The Wolf's Dragoon's Pilots

[tjpandv]

I've been wondering how to incorporate the new WD common pilots into various army builds.

My fave at the moment has to be A28 which grants a +2 AV/-1DV to it and any friendly inf or vehicles within 6 inches (as long as they aren't part of a RC or CC formation). This means tank drop as far as I'm concerned and it does throw up some interesting "power-ups" for the range of tanks. For example:

Dragons Fury D1 Schmitt would have a modified AV of 13 with IT.
Many of the Kelswas will have an AV of 12.
The SH Behemoth's AV would be boosted to 12IT (and a range of 14 to boot).
The HS Carnivore now attacks at 11IT which is probably the best in the restricted game.
The CJF Huitzy tank now has an AV of 13 - not bad for a pulse tank.

The newer Kelswas can pick up late dial IT which would still make them viable and the older ones have good DVs which can accept the -1 DV penalty.

As for infantry, the Towed Gauss rifles probably need to keep in formation but with the +2 AV, they can become dangerous opponents. Hazen's strikers now have an 11IT stat which beats most vehicles.

The trick will be to get your firing piece to within 6 inches of your mech and that's where it would be useful to have drop ranges and AO ranges roughly comparable. Either way, the mech will have to move/attack first but a CJF Loki pulsing followed by a CJF Huitzy following up can account for 20 clicks of damage with 2 attacks...

[Zxqueb]

Since most TDs are limited most by the infantry formation, this pilot would seem to actually increase the effective range of drops, which is a big plus. I'm thinking that a double (or even triple if low costed) drop army + mech would work out really well. Lead with a DF kelswa or other IT tank to make sure you hit and drop stats and follow with a secondary shot. Keeping IT would be useful, but it might be good to get a lower value tank in play to get a second drop in there.

I may have to load up Battleplanner tonight.

Z

[tjpandv]

I think the WS Thor with a pilot and IT comes to 298 points. There are probably cheaper rides but that's a good enough start with nice AV, damage and range.

The tank choice has to be a balance of range and AV. Points cost also come into it of you're going to double up with the drops.

Some "second tier" tanks could be:

WH Tokugawa (needs priming to get good damage but nice range and Homing Beacon adds to the AV).

DF Tokugawa (poor range but big AV with IT and 4 damage).

Merc D1 Morgan (3-14 range, 8IT).

ROTS PoII (0-12 range, 9IT but only 3 damage).

DF SM1 TD (10AV, poor range but 4 Arm P damage).

Merc Skanda (9AV, 0-16 range, 2 Arm P damage).

HS Skanda (0-14 range, 9AV and 3 Arm P damage).

DF Di Morgan (2-10 range, 10IT).

If this is your back up piece, then perhaps damage isn't so much of an issue as your mech and hopefully your first drop will have ripped away any armour. If your mech and your prime dropper are ballistic shooters, having a smaller tank with energy may just be the icing on the cake if you can heat up what's left.

WS Thor/A28/IT
DF Garrot/DF D1 Schmitt
DF Garrot/ROTS PoII

That still leaves 98 points for support. I'm not sure about the Garrot - it seemed to be KO'd by the JF Fenrir drop from a BR Sprint but it does give the shorter-ranged tanks more of a reach.

[asburygrad]

This doesn't mean much for 600-point standard matches. But in larger games, the WD pilot abilities can overlap, right?

This means you could create a zone between 3 WD-piloted heavies, which would give all vehicles between them a +6 AV / -3 DV modifier. Stinks on your opponent's turn, but rocks on your own!