The Headsman Cometh

The Warcaster Kickstarter 3 stuff had arrived, and Karas had already put his cadre together.
Automech (proxied by Haqq Al-Fasid)
Paladin Seigebreaker
Paladin Weaver
Regulator Reave
Regulators squad
Witch Hounds attachment
Tracers squad
Firebrand (Reflex cortex, Assault Rifle & Bayonet, Repulsor Shield, Maelstrom)
Morningstar (Exchanger cortex, Assault Shield, Assault Shield, Gate Crasher, Maelstrom)
Major Aysa Drayce (proxied by Paladin Commander)
Headsman

I hadn't really made any changes to my list:
Artemis Fang hero solo
Coalition Weaver solo
Hunter solo x2
Combat Engineer
Ranger Fire Team squad
Warder attachment
Dusk Wolf light warjack (Scout cortex, Railgun, Battle Rifle, Ripper Saw)
Strike Raptor heavy warjack (Ace cortex, Railgun, Railgun, Battle Rifle, Battle Rifle)
Strike Raptor heavy warjack (Bomber cortex, Talon Rocket Pod, Talon Rocket Pod, Flamethrower, Flamethrower)


Pre-Game:
We played Skirmish and rolled Chaos Theory. We decided to modify it to use the same scoring method as before: a model scores during it's activation. Karas won the roll and chose to go first, deploying his Morningstar and Regulator Reeve. I deployed the Bomber Raptor and a Hunter.


Pulse 1.1
The Morningstar scored the far objective and Gatecrashed in Aysa and the Firebrand. He was able to "daisy-chain" a gate off Aysa on my side of the table. I charged the Bomber Raptor and used him to score the near objective and take down the Firebrand. I repositioned my Hunter to the right and put down a gate.
Pulse 1.2:
Iirc Karas used a Cypher to clear the activation token off his Morningstar and advanced it further up, using Gatecrasher to bring in the Seigebreaker, and then deploying the Automech and Headsman from the other gate. He used a cypher to fully charge the Headsman (which I guess was not technically in keeping with the correct turn order, but I don't think it made a difference really). I charged the Hunter and sent him to score the right objective, finishing off Aysa. I sent the Bomber Raptor to score the left objective, spiking for the extra movement needed, then put some damage onto the Seigebreaker. I deployed Artemis, the Weaver, and the Rangers with the Warder (I forgot how the rules worked here and deployed the Warder too far from the gate), trying to impede the Headsman's access to the right objective. I placed a gate on the far side of the table.
Pulse 1.3:
A Cypher allowed the Headsman to tractor-beam my gate towards the center of the table. The Seigebreaker killed my (illegally placed) Warder then moved to score my near objective. The Headsman was then able to walk around my Rangers and gun them all down, along with Artemis Fang, with his machinegun-flamethrower. Oh, and he punched my Hunter to death too. The Firebrand deployed out of a gate. I charged the Bomber Raptor and used a Cypher to give him +2 speed and Flight. The allowed him to fly over the building and, with a couple of extra 2" moves from the Bomber cortex, he was able to score the far objective. I don't remember who he shot at but with no Arc he wasn't able to kill anything. The Weaver hopped onto a building so I could target stuff with Furies. I deployed my Ace Raptor next to the Headsman, then put a gate down on the left of my deployment zone. At the end of the pulse round we each had 4 points. We rolled a 1 and the far left objective disappeared.


