31 December 2011

Know Your Opponent: eHaley






Phreaker187 here once again welcoming you back to the wonderful world of Know Your Opponent;  this week starring everyone's favorite time mage, eHaley.  Now that I thing about it I'm almost positive that I named my first article "Know Your Enemy" hmm, maybe the mods thought it was a little to controversial. Anyway let's jump right into the meat of the article, the list.

Keep in mind that to effectively work eHaley needs to be played at a minimum of 50 points, luckily for us Cygnar players that's pretty much the tournament standard.  So here we are...

Major Victoria Haley +5
Stormclad  -10
Thorn  -8
Squire  -2
Journeyman Warcaster  -3
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages  -6
+Officer  -2
+Defender  -9
Eiryss, Angel of Lame  -3
Strangewayes  -2
Stormguard (max) -9
Stormsmith -1

Totaling us out at exactly 50 points of "turn back the clock" goodies.   First up for analysis:



Major Victoria Haley:  Dubbed by the hypocrite Cryx players as "the most broken caster in the game" eHaley is an all around army buffing machine.

Spell List:
Arcane Bolt: Cygnar's typical all around offensive spell.  Good range, cheap to cast, decent damage.  On an early assassination run Haley can throw 1 of these babies 24, then 3 more 27 inches down the field, so guard your solo's and warlock's well.  Remember that Thorn has an affinity with Haley that let's her arc offensive spells while engaged.

Dead Eye:  In my opinion one of the best buff spells in Cygnar's arsenal.  For a mere 1/4 of Haley's focus a model/unit gets an additional die on their first ranged attacks this game.  Yeah, those gun mages are hitting whatever they want from 14 inches away.  And late game, those much needed crits become much easier to get.

Deceleration:  +2 DEF and ARM against ranged attacks to everything in her control area, which is her whole army.  I'm not sure Troll players know what a gun is, so I wouldn't stress on this one.

Domination:  Trolls don't worry about this spell at all.  Let's you take control of a non-character 'jack for a turn then gives you the added bonus of laughing at your opponent.

Telekinesis:  Oh yeah, she has this spell in case you somehow forgot.  Medium range and places a model within 2" of it's current location and you can change the facing.  Assassination runs suddenly become much easier with free back strikes.

Temporal Acceleration: Gives target model +2 movement and can make an extra attack.  Makes the Haley 'jack missile possible, couple this with Telekinesis and someone is really moving.

Time Bomb:  Good grief does this spell list ever end?  Good range, Mid sized AOE, big POW.  Any model hit gets -2 SPD and DEF for a round.  Haley's most expensive spell by far, but honestly you get what you pay for.

Special abilities of note:
Replication:  When a spell is cast in her control area with FOCUS you get to copy it.  No worries here for Trolls.
Warjack Bond:  Here's the scary one.  'Jack in her battlegroup gets +2 movement.  Because a 'jack charging 12" wasn't far enough, now it can go 14"
Set Defense:  Apparently DEF 16 wasn't high enough...

Feat: Temporal Shift: Dun dun dun.  The exact reason why people cry about eHaley being so good.  Basically says, "Models/units in her control area activate in the order I choose, then they must skip either their move or action this turn."  With Squire Haley has an 18" control area and she only needs to catch 1 Fenblade in it and the whole unit is stuck.  No charging, running, or aiming is allowed when under her feat so if you've been waiting for your opponent to take an objective so you can counter charge, you just lost the game.

Down to the buff targets:

Stormclad:  Hardest hitting jack that Cygnar has, don't take it lightly, it will kill anything Haley tells it to.  Bonded to Haley you'll be facing a 14" Charge (16" with reach), MAT 7,  with 5 attacks.  If your opponent leaves this exposed for some reason take it out fast!

Thorn:  I touched on Thorn in the eStryker post, but there are a few differences you should take note of with Haley.  You can arc while engaged.  Like I mentioned before this can catch your lock by surprise and he'll eat a bunch of Arcane Bolts for his trouble. In the Stryker post I also forgot to mention Thorn has Set Defense and Imprint: Disengage;  allowing you to walk away from missed melee attacks.

Stormguard:  I love these guys, they get a bunch of hate on the forums, but don't believe what you read it's just the "doom and gloomers" crying as usual.  Troll DEF, reach, electro-leap, set defense, high MAT; what's not to love!?  SG can easily go 2 for 1 with electro-leaps to average out the massive amount of troopers trolls bring.

ATGM:  One of the most feared units the swans have at their disposal.  3 nasty ranged attacks to choose from, that can move you, knock you down, shoot farther, or do extra damage.  Some are dependent on a crit, but with Dead Eye coming in from Haley, there won't be a shortage of those.  Officer grants them all True Sight and give the marshaled jack the same choice of ammo.

Marshaled Defender:  Get's an auto boost to hit or damage from the marshal ability.  Don't ever forget that Haley can also cast spells on this model!  Temp Accel + Dead Eye + Crit Brutal = much pain and suffering.  2x RNG 16 shot's coming down the field with the potential to do 4 dice of damage each shouldn't be ignored.

Arlan Strangewayes:  The original "power booster."  Can hand out a free focus to a 'jack, which will usually be the Defender.  Has repair with a really high skill level and a sweet spray attack if things get hairy.

Eiryss, JWC, Stormsmith:  Everyone still remembers what Eiryss does, she runs around and is annoying.   JWC buffs the troops with Arcane Shield, and the SS is a buff ignoring solo hunter.

In summary remember that eHaley is only as good as the army she is commanding.  Alone Haley is near worthless, but she can make an army unstoppable with all of the bonuses she can give them.  Pick apart her army when the situations arise and she will slowly lose all of her power.  Keep an eye out for the Stormclad lining up for an assasination run, even when camping fury he'll have more than enough damage output to force you into losing a few heavies or making a tough roll.

I especially enjoy playing the Stormguard with her, but I've seen versions that run the Stormblades.  If you see the SB just remember they hit like a ton of bricks, but can't take a hit to save their lives.  I'll have a more detailed writeup on the SB when I feature another caster.

Till next time good luck and have fun!

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