Warmachine Battle Report: Harbinger vs Stryker

Harbinger vs Stryker

In early November I participated in a three round tournament at a local hobby shop. My second matchup was against Cygnar. I was listing pSeverius and Harbinger. Cygnar was presenting eHaley and Stryker.

The scenario was Close Quarters. In this scenario there are two flags, 21” from the back edge and 18” from the side. Menoth selected Harbinger because there was an eHaley Stormwall list possibility. This was a major mistake. It turns out that my Harbinger list is at an extreme disadvantage in this scenario. It is too slow. There is a killbox, and pSevvy doesn’t like that at all, but the reality is my Harbinger list can’t easily threaten scenario on this one.

Harbinger List

Harbinger of Menoth

    - Hierophant

- Devout

- Reckoner

- Vanquisher

Exemplar Bastion Seneschal

2 Units of Max Bastions

Wrack

Gorman

Vilmon

Aiyana & Holt

Choir (min)

Stryker List

Stryker, Ol’ Rowdy, Sentinel, ATGM, Horgenhold Hammer-jerks, A&H, pEiryss, And some mounted dudes, plus a host of other Cygnar support staff like a captain something or other and a journeyman.

Harbinger wins the roll and elects to go first. Cygnar requests we switch sides, and that is my second mistake. I should have realized that a piece of terrain was going to create a super huge problem / advantage depending on where you were.

Deployment:

Standard line of Menoth. Cygnar is in a jumbled mess.

Turn 1:

Menoth runs a Crusader’s Call charge and advances as far as possible. Stryker … not just Cygnar … Stryker runs way out in front and that’s when I realize I am in serious trouble. Stryker sees you there … Stryker doesn’t care. Everything else advances / runs.

[No Picture]

Turn 2:

Harbinger advances out of Killbox threat and feats. Vilmon and Gorman attempt to get around the big obstacle. The Bastions slowly stomp forward. They should have ran this round as well but I was worried about getting out of range and getting wrecked by a cavalry charge. Unfortunately when Cygnar activates, the left Bastions get jammed with a Rebuke and the right bunch get jammed by Cav … behind the objective, preventing Harbinger from getting into domination range.

Score: Menoth 0, Cygnar 1

Turn 3:

Menoth is jammed hard and rocked back on his heels. Vilmon moves forward and Stone & Mortars trying to contest. A&H are on the wrong side of the field and should have tried to overload the important objective (the enemy objective). The Reckoner is also in a bad spot and moves up the field. Some Bastions murder a few Cavalry.

Cygnar advances Ol’Rowdy, and the hammer dwarves. Stryker goes B2B with the Flag. The Bastions take A TON of Damage from Guns and Harbinger martyrs hard. I should have let a couple Bastions go. Still getting used to when to do it. pEiryss disrupts the Reckoner. The Vanquisher fails to hit or deviate. Stryker feats, some Hammer guys and Gunners knock Vilmon backwards many inches. Stryker moves up, murders Vilmon and moves back to the Flag. All the other Cygnar guys move up and get additional attacks.

Score: Menoth 0, Cygnar 2

Turn 4:

Menoth is jammed. Harbinger moves Base to Base and the rest of the team clear the area. Hammer guys get Fear of God put into them. The Vanquisher derps his activation and ends engaged and can’t do anything (no reach). The Seneschal has to move in to get work done and ends up facing a stupid direction. The Hierophant heals Harbinger for an inconsequential amount.

Score: Menoth 1, Cygnar 3

Cygnar murders and jams. Between pEiryss and Stryker’s gun, both Jacks are disrupted. I wasn’t expecting the disrupted Vanquisher and it isn’t looking good. Menoth can’t apply any pressure on the left and is getting shut down on the right. I have 14 points in the wrong place getting nothing done.

Score: Menoth 1, Cygnar 4

Turn 5:

Seeing the end coming, Menoth does the one thing I can do, play for time / contest with the only thing available: The 1 hp Seneschal. Harbinger heals back up to 50% and sends the Seneschal in to contest. The Vanquisher gets stopped from getting close. The rest of the team clears the area near the flag and we see what happens. Death Clocks are getting very low.

Score: Menoth 2, Cyngar 4

Cygnar tries to shoot a bunch of extra stuff off the table while his clock burns down. The ATGM mostly miss and eff up on the Seneschal, Harbinger martyrs for 1 a few times. Stryker finally moves in, defensive strike hits him for a few points of damage. He throws several attacks, Harbinger martyrs the Seneschal until she is at 2 HP. The next shot hits the Seneschal and Harbinger lets it dies. Stryker slides back to the Flag and dominates for a point, winning the match.

Score: Menoth 2, Cyngar 5

I couldn’t risk Martyring Harbinger to 0, even though it cost me the match because I was pretty much going to lose on my turn regardless. If Harby had died it would have given my opponent 28 points in models (her Battlegroup +5)

I wish I had selected the side instead of the turn order. I wish I had played pSevvy’s list because it is marginally faster and has more guns and tough. In my defense, my opponent was good and Stryker is a rough matchup in a Killbox setting and this scenario.

Thanks for reading.