Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Battle Report: Haley2 vs Asphyxious1

My list: Haley2 (tier 4, Riders of the Storm), Stormwall, Thorn, 2 Storm Striders, 3 Stormsmith Stormcallers, 2 Gun Mage Captain Adepts, Stormsmith Storm Tower, Field Mechaniks (4). Bunker objective.

My opponent fielded: Asphyxious1, Deathjack, Cankerworm, 2 Nightwretches, Skarlock Thrall, Aiakos, Leviathan, 2 Pistol Wraiths, 2 Warwitch Sirens, Withershadow Combine, Gorman. Fuel Cache objective.

We played the Recon SR2015 scenario. I lost initiative and my opponent opted to go second, choosing sides in the process. On his first turn, Asphyxious and the DeathJack jammed right into the middle of the table and left me with a real conundrum. I had a lower odds assassination option (slam Asphyxious with Thorn then put 6 boosted POW 15 shots into him) but that would have left me 3 points short of killing him on average dice. Instead I went the attrition route. This game would have been more interesting if I'd remembered to feat. As it turned out, I was thinking I should save my feat and totally forgot my initial thoughts about how to stave off a massive retaliation. During my turn I at least cleared most of the backfield (Withershadow, Gorman, 1 Warwitch and Skarlock) and disrupted the Deathjack. Unfortunately the retaliation was brutal. Both Storm Striders and the Stormwall got destroyed. At this point I didn't have a lot of options, so I went for the long shot. Because Asphyxious had cast Parasite, I managed to get Thorn loose and in range, dropped Parasite on Asphyxious, then started flinging shots into him. I believe I came up 3 points short. At that point I pretty much lost on scenario since I was already down 2 CPs at the start of my turn and did nothing to prevent him from scoring more on my own turn.

Lessons learned: First, read all my stuff carefully before playing, especially when I haven't played for 4 weeks. If I'd remembered Haley's bond, the Stormwall would have been much more threatening, and if I'd decided to feat when I should have, it would have been a very different game. Second, this tier list is pretty amusing to play. I'm looking forward to playing it more.

Games this year: 22

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