Battle Report #63: Haley2 vs Vlad2 (Norwegian Masters 2017 #2)

After that rough double Gargantuan fight in round #1 I am paired against Glenn, a fellow Norwegian that I have not met before.

Major Victoria Haley (75 points)

Theme: Storm Division
Objective: Armory

Major Victoria Haley (Haley2)
* Squire
* Stormwall
* Thorn
Journeyman Warcaster
* Firefly
Major Katherine Laddermore
5+3 Storm Lances

Vladimir Tzepesci, The Dark Champion (75 points)

Vlad is an interesting caster, since he can turn any of his chaff models into crazy killers.

Glenn, The Dark Champion

Vladimir Tzepesci, The Dark Champion
* 2x Kodiak
2x Man-O-War Drakhun
2x Manhunter
Kovnik Jozeg Grigorovich
2x Kayazy Eliminators
5 Iron Fang Uhlans
6 Winter Guard Rifle Corps
* 3x Rocketeer

Deployment

Vlad wins the roll and off we go. I put the min Lances to harass the left flank and deny points, while setting up the rest of the army to grab the right zone.

Turn 1

Khador moves up.

I scoot up, with 2 of the left side Lances outside Uhlan charge range. Storm Lances are in position to clear the right zone.

Turn 2

The Winter Guard move up and actually manage to shoot Laddermore off her horse! I should have kept her a bit further back, I guess.

Turn 2 is Haley Feat turn. Stormwall smashes one Kodiak to bits. I forget the countercharge from the right side Drakhun, but he rolls terribly and fails to kill a Lance. Storm Lances and Laddermore clear the zone and jam up the Drakhun and Winter Guard as well as they can.

2-0

Turn 3

Vlad feats. Some of the left flank Uhlans are outside my feat range, and a couple of Lances go down. I should have placed them further away! The right side Drakhun murders two Storm Lances all by himself. Drakhuns are beastly! A couple of Winter Guard toe into my zone.

2-1

I smash the other Kodiak to bits. Lances and Laddermore clear my zone again and get rid of that pesky Drakhun.

4-1

Turn 4

The left zone is cleared but there is no way for Vlad to do much about the right zone. A couple of Eliminators go  to contest.

4-3

Haley2 blasts away the Eliminators with Arcane Bolts. The Stormwall toes into his zone.

5-3

Post Mortem

Typical Haley2 play here, using her feat both to get up on attrition and start capping points quickly! I feel I played this one solidly, I did make some mistakes with losing Laddermore early and some poor Lance positioning,

Battle Report #62: Haley2 vs Ragnor (Norwegian Masters 2017 #1)

First game in Norwegian Masters! I meet Swedish player Johan Sånesson, who seems to be coming down with the flu or something. I think he has Horgle2 as his other list. Haley2 is usually good against trolls so I drop her. He drops a double gargantuan Ragnor list. This seems like a lot to chew through...

Major Victoria Haley (75 points)

Theme: Storm Division
Objective: Armory

Major Victoria Haley (Haley2)
* Squire
* Stormwall
* Thorn
Journeyman Warcaster
* Firefly
Major Katherine Laddermore
5+3 Storm Lances

Ragnor Skysplitter, the Runemaster (75 points)

Theme: The Power of Dhunia

Ragnor Skysplitter, the Runemaster (Ragnor1)
* Trollkin Runebearer
* Earthborn Dire Troll
* Mountain King
* Glacier King
* Troll Axer
Janissa Stonetide
5 Troll Whelps
4 Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes
* Stone Scribe Elder

Deployment

Horrible scenario really, I cannot force him to split up. We'll see how hard this is...

Turn 1

He moves up.

I move up.

Turn 2

Trolls move up more, shooting Laddermore but she stays on the horse. Ragnor feats.

I envelop him and feat, hoping to threathen his backline.

Turn 3

He shuffles a bit and shoots a Storm Lance. I have to take care to spread the Lances out in a better way so that no-one goes out of command if the leader dies...

