141 Thexus1 OT vs Haley2 HM
05.11.2021
We have time to at least start another game so I swap to my Thexus list which is a more realistic matchup anyway.
Mercenaries
[Theme] Operating Theater
[Thexus 1] Exulon Thexus [+29]
– Doctor Stygius [0(4)]
– Warden [10]
– Warden [10]
– Warden [10]
– Warden [10]
– Warden [10]
Cephalyx Agitator [0(2)]
Cephalyx Agitator [0(2)]
Pistol Wraith [0(4)]
Void Archon [9]
Asphyxious the Sanctified [14]
– Stalker [8]
Cephalyx Overlords [6]
Cephalyx Overlords [6]
Croe’s Cutthroats (min) [10]
– Cephalyx Dominator [1]
vs
https://conflictchamber.com/?c1201b_-1L8U9B9c9AakanlNf5aj9boMaeaepveO
Cygnar
[Theme] Heavy Metal
[Haley 2] Major Victoria Haley [+29]
– Centurion [16]
– Firefly [7]
– Thorn [11]
– Squire [0(4)]
Captain Arlan Strangewayes [0(4)]
Journeyman Lieutenant Allister Caine [0(4)]
– Ace [10]
Journeyman Warcaster [3]
– Charger [9]
Thamarite Archon [9]
Field Mechaniks (min) [2]
Field Mechaniks (min) [2]
Artificer Prime Nemo [18]
– Dynamo [17]
Deployment
I win the roll off and decide to go first. I try to get a good read on where AS will end up, but this game the Jr. Warcaster has been deployed in between Nemo and the Centurion. I end up preying the Centurion. This is a more conservative approach with less upside, but my opponent is more likely to commit that than sending Nemo up the board.
Turn 1A
I take the same approach as the previous game where I try to stay out of base threat ranges. This time there is a bit more to struggle with because I have some critical pieces to protect against random Trick shots. I also have a super hard time killing the Dominator and end up leaving the Stalker behind to deal with him which is less than ideal.
Turn 1B
Opponent runs stuff up. Nemo takes some shots on the rightmost Wrecker. He is pushed back then walks forward due to Hyper aggressive but is finally knocked down and stops bumping into the Overlord. Arcane Shield goes up on the Centurion.
Turn 2A
I try to go for a big play to feat and remove both the Centurion and Dynamo in one turn. The Stalker and Croe’s can get onto the Centurion while I can get a Wrecker on Dynamo. I would probably need to run the Void up to apply Dark Shroud. The problem is that I cannot afford to cast Decel if I go for this play. There is a voice in my head that says that this play is way too greedy and in a tournament I would never go for it. But since this is Casual Friday I pull the trigger anyway. I need a 5+ to hit Dynamo with the TK and even tough I have a focus to boost I am a bit worried of the Arcane Bolt assassination so I try to hard roll it, but miss. To add insult to injury the Stalker and Croe’s also fail to remove the Centurion.
I did end up sequencing this badly because there would now not be any need to TK up the central Wrecker which would have meant that I would have been able to cast Decel when the Dynamo plan failed. However, I had already activated Stygious to TK up the Wrecker because he was sort of standing in the way for Thexus. What I should have done was to run the other Wrecker up for Spell driver so that I could delay the decision until I had seen the result of my offensive TKs.
Turn 2B
The rest of this game is just running through the motions. Haley feats and clears the front line. With no Decel up she is able to deal a lot of damage.
Score 1-3
Turn 3A
There is not much I can do through Haley’s feat. I try to put up a cloud wall in front of the objective to prevent my opponent from scoring four points next turn.
Score 2-3
Turn 3B
The cloud wall doesn’t really help much and my opponent kills and TKs stuff out of the zones and destroys the objective for the four points needed.
Score 2-7
Sadly, a loss for the Mercenaries
:: Evaluation ::
I still think this is a reasonably even matchup. Haley2’s feats hurts me a lot, but she also struggles to get through the Wreckers if I can keep Decel up (which I definitely should). If I can take out one of the heavy hitters pre-feat I think I would be in pretty good shape, but I have noticed that I consistently fall just a little bit short on damage on my early plays. The average damage on an Arcane Shielded Centurion is actually just 26 boxes unless I can spare the resources for a Hex Blast. I might need to look at bumping up the Croe’s to a max unit or add another Stalker on Gaspy4.