Hello everyone!
I have finally decided to take part in the CID process, as I am really concerned with Cygnar’s situation in current meta. I was waiting for Cygnar CID for far too long! Additionally, I just couldn’t miss the opportunity to put Precursor Knights and Constance Blaize on the gaming board again. It has been 7 years already and I almost forgot where I was keeping them.
Paweł agreed to help me test the newest release (Week2 v1, 25-Apr).
Paweł’s Gearhart list:
Crucible Guard Army – 75 / 75 points
[Theme] Magnum Opus
[Gearhart 1] Marshal General Baldwin Gearhart [+27]
– Retaliator [9]
– Vindicator [15]
– Vindicator [15]
– Aurum Ominus Alyce Marc [0(5)]
Anastasia di Bray [3]
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist [0(4)]
Trancer [3]
Trancer [3]
Trancer [3]
Crucible Guard Infantry (max) [15]
– Crucible Guard Infantry Officer & Standard [4]
Crucible Guard Storm Troopers (max) [16]
Dragon’s Breath Rocket [0(5)]
Railless Interceptor [16]
My Constance1 CID list:
Cygnar Army – 74 / 75 points
[Theme] Flame in the Darkness
[Blaize 1] Constance Blaize, Knight of the Prophet [+27]
– Gallant [17]
– Lancer [10]
Glyn Cormier, Illuminated One [0(6)] (proxied with Caine0)
Grand Master Gabriel Throne [7] (proxied with Alexia2)
Morrowan Archon [8] (proxied with a blue base)
Order of Illumination Resolutes (max) [13] (proxied with Boomhowlers)
– Morrowan Battle Priest (3) [0(6)] (proxied with Stormsmiths)
Order of Illumination Vigilants (max) [10] (proxied with ATGM)
– Morrowan Battle Priest (1) [2] (proxied with Jakes1)
Precursor Knights (max) [15]
– Precursor Knight Officer & Standard [0(4)]
Precursor Knights (max) [15] (proxied with black bases)
– Precursor Knight Officer & Standard [4]
I wanted to try as many new models as possible while taking maximum FA of PK. I included couple of Battle Priests for Shield Guards (back then they had it) and a Morrowan Archon to protect Constance from shooting.
I would like to mention that I simply overlooked that Constance’s focus points can be used to boost attack and damage rolls only during model’s activation. It doesn’t work for Vengeance attacks. It didn’t have that significant impact on the game, though.
We played Stand Off.
Deployment
Paweł won the starting roll and opted to go first. He deployed his battle engine on the right flank, Crucible infantry in the middle and heavy ingantry on the left. One Vindicator was put in the middle, the other next to Storm Troopers.
I decided to put my stealthed units on the left flank, away from the train (because of numerous spray attacks), therefore I put one PK unit facing the train. I put heavy infantry in the middle, in front of the cloud that they can see through. The other unit of PKs was deployed behind the forest on the left flank. Obviously, Constance and Morrowan Archon were placed in the middle.
The plan was to resist as long as possible on the right flank and to push aggressively on the left. Resolutes were supposed to be the anchor in the middle.
Round 1
Paweł ran everything forward but kept his light infantry and the train outside of my threat ranges.
I decided not to feat in the first round and rather keep it for the next one. I wouldn’t get much from feating now, as Paweł would simply stay back and wait. I started with right Precursors running forward and spreading out to avoid too many casaulties due to train’s sprays. I moved the core forces forward and kept my shield guards close. On the left flank, Glyn moved forward and shot the heavy jack and boosted the damage with Constance’s focus. I turned it around and moved 1″ forward. Vigilants moved forward and with the rest of Constance’s focus stack crippled the ‘jack’s gun (some spikes involved). The other unit of Precursors ran forward with pathfinder from Throne.
Round 2 Turn 1
Paweł begun his turn with train’s audacious charge. He killed handful of knights. He also shot the right unit’s officer, but he missed the attack and he survived the blast damage roll. Sadly, I got only couple of souls from that unit, as they were too far. I also lost couple of models from blasts. Gearhart shot Glyn twice, but first shot was shield guarded and I toughed the second. Damaged Vindicator just ran forward to engage my models. Vengeance was triggered on all 4 units.
Round 2 Turn 2
Vigilants and Precursors moved forward and with Vengeance attacks I finished left Vindicator (normally I wouldn’t be able to do that, I was boosting those damage rolls and it works only during model’s activation), I probably would need to add a couple of attacks more (Vigilants with feat and boosts maybe). Constance repositioned, cast Crusader’s Call, feated and kept rest of her focus stack (13 at the begining of my round). I decided to keep Constance super safe, so I blocked LoS to her with Morrowan Archon and kept 2 Battle Priests and Gallant close to her. On the left flank, Precursors with mini-feat and feat easily killed most of Storm Troopers. Resolutes also charged in and killed couple of infantry models. On the right flank, Throne gave +2 to damage rolls to Precursors. They charged and killed the battle engine (I had more attacks than enough). Lancer ran to get the right rectangular zone. I controlled my flag and the right zone, 2:0.
