750-pt Faction Pure, no uniques

[asburygrad]

Well, I need to prepare for a 750-pt faction pure game, with no unique pieces, pilots, or gold equipment. Limit 2 artillery per army. House alliances are in effect, but no grand alliances and no situational alliances. Unrestricted match. Assume no mission or PC is played.

Off the top of my head, I would watch for:
2 Republic Malices (the 16-ranged one) and +1 attack FP
2 Vet NC NCs, either with Hyperlasers or non-gold IT cards; maybe +2 range FP
2 JF Lokis
2 Davion Lokis, or maybe 1 Loki with 2 Stalking Spiders, and the re-roll FP
Maybe an old-fashioned IndustrialMech swarm, using SS Agro Mods or SW ForestryMechs
WH Kelswa/WH TGR drops with WH Mjolnirs and/or a WH Thor

There's also a chance of using a merc contract to bring in a variety of merc stuff. But since you can't use Uniques, that leaves out the Gunslingers. And I don't think he'll let us recruit Wolf Hunters for this match.

What would you take?

[tjpandv]

You seem to have listed a lot of the good non-unique mechs out there.

The Battleforce Sets have pushed out some decent "nons" such as the Mailce and the Mangonels and CJF could even field a decent Shrike (shame about the pilots though!).

The Lokis are real killers - probably not a bad one amongst them and the N Cats are, well, just uniques in disguise!

Further down the weight classes (I think we can leave Mediums to one side...), there are plenty of lights. Apart from the BR Soli, the CNC, BR or WH Vixens are all great pieces and the Goshen or Minoru Kurita pilots make excellent jockeys.

Bannsons do lack decent non uniques apart from the Vixen and Soli but do score with some good pieces of support when playing unrestricted (Sprint drop anyone?).

I think that some of the House Alliances should help. One Faction's deficiencies can be remedied by its ally.

A DF/HK set up could work. You'd need a good number of Green Rokus but DF in unrestricted bring a LOT of good stuff to the table.

ROTS have the mechs, Highlanders have the TGRs, Hadurs and Sniper Teams.

The Clan Wolf Thor could show up - they may be a bit thin on the ground as far as support goes but they can call on some pretty useful Steel Wolves pieces from earlier sets (always loved that SW Paladin and their mortar teams!).

Format looks pretty good - different from the norm.

Let us know how it went.

[Zxqueb]

asburygrad said:

Limit 2 artillery per army.

I'm always surprised when I see this limitation. Seems like a throwback to when arty was too powerful. Does anyone run more than two these days?

I would expect solitaires being played. At least they would be around me. (or BY me? ) BR seems like the all around most powerful faction right now in a no-retirement, faction pure environment.

[asburygrad]

To tjpandv (can I call you Phil?): good point on the UR CW Thor. I had counted the Wolves out in my planning, since they can't bring the Warwolves in this one. But I do know that a few people grabbed more than one of those Thors when Vanguard was hot, and they were saving them for an opportune time. Thanks for the heads-up!

To Z: I have no idea why the Battlemaster at this venue is so arty-scared! He must have lost many battles to SS Arrow IVs and decided they were evil. He went so far as to say that in the final 1200-pt round, "You can bring as much arty as you like!" Personally, even in a game that size, I don't think I'd run more than 2.

I do love my Solitaires, and I have several Vixens as well. I decided against this faction too, because their only non-unique heavy to speak of is the Vulture. But their lights are so good, and they do have some great support in there. I need to give them a second look.


Incidentally, one thing that was on my mind was beating 2 Vet NC NCs, if they play the +2 range FP and Hyperlasers. I have a friend that loves this set-up in 600-pt play, and I think he'd be even more likely to field it in a 750-pt match. If the Hyperlaser goes off (and it's likely that at least 1 will if he rolls for 2 of them), that's 8 energy damage at 27 range!

