Battle Report!

Cygnar’s military has one last Colossal remaining in the war against the Infernals. It is decided that it should be left with the man who can care for it best: Captain Darius.

Now watch Darius squander Cygnar’s remaining military resources…

Ultimately this was a victory for the Infernals. Darius did his best to turn the tide, but poor positioning and clever play from the Infernals did him in.

Big Shout Out to Tactical Magic Games in Fort McMurray, Alberta, (Our LGS) for hosting!

Turns with images & commentary broken down below.

Please also leave a Comment if you enjoyed this Battle Report, and if you have any requests for future reports! I will happily experiment with new Cygnar lists by request.

Lists

Cygnar – Rock em like a Hurricane

[Theme] Heavy Metal

[Darius 1] Captain E. Dominic Darius [+29]

– Centurion [17]

– Centurion [17]

– Hurricane [35]

– Lancer [10]

– Squire [0(5)]

Anastasia di Bray [3]

Captain Arlan Strangewayes [0(4)]

Journeyman Warcaster [0(4)]

– Charger [9]

Sword Knights (max) [13]

Infernals – Cygnar Beatdown

[Theme] Dark Legacy

[Zaateroth 1] Zaateroth, The Weaver of Shadows [+26]

– Foreboder [4]

– Lamenter [7]

– Shrieker [9]

– Tormentor [12]

– Tormentor [12]

– Lord Roget d’Vyaros [4]

Eilish Garrity, the Dark Seeker [5]

Hermit of Henge Hold [5]

Nicia, Hound of the Abyss [4]

The Wretch [4]

The Wretch [4]

The Wretch [4]

Umbral Guardian [0(6)]

Valin Hauke, The Fallen Knight [7]

Cultist Band (max) [7]

– Dark Sentinel (3) [0(6)]

– Master Preceptor Orin Midwinter [4]

Cultist Band (max) [7]

– Dark Sentinel (3) [0(6)]

Scenario & Terrain

Scenario: King of the Hill (Steamroller 2019 Rules)

Objectives: Observatory (Cygnar), and Treasure Chest (Infernals)

Terrain:

Two Forests;

Shallow Water “Oasis”;

Three Walls;

Two LOS Blocking Rock Formations (Center Zone)

Deployment

Both sides have a +1 to our Starting Roll. Initial rolls both yield 7s (6s Rolled). Cygnar wins the reroll and decides to go first.

Cygnar deploys with Hurricane on the left, Sword Knights on the right, and Centurions with Darius taking up the middle. Anastasia stays in Ambush.

Infernal player counter deploys by putting heavy Horrors in line with the Hurricane, and the Shrieker to face off with the Sword Knights. One unit of Cultists stays in Ambush. Nicia (represented by a Proxy model) Advance Deploys forward on the side facing the Sword Knights. (You will also see Runewood on the field – he was later removed as he was deployed by mistake)

Turn 1A (Cygnar)

Cygnar forces run forward. Darius and Jr. put Armor Buffs on Centurions. Darius Cranes a Centurion forward for extra movement. Sword Knights spread out into clusters. Darius also puts Refuge on himself.

Turn 1B (Infernals)

Infernal forces advance forward. Nicia eliminates a few Sword Knights with her AOE to distribute a soul to Zaateroth. Nicia then takes cover in a nearby Forest. Horrors position across from the Hurricane. Zaateroth casts Rites of Torment this turn.

Turn 2A (Cygnar)

Anastasia Ambushes to eliminate Eilish Garrity. Removing a Marked Soul early feels like a victory.

Hurricane advanced forward to put shots into the Tormentor behind a wall. Both shots are boosted to hit, and the Infernal Umbral Guardian comes in on the first shot (dying to the damage of a cranked Pow 13 shot). Second shot hits and plinks minor damage on the Tormentor. Due to Long Shadows the Hurricane is unable to use his lightning shots, and the Charger is out of range of any targets. Halfjacks walk up to become a minefield with one in reserve. Long Shadows really means my ranged output in this list is severely crippled. (Zaateroth feels like an excellent Cygnar counter in Infernals)

At this point I made a very bad misplay of positioning. Hurricane is placed within 11″ of both Tormentors. I had thought that meant the Hurricane was safe from their threat ranges (native Charge of 9″), or at least only chargeable by one after Rites triggers …forgetting that Rites of Torment can proc once per horror per kill.

Centurions advance forward and Polarity Field. Charger moves forward to exploit the Observatory.