I go for one gargantuan but fail to kill it. Storm Lances go into his back line.

Turn 4

Rage and Pulverizer = one really really dead Stormwall. My objective is destroyed, too.

0-2

I have lost on attrition, but Ragnor is exposed. I remove the stone, hit him with a barrage of spells from Haley, and follow up with shots from the Firefly, Laddermore and Storm Lances. I barely fail, he is left at 3 boxes!

Turn 5

Om nom nom. Haley's spear Echo makes for a nice toothpick after a meal.

At least I got eaten by some good looking trolls!

Trollbloods win by assassination!

Post Mortem

That matchup is really hard on a dead scenario like this. I could have gone on the right side and tried to get Haley onto a flag, possibly, and maybe jammed him out.

In retrospect, maybe Nemo3 could have done this better... even he has problems taking out 2 gargantuans, but if one dies then it might get very hard to protect Ragnor afterwards.

Norwegian Masters 2017

The Norwegian Masters tournament is complete! The organizers did a fantastic job. Doing a 5 round + finals tournament in one single day is quite busy for everyone, but they managed to get everything started (and finished) when it was supposed to be done. The 2D6 club had made a completely new set of 2D terrain to play on, with 3D obstacles. All the scenarios and maps were in small convenient booklets.

Norwegian Masters underway

Lots of players had arrived from Sweden, Finland and Scotland. I got to play a couple of them, always great to face some new opponents!

Norwegian Masters (64-man Steamroller)

Jarle took the win, ending the finals with a quick Nemo3 pop-n-electrocute on Ossrum.

Tournament progress on Tiebreak

I went 3-2, which I think was a decent result.

Round #1: Haley2 vs Ragnor

Round #2: Haley2 vs Vlad2

Round #3: Haley2 vs Haley2 (not again!)

Round #4: Haley2 vs Vlad2

Round #5: Nemo3 vs Stryker1

I was a bit unfortunate by meeting 3 tanky lists that I think all required Haley2. Possibly Nemo3 could have dealt with Ragnor, but I was hoping to get some infantry spam later to drop him into. Also I had to drop Haley2 whenever I met Storm Division.

Jarle showing how it is done

In the last match I was then list locked, thinking "anything but Cygnar", and of course I got a Storm Division drop. This is pretty much an auto loss for me, so we cut the game short once it was obvious I could get no more Control Points.

Team Tournament (8 Team Steamroller)

On Sunday Nima, Kuba and I registered for the 3-round team tournament! I had played so much Haley so I decided to pick Nemo3 for this one. Our team did well, and went 2-1 and ended up in 3rd place overall. I did not do so well, making some mistakes and losing all my games, but hey, picking great teammates than can carry you is the #1 skill in team tournament, right?

Round #1: Nemo3 vs Karchev

Round #2: Nemo3 vs Una2

Round #3: Nemo3 vs Coven

Battle reports will be coming as soon as I get some rest after playing 8 Warmachine games in two days!

The future: My plan was to play Haley2 and Caine2 (and then, after the nerfs, Haley2 and Nemo3) until the Norwegian Masters tournament. I am already looking at some other lists to play! I haven't yet tried Haley3 and I guess every Cygnar player should have her in the stable. For the other list, I'm looking at trying out Stryker1 and even (gasp) Maddox!

Moot Point's Podcast about the tournament.

Army Lists for Norwegian Masters 2017

Real life intervened with my Norwegian Masters preparations! My son's birthday was last week, and so were our TTU taekwondo graduations. I also had to finish painting my lists, and did not have time to get many more games in! I have had many Haley2 games during the last half year, so I got that covered, I think. I have not had nearly enough Nemo3 games to be fully comfortable with the list.

The Haley2 Stormwall list looks awesome in theme, and can now deal with a good amount of infantry as well. I am probably going to drop Haley2 a lot.

