070 Magnus2 Irregulars vs Haley2 HM
11.08.2020
It was time for the finals of the Steamroller where I somehow managed to dice and clock my way to win my heat just before summer. I played Magnus2 Irregulars and Fiona pirates. My opponent rolled up with a Haley2 HM and Stryker2 Flame pair. I was warned beforehand by another clubmate that my opponent probably would drop Haley because he would be tired of playing Stryker2 all the time. However, this being the finals and all I couldn’t help trying to think rationally about it…
So I started overthinking and came to the conclusion that my opponent would almost certainly drop Stryker2 since Haley2 would have one good and one bad matchup while S2 would have two advantaged matchups. I therefore dropped Magnus2 in hope of having a slightly better matchup than S2 into pirates. After all my opponent was sick of playing Stryker2 and dropped Haley without thinking more about it. This means that I was stuck into Magnus2 vs Haley2 which is a matchup I have played many times with no success. But at least I have experience in the matchup, so let’s see what happens.
https://conflictchamber.com/?c6201b_-205pnVnpnp5Ipb7jpkppoRq13F3Hchch
Mercenaries
[Theme] The Irregulars
[Magnus 2] Magnus the Warlord [+28]
– Blockader [33]
– Nomad [12]
– Nomad [12]
– Talon [7]
Alexia, Mistress of the Witchfire [7]
Anastasia di Bray [3]
Boomhowler, Solo Artist [0(6)]
Harlowe Holdemhigh [0(5)]
Hermit of Henge Hold [5]
Scythe [0(6)]
Idrian Skirmishers (min) [9]
– Idrian Skirmisher Chieftain & Guide [5]
Kayazy Eliminators [5]
Kayazy Eliminators [5]
https://conflictchamber.com/?c1201b_-1L8U9G9AakoZoTlN9coKoKoWpvlL
Cygnar
[Theme] Heavy Metal
[Haley 2] Major Victoria Haley [+25]
– Ironclad [12]
– Thorn [13]
– Squire [0(5)]
Glyn Cormier, Illuminated One [0(5)]
Grand Master Gabriel Throne [7]
Journeyman Lieutenant Allister Caine [0(5)]
– Firefly [8]
Morrowan Archon [8]
Morrowan Archon [8]
Order of Illumination Resolutes (max) [13]
Artificer Prime Nemo [18]
– Toro [13]
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Deployment
I get the first turn and my opponent takes the side without the obstruction. I think long and hard about objective choice since I really need pathfinder, based on my previous Magnus2 game with a similar terrain set up, but I decide that I really want Anchor to try and keep Magnus safe. It also stops Haley from TKing me back on feat turn to effectively “reduce“ my control range, which is a problem I have had in the past.
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Turn 1A
I measure out most treat ranges and run up staying outside as best as I can.
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Turn 1B
This is Haley2 after all, and it turns out that have made a small mistake. I have measured outside Glyn range, but forget that he can TK her up go get within range. If the banishment succeeds he can place one of my Nomads within shooting range of Nemo. She has FFE, so I just go ahead and burn my Hermit to save the Nomad not only of the damage, but also the d3 push. I should obviously have stayed 23” out of Nemo instead of 22”.
Lucky for me my opponent gets a bit boxed in with his infantry and ends up staying a bit further back than intended.
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Turn 2A
My opponent is staying so far back that I can’t feat this turn. Instead I need to find a way to contest in such a way that makes me not lose to many scenario points. I spend a long time this turn trying to set up, so I end my turn with 34 minutes left not having done any work. This is a problem, but probably necessary to avoid just losing. So there is a spot where I can both Nomads in relevant positions, but outside of a single TK/TA+banishment from Nemo’s Toro (13”). I can’t stay out of the total threat range, but this is the next best thing since it means that my opponent needs to spend more resources to get to me. I put the Hermit behind the Nomad by the flag to avoid Thunderbolt pushing.
Idrians spread out and stay out of 4” of the Blockader. This may be a bit too passive, but if I put them closer I am just giving the Firefly something to shoot at. I try to get clever with the Talon and put him up behind the forest, with Anchor and Bullet dodger, and out of LOS of everything. I know he may be able to TK himself up and find some angle anyway, but at least this creates some problems and maybe initiates a trade. One big mistake I make is not putting the right side Eliminators in the zone. My opponent is a bit low on contesting pieces on that side and really don’t want to sacrifice something important just to contest.
One thing I do right is give Scythe reposition and walk up to shoot Thorn. I get some decent rolls and actually manage to take out arc node.