Round 3 Turn 1
Paweł took some time to decide how to deal with my feat. He begun with Anastasia charging Glyn, but I toughed again (that’s too much luck as for one game). Later on, he continued with killing models on my right flank, where they were outside of my control zone. Later on, remaining Storm Troopers accompanied by Vindicator started dealing with the remains of my Precursor Knights and Vigilants. At that point I already had a significant armor bonus. Gearhart feated and killed a model or two. Alyce got angry and jumped behind Vigilants’ backs, but my feat saved them. One point for Paweł, 2:1.
Round 3 Turn 2
This round I had 8 additional focus. I killed couple of models with Vengeance attacks. I was taking control of the left flank so I decided to focus on that side of the table. I was running out of models too and in the long shot Paweł could gain the advantage! Glyn shot the other Vindicator and teleported it 1″ forward. Constance cast Crusader’s Call and Gallant charged it and finished it. I wanted to control the rectangular zone but this round it was beyond my grasp. I cleared my rectangular zone and contested the enemy flag. I scored another 2 points, 4:1.
Round 4 Turn 1
Paweł slammed Lancer with Trancer and Retaliator moved into the zone to score an important point. The other Trancer controlled his flag. Gearhart tried to kill as many models as possible to clear his zone, but it was not enough, 5:3 in my favour.
Round 4 Turn 2
In my turn, I decided to finish the game and simply killed Gearhart with Vigilants, Resolutes and Gallant (Purgation helped a bit 😉 ).
Afterthoughts
As for the game, I was happy that I resisted the temptation and I didn’t feat in the first round. Thanks to that, I gathered souls I needed and in the feat round I had as many boosts as I needed and I was really far up the table. This put Paweł in an uncomfortable situation and forced him to play very defensively. That enabled me to take the advantage, gain board control and seal the victory. Triggering Vengeance on all of the units was deffinitely a mistake. I believe Paweł should have focused on one flank only and simply contest the other. Vengeance is what Cygnar really needed for far too long!
The new theme force and models felt great! Constance is finally playable and even Precursor Knights can find its’ place. There were couple of things I would like to point out. Some of the rules might seem to be too strong (I believe those things have been already adjusted in the newest Week2 v2 CID) and there are some things that still could be improved.
My friend, Paweł, wanted to point out that the amount of focus Constance had turn after turn was overwhelming and he believes it should be addressed somehow. I would like to emphasise though, that the amount of models I had and the way I played the list was ment to exploit that ability.
In my opinion Constance is on point. Although her spell list is somewhat boring, she is a powerful caster with a considerably simple plan for the game. She definitely is efficient with what she does.
Precursor Knights finally have found their place. They are (were) too expensive, but I’m pretty convinced that they will be seen on the tables.
Vigilants are obviously the unit this theme force needs. They can survive long enough thanks to stealth. They can shoot, they can fight in melee when it’s required. The are a versitile unit that can be used in various ways. I really enjoyed playing them.
Resolutes work perfectly and under Constance’s feat they can survive a bit. I didn’t feel like they lack anything. With armor 17 they need some help with survivng, but Arcane Shield, Deceleration, or said feat can help them get to fight.
Throne is a good support solo that can have an impact on the game. He has several useful abilities and all of them can be used in one game easily. He is great as he is now.
I felt like having that many additional shield guards was a bit too strong, especially with combination of Gallant’s shielld guard and Morrowan Archon’s ability. Oh, and shield guarding a shot to trigger Vengeance was nasty. That thing has been already addressed in most recent CID update.
Glyn’s gun at the begining was really powerful. To be fair, I was happy that PP has toned her down a bit. Sadly, the gun has been nerfed again. Damaging a thing to place it 1″ can be sometimes problematic. Constance can boost the damage roll, but other casters available cannot. I hope PP will reconsider the change.
I’m also satisfied with Morrowan Archon adjustment. He basically made Constance unkillable in that game. I also forgot about Awe, but it has been already adjusted (8″ instead of 10).
All in all, I’m really happy with how this CID works and which way the theme force is going. I’m only slightly concerned with Glyn’s gun. I would also like to test the theme with other casters, like Stryker2 with Legion of Lost Souls or Stryker1 infantry brick. We will see 😉 I believe that after initial excitement with Constance people will explore more possibilities in list building and eventually we will find some interesting combinations.
I’m curious what are your thoughts.
Cheers,
Piotr