I decided to make the Nemo3 list more flexible and assassination oriented by adding back Thorn, and have this list as the primary Legion drop. I decided to put in Armory to have some more game into Lytlyth3 and her wind wall. I did not have time to paint up a few more Fireflies and make the arguably stronger Nemo3 theme list, but having access to Reinholdt and Thorn is pretty sweet with Nemo3, giving lots of angles and shots.

Tournament info

Tournament progress on Tiebreak

Some of the armies that will be played

Artificer General Nemo (75 points)

Objective: Armory

Artificer General Nemo & Storm Chaser Finch (Nemo3)
* Reinholdt
* Dynamo
* Firefly
* Thorn
Journeyman Warcaster
* Firefly
Gun Mage Captain Adept
Major Katherine Laddermore
5+3 Storm Lances

Major Victoria Haley (75 points)

Theme: Storm Division
Objective: Armory

Major Victoria Haley (Haley2)
* Squire
* Stormwall
* Thorn
Journeyman Warcaster
* Firefly
Major Katherine Laddermore
5+3 Storm Lances

Battle Report #61: Nemo3 vs Vlad1

Placeholder battle report - I will write this battle report after Norwegian Master 2017 is done!

Battle Report #60: Haley2 vs Harkevich

Placeholder - I will write this battle report after Norwegian Masters 2017 is done!

Battle Report #59: Nemo3 vs Damiano (Internal Affairs VII #4)

For the final game it's Nemo3 against Damiano. My opponent also has Cephalyx and he is none too happy to see Nemo3 across the table when he has two lists with tons of infantry.

Artificer General Nemo (75 points)

Artificer General Nemo & Storm Chaser Finch (Nemo3)
* Reinholdt
* Dynamo
* Firefly
Journeyman Warcaster
* Firefly
Gun Mage Captain Adept
Major Katherine Laddermore
Ragman
5+5 Storm Lances

Captain Damiano (75 points)

Feign Death is no use against Electroleaps!

Theme: The Kingmaker's Army

Captain Damiano (Damiano1)
* Buccaneer
* 3x Nomad
Kell Bailoch
Orin Midwinter
Stannis Brocker
Steelhead Halberdiers
2x Steelhead Heavy Cavalry
2x10 Trencher Infantry + Officer & Sniper

Deployment

I win the die roll and we both deploy centrally.

Turn 1

I claim as much space as I can.

I should have been a little bit further back, Dig In + Advance + CRA and a double tap from Kell kills two Lances.

Turn 2

Time to start grilling. I move a Lance up on the left and bounce some shots off it. Lances charge on the right and clear out all the closest infantry. I couldn't land much on the heavies so I hold my feat.

Forgot to take a picture here. Damiano clears the right flank, but his Nomad ends up out of control. The right flag is capped.

0-1

Turn 3

I keep killing dudes on the left flank. I misplace in the centre where I could have score a point, but both Laddermore and Dynamo are slightly away from the flag. I feat and one Nomad is blown away,

Forgot to take another picture. Damiano hits back but he is running out of models in the center and left flank.

0-2

Turn 4

Dynamo shoots away a Nomad. I cap the left and center flags.

2-2

Damiano moves what he can. I cap the center again

3-2

Turn 5

I kill the Nomad and cap again.

4-2

My opponent surrenders, as he has no way of preventing me from capping the center again.

Cygnar wins by scenario!

Post Mortem

That was a long slog. I am sure I could have placed a bit better. Forgetting about Kell's double tap was a big mistake, which allowed him to eventually control that flank. Neglecting to cap a flag in the middle was just dumb - I would both have gotten a point, and would have forced him to run something in to stop me.

Battle Report #58: Haley2 vs Haley2 (Internal Affairs VII #3)

For the third game I face Haley2 Storm Division and Haley3. Obviously I cannot drop Nemo3 since he instantly loses to the Storm Division theme force. We both pick Haley2 with identical lists, and I look forward to one horribly boring slog where half our lists do nothing due to all the lightning immunity. Only difference is that I have Fuel Cache and he has Armory.