Pulse 2.1:
Karas used a Cypher to tune up the Headsman, who then got to work on my Ace Raptor. I thought this was a funny result for an attack roll, with all the reds rolling blanks and (almost) all the whites rolling double strikes: Arguably even more funny (depending on your perspective...) was this damage roll: That's a 19. Three wounds on my Strike Raptor, and just one strike off being a one-shot kill. Obviously my Raptor did not survive the activation. I think it was the Seigebreaker who killed my Weaver. Finally the Tracers dropped in, followed by a gate near to my own. My Bomber Raptor shot into the Morningstar, failing to kill it but taking out a Tracer, before shuffling backwards and scoring the far objective again. I brought in the Ace Raptor and Engineer, then put down a gate on my right.
Pulse 2.2:
The Automech that cleared the activation token from the Headsman and repaired two or three boxes on the Morningstar. The Headsman killed my Bomber Raptor. Karas used a Cypher to shuffle the Tracers downwards, then he deployed his Palading Weaver. I allocated an Arc to my Ace Raptor then my Engineer tuned him up. The Raptor then killed the Paladin Weaver, the Seigebreaker, and a Tracer. The Firebrand hopped over to where the Siegebreaker used to be. On my right I brought in my Bomber Raptor and a Hunter, then placed another gate on the far left towards the center of the table.
Pulse 2.3:
The Automech scored the far objective. The Morningstar used Gatecrasher to bring in the Palading Weaver on the right objective. I think the Morningstar killed my Hunter, though it might have been a Fury cast through the Weaver. Karas collapsed his remaining gate to bring in the Seigebreaker near my objective. I had been counting on the Hunter to score the right objective; I had tried to deploy him in a protected position. Without him my options were a bit limited. I opted to charge my Bomber Raptor and use him to clear and score the near objective. I brought in my Duskwolf, Rangers, and Weaver on the left, intending to push them towards the far objective. I put down a gate again closer to the central objective. At the end of the pulse round I had 8 points and Karas had 12. We rolled a 3 and the objective on the right was removed.


Pulse 3.1:
The Seigebreaker and Regulator Reave took out my Duskwolf and a couple of my Rangers. Furies may have been involved. Karas deployed a gate behind his Morningstar. I advanced the Ace Raptor and finally took down the Morningstar. I think I killed the Seigebreaker with a Fury. I collapsed my gate to deploy the Dusk Wolf and two Hunters, then put down a new gate on the far left. Pulse 3.2
The Headsman walked towards the center and casually ate my Dusk Wolf. Karas deployed the Firebrand beside the central objective. The Ace Raptor, tuned up and fully charged with three Arc, walked up to the central objective and failed to kill the (currently DEF 7) Headsman. I know attacking the Firebrand was the more logical choice, but at this point I cared more about revenge on the Headsman than I did about scoring. A Hunter tried to finish the job but predictably did nothing. I used a Cypher to advance my other Hunter towards the far objective for some reason. I once again deployed the Dusk Wolf, out on the far left.
Pulse 3.3:
The Paladin Weaver gave the Firebrand some Arc. The Firebrand then slammed my Ace Raptor off the objective, killing my Hunter and allowing him score. I moved the Bomber Raptor up to get line of sight to the Headsman and finally finished him off. I didn't bother with the rest of my attacks or activations. The game ended with Karas winning 18 to 11.


Post-Mortem:
Facing a charged and tuned-up Headsman who could have his activation tokens cleared by the Automech was pretty much getting a taste of my own medicine. He's a powerful and versatile model. Karas getting him charged and tuned up early, along with the ability to put models on the table faster than me with Gatecrasher, meant that I was fighting an uphill battle for attrition.

By spreading across the table and using my Raptors' manouverability I was able to keep up with the scoring in the first round, but as central objectives dissappeared and failed to push to the center and far objectives I was unable to keep up. My squad, solos, and even the Dusk Wolf, kept dying before they could do anything. It seems I should have focussed less on deploying them far up and more on deploying them in protected positions. In retrospect my target priority could have been better too, but at the time I wasn't sure which models were most worth the effort required to kill them.

By the start of the last pulse round Karas just needed to acivate his Automech and Morningstar and he would score 6 points, putting him 10 points ahead of me; even if I scored all three remaining objectives I could only score 9 points. We could have ended the game there, but there wasn't time for a second game so we played it through, with Karas delaying scoring. At least this let me kill the Headsman by the end, from which I derived significant satisfaction.

I was trying to spread the Arc and activations around a bit more than in my last game, but never really had the chance. The Strike Raptors really are my best models for holding Arc. Still, I believe I can get more value from the rest of my army if I play them better; getting to cast Furies is just free attacks, I should be able to get the Hunters to stay alive and kill stuff if I keep them back and just move in and out of cover rather than sending them forwards for objectives, and the Rangers could maybe do more work by knocking Arc off enemy models that by simply trying to damage them. I have reconsidered my Cypher deck to try to include more cards that benefit my models and playstyle, that should help too.