Hello 2016! It’s been a while since I’ve written anything, but I have been productive and not practicing for Smogcon in February. I’m somewhat committed to bringing Cygnar (against my better judgement) and a friend of mine is determined to make me play in the Iron Gauntlet tournament, which seems like a very bad idea.
So, Cygnar… My first Warmachine faction… These are the guys that got me into this game but to be honest, I still haven’t got them to click yet. Despite this, I have managed to develop a crazy list I made for LORD Commander Stryker into something rather fun.
The idea is rather simple. Alison Jakes and Galiant have been a staple of my Cygnar lists for some time, but while Galiant is almost there, he lacks hitting power. Most of Cygnar’s strength buffs are upkeep spells which interferes with Sidekick (defense 15 heavies are a thing), but Positive Charge does not.
So with Stryker 2 I can have a Mat 9 Pow 19 Defense 15 warjack, with a magical weapon. And better still, as a Cygnar ally, he benefits from the feat so with Jakes’ Energizer, he is a bit of a magic missile.
And while you are dealing with that, this list also pushes Stormnouns up field super fast and follows with a very credible assassination threat from Stryker himself. Its super aggressive but more importantly, the list is fun.
With one list in the can, the next task was to cover Stryker’s weaknesses with another two lists. This has been a struggle. The first caster to step up to the plate was Captain Alister Caine. This is a guy I really enjoy playing, however I am also very good at getting him killed. This is largely a function of his list which needs to work independently from him (Caine is selfish that way).
Swapping out the gun slinger for Captain Haley, and making a few changes, worked better and gave me a powerful, if a little static, attrition list. This was interesting. Captain Haley would normally destroy an opponent’s army, but I’m pretty sure that list is way to time consuming to play, and the poor girl is in constant fear for her life.
Roll forward a few weeks and a evening dojo session with the best player from my local club (whom is committed to taking Cyrx to Smogcon, if I stick to Cygnar). Looking at the models I have and the casters I have played in Cygnar, there was one particular lady I had not considered. Major Haley. OK, I can hear the screams of cheese and beards now, but bear with me.
Major Haley is a superb toolbox warcaster, and after the August Errata, her most offensive ability has been removed from her cards. Feeling only a little guilty, and a little relieved that she is now easier to play, I watched a couple of battle reports online and decided to build something compact and hard hitting. That meant taking the Stormwall (first time with her I might add), Thorn (because he was always awesome), and an interesting mix of units and solos, including a full set of Stormcallers.
I have only played this list once so far but… its good. Really REALLY good. I will leave it at that for now, until I’ve played it a few more times, but rediscovering Time Bomb and Triangulation has been a thing.
Two-thirds there, I’m going to revisit Captain Caine for my third list, and I’m going to do something different with him, at least, different for me. And painting models for that list is the main project until Smogcon itself. And that is another challenge…
Anything Worth Doing... 