Nice Major Victoria Haley (75 points)

Theme: Nice Storm Division
Objective: Fuel Cache

Nice Major Victoria Haley (Haley2)
* Nice Squire
* Nice Stormwall
* Nice Thorn
Nice Journeyman Warcaster
* Nice Firefly
Nice Major Katherine Laddermore
5+3 Nice Storm Lances

Naughty Major Victoria Haley (75 points)

Theme: Naughty Storm Division
Objective: Armory

Naughty Major Victoria Haley (Haley2)
* Naughty Squire
* Naughty Stormwall
* Naughty Thorn
Naughty Journeyman Warcaster
* Naughty Firefly
Naughty Major Katherine Laddermore
5+3 Naughty Storm Lances

Deployment

Mirror mirror on the wall.

I win the die roll and the scenario is dead, so I might just as well claim some table space.

Turn 1

I zoom up the board.

Naughty Haley sets up shop just outside 13" of my Lances, and one Nice Storm Lance is shot off the board by Naughty Stormwall.

Turn 2

In a spectacularly silly maneuver I move up Nice Stormwall and try to pick off Naughty Thorn. I miss a shot and he steps away.

I also Telekinesis three of my left flank Nice Lances ahead so they can charge in and kill three Naughty Lances.

Naughty Haley forgets to feat. Naughty Stormwall moves in and punches one side away on Nice Stormwall.

Turn 3

It has actually never occurred to me that Haley2 can feat, send in a Stormwall, punch away one side on a Colossal, and then the other Colossal cannot really retaliate effectively with his broken arm. Then you can finish off the Colossal on the next turn. I did not realize at the time that that was actually his intended play, and since he failed to feat I could now do it to him instead.

Instead I thought I had lost since Naughty Stormwall would kill Nice Stormwall first. I therefore decided to Telekinesis Naughty Haley and fire at her with Nice Stormwall. The move failed miserably.

I was going to lose Nice Stormwall now, with no way to win after trading feats. We shook hands and at least I could get some food and rest before the final game, and have a look at the other games.

Naughty Cygnar wins by attrition!

Post Mortem

Well, I threw this game away after my opponent threw the game away. At least I learnt a really important play that might come in handy in future games!

Battle Report #57: Haley2 vs Wurmwood (Internal Affairs VII #2)

The next game is a very interesting matchup.

Haley2 Stormwall used to be down against Wurmwood, since he could Strangehold the Stormwall and then the Haley2 list had too little pieces to play with. Now, with the Storm Division theme force, Haley2 can still do quite a lot even if the Stormwall gets locked down. Will it be enough? Both Jarle and I are very curious to see if Haley2 can now be the catch-all Circle drop. I am playing Asbjørn, a very skilled Circle player who won our previous Internal Affairs tournament.

Major Victoria Haley (75 points)

Theme: Storm Division
Objective: Fuel Cache

Major Victoria Haley (Haley2)
* Squire
* Stormwall
* Thorn
Journeyman Warcaster
* Firefly
Major Katherine Laddermore
5+3 Storm Lances

Wurmwood, Tree of Fate (75 points)

Objective: Fuel Cache

Wurmwood, Tree of Fate & Cassius the Oathbreaker (Wurmwood1)
* Feral Warpwolf
* Megalith
* Pureblood Warpwolf
Shifting Stones
2x Sentry Stones & Mannikins
2x10 Wolves of Orboros


Deployment


Wurmwood wins the die roll and goes first.

The normal thing here is for each side to play for its own zone, while denying the zone for the other player. I take my 5 Storm Lances and Stormwall to pressure his zone and contest with Lightning Pods, while Laddermore and the 3 Storm Lances get the job of keeping my zone clean.

Turn 1

Wurmwood moves up and makes a line of forests.

I move up and drop a pod and arc at the Mannikin, but just get one leap.

Turn 2


Mannikins and Pureblood sprays, taking out 3 Storm Lances. I did not enjoy that one bit. Wurmwood feats. Curse and Strangehold hits the Stormwall.

