Major Victoria Haley - 35-points with lots of warjacks

I played two 35-point games last night but was too lazy to take photos. However, I thought I would post one of the lists I tried out last night and share my thoughts.


As shown above, I played Major Haley running a Squire, two Lancers, a Sentinal, and a Defender. I then added a Journeyman running a Hunter, Mechanik & Bodgers, Arlen Strangeways, and a Stormsmith.

I knew I would be up against either Khador (The Butcher) or Menoth (Feora), and after the dice were cast, it was Ken's Menoth deployed across from me. He was running a large Menothian horde consisting of Zealots, Choir, and Knights Exemplar. When the dust had settled, I was victorious, due in no small part to the table set-up. Ken and I randomly chose which table we played on, and it turned out to be a table with a river running diagonally, with a forest on one side and a hill on the other. I more or less deployed on open ground, while Ken swarmed around and over the hill towards me.

And now for my lessons and observations:

1. Always choose one of Haley's Lancers as her bonded warjack. The +2 SPD bonus means that the arc node can run a staggering 16 inches, allowing it to deliver spells almost anywhere on the opponent's line. Furthermore, her bonded Lancer delivered the killing blow on Feora by charging an impressive 11 inches (plus reach).
   
   
2. Use the spell Time Bomb. A lot. During the first turn, I ran the bonded Lancer WAY out there, and then cast Time Bomb twice. As a POW 14 4-inch AOE attack, it killed five Zealots, a Paladin of the Wall, and the survivers (Redeemer, Rupert Carvolo, one Zealot) were at -2 SPD and -2 DEF. An incredible spell that, thanks to Haley's high FOCUS stat, can be cast twice per turn.
   
   
3. After the game was moving, I quickly realized that this kind of set-up is particularly good vs. the Choir. The substantial shooting threat (Defender, Sentinal, Hunter) combined with Haley's brand of anti-jack magic (Domination) makes it very difficult for the Menoth player which attack type to defend against. I have to try and make more of my lists balanced in terms of ranged and magic threat.
   
   
4. Reserve Haley's feat for the key moment. Specifically, capture the entire enemy army and make it a turn when your forces are in position to act twice the maximum effect. Because the enemy must choose to forfeit movement or action, I try to make sure that enemy melee units are not in combat. When used at the right time, her feat can be crippling. Because the feat also allows the Cygnar-player to choose the order of the opponent's activations, buffing units can be forced to activate after the units they buff, while casters can be forced to activate before they've had the opportunity to move their arc nodes into position.

Anyway, I could write indefinitely about this caster, but I won't. I feel that I'm just starting to unlock some of the combinations and possibilities. Let's see if upcoming matches support that theory.

Thanks for reading,
JET