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Turn 2B
This doesn’t help me much because the Nemo cheerleader crew can just walk up and repair Thorn’s arc node. Well well, at least I tried…
Haley feats and TKs both Nomads. He feats on Hermit which I thought was a pretty smart plan. Firefly somehow finds and angle on the objective and leaps out Harlowe. He wants to send the Toro into the Nomad near the flag in order to get the score, but but forgets to cast Locomotion. He therefore decides to delete the Nomad in the zone instead. Luckily for me, this was the Nomad he had feated on, which means that I now have a Nomad without feat available. Unluckily for me he has lost his cortex to shooting.
One of the morrowan archons gets stir the blood and walks up to hit the Talon, doing crazy damage, but not killing him.
Score 0-0
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Turn 3A
So I have successfully weathered the first turn, but now I need to survive the feat turn without losing too much of my army and still contest enough. The Blockader stays out of max Ironclad range. The Nomad walks up and takes a swing at the Toro. I forget to activate the Talon.
My two mistakes this turn is 1) spending 14 minutes doing basically nothing, and 2) putting Magnus in to far behind the forest when he hasn’t feated yet and has no pathfinder options. I am camping a bunch of focus, and my opponent is still in a good spot wise so there is no reason for him to go for an assassination.
Score 1-0
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Turn 3B
Toro kills the Nomad. Nemo needs a boosted S&P 13 to hit the Eliminator and gets it to clear the zone. This is a bit lucky, but not unreasonable. Ironclad contests the right zone and the Morrowan finishes off the Talon.
Throne scores my flag and the last Morrowan finishes off the objective after some more shooting.
Score 1-4
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Turn 4A
Well, this was what I was afraid of. Losing the eliminator in the left zone was a bit unlucky and maybe I should have put more stuff on my flag. But it is a difficult balancing act to not give away too much either.
At least I have an opportunity to get a semi aggressive feat if I charge the Morrowan arcon and reposition 1.5” afterwards. Somehow Magnus manages to completely wreck the archon with the armour piercing attack. Since our armies are so skewed to each side I decide to deny movement towards me and towards my right. I believe I catch everything except Haley herself and the Squire. Scythe shoots Throne off the flag.
The Two idrians and the Blockader go in on the Ironclad, but has a really hard time hitting mainly because of the wall and Morrowan archon. But luckily I manage to clear it out and get the point. Blocader contests the enemy flag.
Off camera I have decided to ambush in anastasia because I want to put two things in the zone. However I realize that my opponent can just TK forward and clear them out with the pulse bomb. I therefore decide to keep her way back and only contest with the one remaining eliminator.
Score 2-4
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Turn 4B
This time Nemo can aim and only needs an 11 to kill the eliminator and clear the zone. The Morrowan archon gets a shot at the Blockader and the Firefly shoots. Nothing else is really able to do much.
My opponent capitalizes on my mistake with Anastasia and runs the Toro up to deny me the spot that I had very obviously measured out for her to run to during my turn. Well done by my opponent and note to self that I need to play the metagame a bit better and not give away so easily my plans during my turn.
Score 3-5
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Turn 5A
Things are starting to slip away from me here as I decide to go for the spray on the Resolutes instead of just killing the archon. Of course I roll low on number of shots, and he is effectively DEF 7 due to the Archon being nearby. I therefore end up not killing a single Resolute.
But a bigger problem is that I charge in Two idrians on the Archon and forget that they are there hidden behind the Blockader. This means that I end up running the Eliminators out of the zone, believing that the Idrians are still all in it. This combined with the Anastasia mistake the previous turn means that my opponent scores one point and I score nothing.
Score 3-6
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Turn 5B
Glyn scores the flag and Nemo runs up to block the last spot where I could have theoretically run Scythe up to contest.
Score 3-8
Turn 6A
I do some stuff, but quickly realise that there is no way for me to score enough points in the two turns I have left. So we go ahead and call it there.
Sadly, a loss for the Mercenaries
:: Evaluation ::
More than anything this was a loss at list selection where I was overthinking the situation. My playing the first two turns was reasonable, except the time consumption. My feat turn was OK too, but I should have held Anastasia in ambush for two more turns. And the mistake with the Idrians out of the zone was clearly just one point wasted.
I wish I knew what to do with the Idrians this game. After looking at the pictures I am still not sure, but it is clear that they did absolutely nothing for me all game. Maybe I should have swung around a lot more during turns 3 and 4 and tried to get to the enemy objective and the Firefly. I think also that the Blockader should have been smack in the middle of the table. He ended up doing an important job against the Ironclad, but in this matchup he is the one piece that my opponent can’t TK. On the other hand he is also a giant beacon for the Firefly to kill my awesome RQ solos….