The reduced size Wurmwood feat  (10")  stops the Stormwall from doing much, but the Lances go to town. clearing infantry on both flanks. Haley2 goes into the zone and feats.

1-0

Turn 3

Wurmwood is unable to clear his zone, and this time the Stranglehold fails. He needs a 10+ on three dice, which are good odds (63%), but during a game it can easily fail once. If you need to hit two rounds it's 39%, and three rounds it is only 24%.

2-0

Storm Lances keep clearing stuff, making it impossible for Wurmwood to contest. The Stormwall murders Megalith. I know the Stormwall will be killed in retaliation, so this is a scenario play to block him out of my zone.

Turn 4

The wolves kill the Stormwall and the Lances kill the Pureblood in retaliation. Haley camps 8 Focus, a new personal best.

4-0

Wurmwood's only play is to go for a last ditch Stranglehold assassination, needing 9+ to hit. It fails.

I get my last scenario point and win.

Cygnar wins by scenario!

Post Mortem

Him missing a Strangehold was good luck for me. The nerfs to Wurmwood and the new Storm Division theme force have probably shifted the odds in my favor. It's quite possible a Haley2 Heavies list will be even better in this matchup, since it does not allow Wurmwood to lock down.

Battle Report #56: Nemo3 vs Doomshaper3 (Internal Affairs VII #1)

For the first round I get matched against Mats playing Doomshaper3 - his other list was Calandra. I was thinking that Nemo3 lightning leaps ignore Doomshaper3's feat, and also are good at clearing all Calandra's infantry. So I choose Nemo3 and off we go.

Artificer General Nemo (75 points)

Objective: Fuel Cache

Artificer General Nemo & Storm Chaser Finch (Nemo3)
* Reinholdt
* Dynamo
* Firefly
Journeyman Warcaster
* Firefly
Gun Mage Captain Adept
Major Katherine Laddermore
Ragman
5+5 Storm Lances

Hoarlok Doomshaper, Dire Prophet (75 points)

Theme: The Power of Dhunia
Objective: Fuel Cache

Hoarlok Doomshaper, Dire Prophet & Scroll Bearers (Doomshaper3)
* Dire Troll Mauler
* Earthborn Dire Troll
* Mulg
* 2x Storm Troll
* Troll Axer
* Troll Bouncer
Northkin Shaman
Krielstone Bearer
2x Troll Whelps

The Power of Dhunia!

Deployment

Doomshaper wins the die roll and elects to go first. We both place our warcaster / warlock near the objective, usually a good idea on The Pit.

My plan is to use one unit of cavalry to harass his objective and threaten Doomshaper, while I camp my objective and force him into engaging so I can murder him with my feat and cavalry.

Turn 1

Trolls move up.

I position outside his threat ranges, taking great care, very great care, to not have any of my solos within 4" of anything the Storm Trolls can hit. Then on my very last move I forget and place a Storm Lance near everyone. This will be a recurring theme in this match.

Turn 2

Storm Troll moves up and I am super lucky. There is only one bounce and the roll is low. My solos are undeservedly alive. Doomshaper feats.

I start harassing his right and left flank, so that part is going well.

I continue on my plan, making very very sure to not trigger admonition on Mulg. But after I do the last Storm Lance move I yet again forget and reposition for no reason. Mulg moves up and can reach Dynamo.

I am using too much time though. Playing a fairly new army is hard. I usually need 10+ games before I start feeling comfortable, and this is my fifth Nemo3 game. Nemo3 is tricky to play, very dependent on activation order and positioning.

1-0

Turn 3

I have forgotten to take a picture here. Mulg has moved in, Dynamo gets his cortex blown out. I fail to kill Mulg who is standing right next to my caster. I have 3 minutes left on the clock, I am down on scenario, attrition and will anyway be eaten alive next turn for sure. We shake hands!

Trollbloods wins by, well, everything!

