finally falls apart. At the end of the turn I only have a single Griffon left.

I go for a very long odds assassination on Haley which doesn’t come off. I concede.

DEFEAT

This game got out of control early on and I could never quite pull it back. Had I taken out Ragman earlier in the game, or had Vyros better positioned bottom of 1 I could have possibly had enough momentum to get through the game. There are 6 threats (disregarding shooting) in most Haley3 armies. Thorn, Ironclad, 2x Busters, Alexia and Past Haley, and I find that you need to take out either 3 of them, of 2 and Ragman to be able to grind the game out. I was always slightly behind that curve and it made enough difference to lose me the game. It was a useful practice game though, and I feel that it is still a very close matchup between the 2.