Turn 2B (Infernals)

As you can see – Both Horrors have killed the Hurricane (R.I P. Hurricane). Tormenters were able to move from Rites of Torment due to kamikaze Sword Knights on the right side (killed by a Shrieker and Black Spot). Ouch. Cygnar is down 35 points on bottom of Turn 2.

Lamenter runs up to engage the Centurion and contest the flag. Cultists kill Anastasia on the back left. Rohut is sacrificed to create another Tormenter that positions to engage the middle Centurion on its next turn.

Infernals score 1.

Turn 3A (Cygnar)

I am feeling the pressure after losing the Hurricane. As a result, I know I need to get serious value from the Centurions and in Scenario-play or the game is lost. My goal is to push him out of the Middle, take the right Zone, and hopefully get a Scenario lead. I need to get a good lead before the Cultists all come in and murder my remaining pieces.

First: Halfjack mines explode. On the Lamenter this does a decent amount of damage, and it plinks 1 to 2 on each Tormenter.

Centurion in the center is perfectly poised for Jackhammering. My plan is to use the Sword Knights to soften the Lamenter, Jackhammer the Centurion to kill it, and then Centurion will charge one Tormenter.

It works. Sword Knights charge in, but the Tormenter Countercharges and lands within two inches of the Centurion. Sword Knights soften the lamenter after the Tormenter charge, and then the Centurion successfuly removes both of the Lamenter and Tormenter with a full set of Jackhammer attacks. Damage rolls were hot. Between the Halfjack mine, two SK Charges, and a full set of Centurion jackhammer attacks – those two Horrors were finished.

Centurion then charges the other Tormenter on the left and removes it as well!

Commentary: This exchange really shows how Darius is valuable. Darius has a kit that can give a single Jack abilities WAY beyond its normal output. If Darius has any good heavies in play he is able to get value. This Centurion effectively removed (with two Sword Knights, a Halfjack mine, and Darius support) 31 Points of Horror in one turn.

Lancer charges the Objective (kills it) and hits a tormenter with his shield for minor damage.

Charger moves forward to score the right zone, and shoots to kill a Wretch. Journeyman Warcaster comes out behind the objective to support. Right-Hand Ceturion imprints and positions to pressure any other engaging forces in the middle or right zones.

Cygnar has had a good turn…but is it good enough?

Naw.

Cygnar Scores 2 (Right Zone and Obj). Middle zone and Flag are contested by the Infernal Arc-Node hiding behind the LOS blocking terrain. As a result, my big “Scenario Play” turns out half-baked.

Score: 2 to 1 (Cygnar Favor)

Turn 3B (Infernals)

Infernals still have a unit of Cultists in Ambush. At the start of this turn they deploy on the far right side in the Right Rectangular Zone. Cultists charge the objective and the Charger. Chargers goes down and cultists plink minor damage on the Objective.

Shrieker removes the SK in melee with it by a auxilary attack (granted by a Wretch) and then shoots the JR. leaving the JR. on one box. Nicia attempts to shoot the JR and misses (even with Lucky).

Last Tormenter removes the Lancer and Halfjack to free up the left zone. Cultists reposition for a charge.

Zaateroth removes the models (SKs and Halfjack) looking to score the center flag. Zaateroth feats at end of turn.

Infernals score the left zone and middle flag (Centurion is just outside contesting range). Right zone is unable to be scored as there are no eligible scoring models in the zone.

Score: 3 to 2 (Infernals favor)

Turn 4A (Cygnar)

At this point, I have an extremely low model Count, but the two Centurions mean I still have a chance. Further, the Infernals are running dangerously low on clock (around 8 minutes remaining). If I want to turn this around I need to remove the last Tormenter, slow down the ability to score on the right, and score both the flag and the middle zone.

OR I could attempt to kill Zaateroth. Left side Centurion is within charge range. I would need 11s to hit, and if I missed ONE attack, then Zaateroth would teleport 3″. Zaateroth also had 4 transfers. I opted to take the 1st approach, and hope that clock would give me the win.

Yikes. Here goes!

Lets go from Left to Right.

Left: Centurion charges the Tormenter and fails to kill it. Tormenter is able to move 3″ due to Zaateroth’s feat after the Centurion missed one of his latter attacks (even with Full Throttle in effect). Centurion is contesting the left zone.