Post Mortem

My plan was solid, my list was good, my execution was the equivalent of running at full tilt into a brick wall twice - whereas my opponent, Mats, played a solid game as always. Well, I am already out of the running for the top spot so I grab a beer and lick my wounds. "Aldri så galt at det ikke er godt for noe", as we say here in Norway.


Next game: Haley2 Storm Division vs Wurmwood!

Tournament: Internal Affairs VII

It's early Saturday and we are getting ready for the Internal Affairs VII tournaments! Is is a series of tournaments that are mainly for members of Norwegian Warmachine club 2D6, though we sometimes open it for other players.

I'm playing Haley2 (Storm Division) and Nemo3.

Round 1: Nemo3 vs Doomshaper3

Round 2: Haley2 vs Wormwood

Round 3: Haley2 vs Haley2

Round 4: Nemo3 vs Damiano

Final Standings

Battle Report #55: Haley2 vs Ossrum

I face my old nemesis Kuba again. He killed me plenty in Mk2, and now he is back killing me in Mk3! He is playing Ossrum, and I want a practice game with my new Haley2 Storm Division list before the Internal Affairs VII tournament tomorrow.

I am pretty sure I am dead before we even start, but hey! Practice is good. Let's see what the list can do.

Major Victoria Haley (75 points)

Losing Ragman sucks, but 6 more cavalry models does not suck.

Major Victoria Haley - Storm Division (Haley2)
* Squire
* Stormwall
* Thorn
Journeyman Warcaster
* Firefly
Major Katherine Laddermore
5+3 Storm Lances

General Ossrum (75 points)

How this list escaped the nerfbat I don't know, but it did, and here we are. 9x 6 points ARM 18 jacks that don't need any focus at all. Ossrum has an amazing feat (+3 ARM, +3 movement, pathfinder) and this list has perfect synergy with him and his spell list.


General Ossrum (Ossrum1)
- Reinholdt
- Ghordson Basher
- 2x Grundback Blaster
- 7x Grundback Gunner
Horgenhold Forge Guard
2x Horgenhold Artillery Corps
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt

Deployment

Ossrum goes first and I take the good side where the cavalry can maneuver. I have no Pathfinder so I let the Storm Lances take the right flank while the Stormclad shores up the left near the rough terrain.

Kuba is yet again plotting my doom.

Turn 1

Ossrum moves up.

One gunbunny is within 21" of the Stormwall so I Temporal Accelerate it and shoot it to bits. I know he will tear apart my army next turn with the gunbunnies so I feat and lock everything into place. Storm Lances place just outside 14", except one which I decided to throw away for nothing.

I misplace Junior so no focus for my Firefly next turn, which is really bad. POW 12 electroleaps can do real damage to gunbunnies, whereas POW 10 electroleaps can't.

Turn 2

Ossrum shuffles a bit, shooting that one Storm Lance, and dealing 17 damage to the Firefly with 1 single Fire For Effect shot from the artillery. That thing is insane.

I move up Thorn and arc Telekinesis on a Gunner and the Basher, so that they are within range of a TA Stormwall and a lot of Lances. I kill a Blaster, a Gunner and a Basher. I might look as if I am doing OK, but really I am not.

Turn 3

Ossrum feats. Since he has Tactician [Rhulic] he can clear stuff with his Forge Guard first, free up the gunbunnies, and go to town. The counterpunch takes out Junior, half the Stormwall, all except 1 Storm Lance, and the Firefly.

I know I will lose the Stormwall next turn, so I try for an extremely long shot assassination. Thorn runs up, Haley TKs Ossrum, and I shoot him twice with the Stormwall. It is, of course, not nearly enough. We shake hands!

Assassination: Failed.

Mercenaries win by attrition!

Post Mortem

Haley2 does not like strong gunlines and this one is just insanely strong. I would have dropped Nemo3 into this, since his ARM 19/20 cavalry is far harder to kill. Anyway, I really needed a practice game with the new list.

First impression is that this Haley2 list looks far superior to the non theme version. Maybe a bit worse against high ARM box spam, but with Karchev gone we might see less of that.