List 1 - The NoBrainer

With honesty being clearly the best policy in all situations it must be recognized that EHaley is more bent than a 9 bob note, more busted than yer mum and more over powered than all the Legion of Everbroke warbeasts on steroids sniffing angel dust.  She has the most game breaking feat bar none, effectively giving you a free extra turn in the middle of the game and a wet dream of a spell list. So much has been written about why she is so totally abusive it seems trite to repeat it all here.  Suffice to say that I am well aware of her power level but if my opponents are content to bring either Denny, Epically Sexy Hexy, Saeryn or any of the other clearly top tier casters then there must be an appropriate response.  See, Cygnar can't field a titan herd, can’t apply moar banes and don’t have a stable of beasts that ignore 90% of the game rules; we have EHaley and The Stormwall.

This admission made, it is hard to get practice games with Haley.  Like many of the top tier casters, games can be very one sided if you have bought a knife to what is often a gunfight.  These games need pre arranging; inviting your opponent to bring their ‘A’ game list, and often playing a very tight, timed turns in a serious practice game.  Since this is not your average pickup game at the LGS club night I get less practice with Haley than I would like but she is the caster I have been using the longest.

List development with Haley has been an interesting process. Some time in Spring 2011 Team Octopii helped to develop what we felt was the perfect Haley list at that point, it went 5 – 0  at the ETC that year and helped to propel us to a second place finish;

EHaley

Stormclad

Rowdy

Lancer

Squire

Gunmages with Officer

Full Boomhowlers

Rhupert

Arlan

Junior

B13

This list dealt with most of the common list building requirements.  It could tarpit scenario zones; it had Jack bullet assassination; it had movement shenanigans, it could deal with stealth, it hit hard, it stacked buffs, it could deal with high def.  It’s only real weakness was a lack of upkeep removal (Jamie had claimed EEryiss). To be honest, I love this list and am extremely comfortable playing it but in a ‘Divide and Conquer’ 3 list environment sharing soon becomes caring.

Enter the Stormwall...

If anyone can find me a more deadly combo than a Stormwall bonded to EHaley then I will eat my own faeces.  It is simply wrong (read: glorious).  It was also so easy to fit; drop Rowdy and Stormclad and apply Stormwall to crack.  Leave to simmer for a few moments and serve when well and truly roasted.

The problem was the units; there is little point in having one good list if your other two are pony cos you weren't willing to share nicely.  The biggest moment of dispute was the love triangle involving Haley, Caine and Boomhowler.  Eventually it seemed that Boomie preferred Caine's sweet ass over the Poledancer's domination and he left to join Caine's dirty dozen leaving poor ol' Haley searching for a new date.

Dating Boomie had been successful but lacked excitement.  He's a nice guy, reliable, always around, to be honest, quite hard to get rid of.  Problem is, he lacks a bit in the bedroom, no 'punch' if you get my drift and struggles to hit the spot more often than not.  Don't get me wrong, with a bit of help he can get the job done but who wants troll spit roasts every day of the week. 

If you are going to get back in the game then you may as well seek out a bit of excitement, a rebound shag if you will.  Two potential suitors presented themselves, each with their own unique charms.  Date number one was with the Stormblades, plenty of power, if a little slow.  Could go twice at a time if the boss was around to shout orders and had some interesting 'weapons attachments' that could really let them reach out and touch someone. 

Date number two was with the dwarf forge guard.  Again not the quickest, (in fact a little lumbering if truth be told) very reliable though, plenty of reach for those hard to hit places and possessing the ability to really slam it home.

Abandoning the rather strained sex metaphor for the moment both of these units presented interesting options.  On the surface they are fairly similar, good damage output, slow as shit, can be buffed to a good armour level.  The dwarfs can get to Arm 23 with Arcane Shield, Defensive Line and Deceleration, the Stormblades to 20 (but a respectable Def 14 with Deceleration).  Purification, Eiryss and blessed weapons would be a problem, one that Boonies could ignore, but you can't have everything.

I am going to start with the much maligned Stormblades. They make a very viable 'deadeye' target for Haley, are a little quicker up the board, don't require me to maintain a defensive line formation and come with 3 pow 14' rng 12 guns.  They are however 11 points for the unit and mean I am sacrificing solos to fit them in.  Play test list for Haley will therefore be;

EHaley

Stormwall

Lancer

Squire

Gunmages + Officer

Marshalled Sentinal

Junior

Stormblades + Officer, Standard and 3 x Stormgunners

2 x Stormcallers.

Unbelievably it also ends up 'faction pure' (not that I really care...) but it does mean that Caine can have his pick of the tasty mercenaries...