Polish Team Championship – Game 5- The Final – Siege2 vs. Issyria1

Hello everyone!

After 4 intense rounds we finally… got to the final! We were about to face team from Poznań:
Rafał (playing Ret), Bartosz (playing Grymkin) and Andrzej (playing Protectorate). We discussed the pairings briefly and decided that I should face Retribution and take this army out of equation, so Tomasz and Mateusz could get the 2 wins we needed to take the 1st place. Mateusz played against Bartosz (Thexus vs. Dreamer) and Tomasz against Andrzej (Ashlynn vs. Harbinger).

The tables were picked and I ended up on a streamed one. I was pretty sure Rafał will decide to take Issyria. Taking that under consideration I concluded that both battle engines in Nemo3 would be pretty useless in this match up due to Blinging Light spell. This way I decided to pick Siege2 instead, although that might mean that I wouldn’t have ways of dealing with Rafał’s two Tridents.

Rafał’s Issyria1 list:

[Theme] Legions of Dawn

[Issyria 1] Issyria, Sibyl of Dawn [+29]
– Phoenix [17]
– Phoenix [17]
Arcanist Mechanik [2]
Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios [0(7)]
House Shyeel Artificer [0(5)]
House Shyeel Artificer [0(5)]
Dawnguard Destors (min) [12]
Dawnguard Sentinels (max) [18]
– Dawnguard Sentinel Officer & Standard [4]
– Soulless Escort (2) [2]
Dawnguard Trident [16]
Dawnguard Trident [16]

My Siege2 list:

Cygnar Army – 75 / 75 points
[Theme] Gravediggers

[Brisbane 2] Colonel Markus “Siege” Brisbane [+28]
– Ironclad [12]
– Triumph [18]
Anastasia di Bray [3]
Captain Maxwell Finn [0(6)]
Commander Anson Hitch [4]
Patrol Dog [2]
Trench Buster [0(5)]
Trench Buster [0(5)]
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt [8]
– Captain Jonas Murdoch [4]
Trencher Commandos (min) [10]
– Trencher Commando Officer [4]
– Trencher Commando Scattergunner (1) [2]
Trencher Express Team [5]
Trencher Express Team [5]
Trencher Infantry (max) [16]
Trencher Blockhouse [10]

As I previously mentioned, unfortunately all of my photos from that tournament are gone. Fortunately, this game was recorded by WarRoomPL, therefore I was able to take screenshots and put them here. You can find the recorded game here (in Polish).

Deployment

I won the roll and decided to go first. As soon, as I realised how well armored Rafał’s list was, I knew it was going to be tough. I deployed my Blockhouse in the middle. I placed Ironclad more to the bottom and Triumph closer to the top side. Siege stayed in the middle surrounded by Busters. Ayiana was deployed on the bottom flank. I decided to put Trenchers on the top side and Commandos facing the rough terrain on the bottom.

Rafał deployed his battle engines on both sides. Cavalry on the bottom flank, Sentinels with support on the top. Issyria stayed in the middle, next to her ‘jacks.

Round 1 Turn 1

I cautiously moved my forces forward, as I didn’t want to lose any models in the first round. I put Hallowed Avenger on Ironclad. Siege stayed behind the bunker. Triumph occupied one of the trenches. I dug in my Trenchers. All of my support models stayed back safely.

Round 1 Turn 2

Rafał decided to play his first round safe and force me to engage first. He put those tempting pieces forward to make me come for them. In order to remove them I had to commit considerable resources, probably more than it was worth at the end. He kept most of his forces behind, waiting to retaliate.

Round 2 Turn 1

Unfortunately, due to my inferior (in that case) threat ranges I had to take what was there to be taken. I chose to take the bait and I went for those couple of models that could be taken. I removed couple of Sentinels, a cavalry model and that was it. I tried to kill Eiryss with a deviation. I put a hill with a spell and dug some Trenchers there, hoping they would survive long enough to see the next Round 😛

Round 2 Turn 2

After triggering Vengeance on Sentinels there was not much left for Rafał other than simply charge in. With Crusader’s Call and Vengeance move their threat range is absolutely brutal. That being said, Sentinels charged in and massacred my Trenchers. Additionally, top Trident added couple of shots. On the bottom flank it things weren’t going any better. Red Trident and couple of cavalry models shred to pieces Commandos and crippled Ironclad, sadly.

Round 3 Turn 1

That was the turn, where I finally could use Finn to decimate enemy infantry. Obviously, I missed the first attack, but then continued to hit and kill every model on his way, leaving only one or two alive. The trade was still in Rafał’s favour, since I had nothing left to substantialy threaten blue Trident. Sad and crippled Ironclad failed to kill the last Destor. I was losing on both sides, so I wanted at least to create a situation in the middle of the board that would enable me to stay in the game. Buster failed horribly in finishing Phoenix. Things weren’t looking good.

Round 3 Turn 2

Rafał continued extending his advantage by mopping my models out of the zones. I was pushed really back and my frontlines were basically gone. Rafał finally captured the first point of the game, 0:1.

Round 4 Turn 1

I only managed to finish already hurt Phoenix, contest the bottom zone and deal some chip damage to blue Trident, but that was about it.

Round 4 Turn 2

Rafał easily cleared one of the circular zones and continued to seal the victory. One Trencher on the top flank was still contesting it. He also destroyed my objective and went to 0:3.

Round 5 Turn 1

I just counted on Rafał making a stupid mistake, although that never came. I had nothing left to do, but charge blue Trident with Siege. Obviously, that wasn’t enough. I couldn’t do anything more but contesting zones with what was left.

Round 5 Turn 2

Rafał easily cleared one of the zones and the next round I would run out of time so we finished it there. Rafał took the victory!

Afterthoughts

As for the last game itself, I think I should have risked taking Nemo3 instead. I would need to keep my battle engines deep behind my front lines and wait for the right moment. After disrupting the arc nodes he wouldn’t be able to threaten my Storm Striders with Blinding Light. Additionally, I would be able to kill his Tridents and whatever would be there to kill. My battle engines can walk up 5″ and shoot 14″, what should be enough to strike from behind my front lines.

My Siege2 list, although with long threat ranges and with availabilty to rise the P+S up to 14 on several models, was unable to kill Rafał’s heavy armored models. Moreover, the scenario forced me to play the attrition game against Rafał’s evenly spread army, maybe focusing on one flank would be the correct choice? To be honest, I was surprise how strong Tridents were. Furthermore, Crusader’s Call enables them to charge and shoot even further. They are awfuly strong!

Tomasz won his game against Harbinger, but unfortunately Mateusz and I, we both lost. Whereas Mateusz was extremly close to take the victory (by mistake he thought that Bartosz had less points on scenario), my game was decided likely in second round.

Nevertheless the final round was incredibly intense and we all had great fun! Congratulations to Rafał, Andrzej and Bartosz for winning the whole event – current Polish Team Champions! We took the 3rd place due to SoS.

• 

• 

• 

All in all, I was really satisfied with my personal result (4-1). Our team played the tournament perfectly. In every round we had the pairings we wanted and on the match up level, I always (apart from last round) had the upper hand. I believe that is the most important part in team events – the pairing process.

After this tournament, I played one friendly game against Skorne and then one weekend after the other I participated in Barcelona and Kraków Masters.

But first, expect couple of current CID battle reports!

Cheers,
Piotr