So how to counter that? I noticed that the SH R10 can take 8 clicks of damage before gaining salvage - which means it's pretty tough against 6-damage things like the ROTS Mangonel, Malice, and WH Kelswas. Of course, no transport I found can take 8 clicks and keep going - but the SH R10 gives you a change to move into your tank's range, and then use an 8-damage hit to salvage and drop the tank for free.

There are other ways to use the "free drop due to salvage" trick - but a critical hit from many attacks could salvage you before you're ready. Using the toughest transport in the game could be a big advantage, especially combined with SH JES II Missile Carriers and Behemoth IIs, and the SH re-roll pride card.

What do you guys think of a SH tankdrop army, supported by TGR drops and TTLs for artillery?

[Zxqueb]

asburygrad said:

So how to counter that?

Blocking terrain and high defense.

What do you guys think of a SH tankdrop army, supported by TGR drops and TTLs for artillery?

Tank drop is strong against big mechs, though somewhat weaker against light mechs (who tend to charge on in and kill the drop). If you think you are going to see lots of big mechs, I think bringing a drop army is an outstanding idea. I'd throw in at least one light mech for cleanup though.

Post a draft of an army and we'll pick it apart.

Z

[warlord1985]

Or you can just play Matts army, it can be pretty close to faction pure and I don't remember any uniques.

[asburygrad]

To warlord: what was Matt's army? I'd be interested in hearing about the key units.

I'm working on an army draft now. I'll post when it's finished. Thanks for the help!

[asburygrad]

Alright, here's my concept army:

Damage Soaker: 750 points exactly

BR Vulture / Frihet Grad (0/2/1) / Decoy – 223 + 31 + 38
BR Solitaire / 2/2/0 pilot / Decoy – 100 + 18 + 21
BR Solitaire / 2/2/0 pilot / Repair – 100 + 18 + 23
BR Vixen / 2/2/0 pilot / Improved Targeting – 112 + 18 + 23
FP – 25

I plan on using the Vulture to block for the lights as we move quickly downfield. If I have to take a shot from a Nova Cat or Malice or Mangonel, it can take one massive hit, then get repaired from the FP and from the Solitaire. Basically try to hammer one big target into dust, then run back to my DZ and wait out the match. I've got plenty of speed in there.

Against a tankdrop, I could again use the Vulture to soak up damage and block for the lights, while we move into position.

Still, the Vulture is quite expensive. I might get more mileage out of 2 extra lights, so that no one has to wait - everyone can go full out. Also undecided on minor pilot choices: +2 speed vs +1 defense, vs the cheapness of the BR Lt card.

[asburygrad]

Another army that's been in the back of my mind:

Wolf Hunter Supreme: 750 pts
Merc Pride – 25
2 Merc Sniper Artillery – 58 * 2
WH Thor / Frihet Grad / Streaks – 204 + 31 + 38
WH R10 / WH Kelswa – 42 + 90
WH Vixen / Goshen Grad / IT – 112 + 19 + 23
5 WH Minigun Cycles – 50

[tjpandv]

asburygrad said:

Another army that's been in the back of my mind:

Wolf Hunter Supreme: 750 pts
Merc Pride – 25
2 Merc Sniper Artillery – 58 * 2
WH Thor / Frihet Grad / Streaks – 204 + 31 + 38
WH R10 / WH Kelswa – 42 + 90
WH Vixen / Goshen Grad / IT – 112 + 19 + 23
5 WH Minigun Cycles – 50

I tend to find facing Merc FP armies with inf that can capture a frightening prospect. Any chance you can slip some CBA in there to make a nice capture formation?

Although its more points, there's always the Merc Kelswa out there. Its DV and has saved me a few times - occassions when the WH Kelswa would have been a smoking wreck. If you need to make a hole for some points, the WH Tokugawa has good range and tagetting and will allow the Thor a shot through blocking if its HB tags a target.

If someone brings TG along, your best AV is only 11IT on a light mech. There are some non-unique high DVs out there, so I would switch out the streaks for IT (I've been hanging around those Dutch guys too much!).

I like the balance of a heavy/light/drop and arty though.

PS - Phil is fine by me. Except at weekends when its Mandy