Center: Arlan Strangewayes and Darius attempt to remove the wretch in the center with ranged attacks (Darius cast Full Throttle and used his Bolt spell to try to kill the Wretch, leaving him on no focus). Due to Zaateroth’s feat the Wretch’s defense is 16, and it is still Stealthed. Both Darius and Arlan have to get dangerously close to make the attempt, and fail. Squire moves up to further contest the flag.

Right: Centurion moves forward a bit to pressure Zaateroth, kills Valin, and imprints (No Focus to spare). Imprint is to avoid the Cultists charging and scrapping the Centurion. Jr. moves forward, kills a Cultist as a hail-mary to defend an objective, and camps focus hoping for the best.

Commentary: It may have been more beneficial to put the Centurion in the right hand zone. However, I think that would have put it outside Darius’ control range, and so I opted to wait.

Nobody scores anything. Cygnar’s grand plan to score 2 in the middle fails due to one Wretch.

Score: 3 to 2 (Infernal Favor)

Turn 4B (Infernals)

Left: With the Tormenter on the left alive that Centurion is in trouble. Tormenter + Cultists successfully remove the Centurion even with Fortify upkept.

Middle: Infernal Arc Node moves into the zone. Zaateroth shifts position behind a wall, and gets stealth from Black Mantle of a wretch.

Right: Cultists charge the objective, and run to engage the Centurion (Unable to Charge due to Polarity Field). Shrieker puts a few plink damage on the Centurion. Cultists kill the Objective and score it.

Infernals pass turn to save clock. Infernals have scored two more this turn (Obj and Left Zone)

Score: 5 to 2 (Infernal Favor).

Turn 5A (Cygnar)

Infernal clock is low, but they only need two points to win. Again – I need to clear out the middle zone to get some breathing room. However, my big assets (the remaining Centurion) is gummed up fighting Cultists.

Left: Nothing of Significance; everything I have is bent on getting the middle done.

Middle: Darius brings back a halfjack. Arlan and Darius remove the wretch on the flagg. Centurion uses his attacks to kill the shrieker and all but one Cultists gumming him up.

Right: New Halfjack runs to contest the zone. My fear is that the Infernals will turn Nicia into a Horror and score the zone.

Infernals score one more. Cygnar scores the center flag. We were uncertain if the Arc Node was in range to score, as a widget knocked the model when I did the measurement. We called it a Cygnar point because I think the writing was already on the wall that the Infernals had the win.

Score: 6 to 3 (Infernal Favor)

Turn 5B (Infernals)

Infernals need to stop me at the flag and score 2 to win.

Zaateroth moves to turn Nicia into a horror (and shoots to kill the Squire for fun), and the Horror moves into the right zone.

Cultists on the left move to contest the flag.

Cultists on the right kill the Halfjack contesting the right zone.

Infernals end turn scoring the Left and Right zones. Cygnar scores none.

Score: 8 to 3

Infernal Scenario Victory!

After-Thoughts

I think this game is an excellent example of Darius’ strengths, and his weaknesses.

Strengths: Darius has limited personal output, but his ability to get value from melee Jacks is amazing. Jackhammering one Centurion, and then it being fully fuled for a Charge, is amazing. Halfjack mines are great to soften targets that get into the field.

Weaknesses: Darius’ feat is sometimes completely useless. I could not find an opportunity to use it during this game. Hurricane was one-rounded (due to my poor play), Lancer was one-rounded, and the Centurion was one-rounded by a Tormenter and Cultists.

Cygnar’s MVPs: Anastasia (+1 Start Roll worked, and killed Eilish), and Darius (Jackhammer ftw).

Infernals MVPs: Tormenters + Zaateroth for movement, and Zaateroth’s feat. +3 Defense with a 3″ move is amazing. Long Shadows is also great into a Cygnar matchup. Nicia is also amazing.

All in all – the Infernal player exploited the board state very well, and made great use of his resources. Feating when he did sealed the deal, and removing the Hurricane was an excellent early game play.

Cygnar’s blunder was losing the Hurricane. It makes me wonder how the game would have played out if it had lived (even for just one more turn) or if he had lived to be a target for feat. In Hindsight: Arcane Shield should have been on the Hurricane, and it should NOT get that close to two heavies just to land a few Pow 13 Shots (Oops).

Let me know if you enjoyed this Battle Report and would like to see more!

J

56.734857 -111.424159

213 Timberline Dr #2, Fort McMurray, AB T9K 1S1, Canada Share this: Twitter

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