Clan Jade Falcon as a whole.

[thekaiser]

Now, my one friend in my small school-group has recently decided (With some support from other players) to pick up CJF and play them as his second faction. Currently, the other players and I have been trying to get him all the CJF stuff we can get (Including the stuff for this week's draft. Lord permitting) so that he can quickly get on his feet with them as a competitive force.

However, I have noticed their dials and paradgrim and such, so I have to know, for advice to give to my friend, what tips can anyone give on playing CJF faction-pure and competitively, for Unrestricted of course? Right now, I am looking at the CJF Loki/Hellbringer and Thor/Summoner as two good CJF pieces to try to get him if he cannot, if his Battleset he recently ordered (Along with all the other pieces he has gotten) does not perform as stellar as we hope. So again, any advice any of you can give on CJF (That will be helpful, none of that "Don't play them lol" stuff, good tidings)?

Also, if anyone who goes to the Twinsburg club has a Loki or two fro CJF, I would be interested in getting it, just so you know.

[tjpandv]

I've been playing CJF faction ever since Falcons Prey came out - they are a BLAST to play and I tend to find games go really well, or really badly - there's no middle ground! Speed is the key and using it to set up your main strike piece.

Key pieces for me are:

Sylph (JF will hurt when these are retired)
Kite (18 inch ram and base) (Shamash if you're tight on points)
Loki with Kerensky and IT (or new JF heavy pilot from VA)
PH1 with IT and Minoru Kurita Pilot
Saxon to drop one of our great Battle Armours like...
Fenrir
Clan (old ones for anti pers and new ones for speed)
R10 (fast)
Enyo
Jaguar fitted with anti pers
Trackbikes

I never tend to play arty as it doesn't fit in with the style - also, there are very few cheap inf pieces to use as a screen. That also goes for the TTLs and Centaurs I'm afraid. The CJF heat dials (or should I say vent ratings) are well worth exploiting, allowing you to push that little bit more that many other factions.

Once you accept that your short ranges will mean that the opposition will get the first shot, just build in fast basers/harassers that will tie up/distract your opponent.

It hurts seeing Sylphs and Kite and Shamashes getting taken out, but if it means your big hitter is getting into range, then that's what you're after. I'll glady waste up to 100 points of Sylphs and Kites to see a Loki pulse for 12.

As for the heavy stuff, the Shrikes may well be big in 600 points - they need support and that's exactly what they'll get with the added points values. The Zeus is an awesome piece but needs to get in quick.

The LEs are, I'm afraid, past their sell-by date.

From what I've seen from VA, we get the best HitzyPotchyThingumy tank and a very good Tokugawa. The Thor is limited by its poor heat dial. The Clan BA have a speed of 12 and another BA keeps reactive armour all along the dial.

I can promise you that your friend will enjoy playing the Falcons, let me know how he does and I'll see if I can chip in with any more help etc. If he has a list of pieces, I'll look at building an army for him - can't promise that its in the Elite/Trev/Mid league I'm afraid

[baw]

When I build armies for a JF player I will often include a Goshawk. It has some nice DFAness to it also!

[asburygrad]

Black Rose is a key piece now that build totals are up to 600 points. Some people have remarked on how fast it drops stats-wise . . . but since it starts higher than many other assaults, I don't see this as a big disadvantage. Comparing it to the recently-released gunslinger Marauder IIC, Requiem, you find cheaper cost with higher starting stats and faction abilities, in exchange for range and ballistic effectiveness. Black Rose is a great piece, either way.

Your friend should also look into the JF Long Tom and Towed Thunder Launcher - fine artillery units, IMHO.

[Zxqueb]

I think I can swing that Loki, Cap.

I'll bring one on Tuesday.

Z

[thekaiser]

Hmm, I do not think Greenmage will be in town this Tuesday, but I will see what I can get to trade for it. Thanks for the help. =)

Also, many thanks for the two above with your advice. I have shown a bit of it to Greenmage, and he seems to like the ideas.

[baw]

Merciless is a really nice faction pride card. Especially for some the Battleforce mechs! It enables some of the newer JF units to be impressive.

[cainehazen]

Yeah.. remember, good attack scores, low defense, pilots with extra speed. JF forces are ment to get in and hit hard, but they can't take as much punishment (now if I could learn to play the rest of my forces and not play them all like my JFs...)

[tjpandv]

Set Un-retirement will also mean that some of our better pieces will live on - the Sylph BA in particular.

[Zxqueb]

I just wanted to dito on the goshawk. It's some MDFA goodness on the cheap -- 130pts that doesn't even necessarily need a pilot to do it's thing (though as always, it's a good idea).

Z

[tjpandv]

On the downside, although at a local level, CJF pieces will survive set retirement, it looks like that they will be ruled out of top tier events (Worlds, Nats etc). I suppose this shouldn't affect JF too much - very few armies at this level are FP and if they are, it usually isn't the Falcons

Another down side that I'm noticing is the Falcons' inability to cope with some of the Va stuff. Hyperlaser will struggle against RHDMs - we don't have one. Our generally low DVs actually open us up to Hyperlaser. The CW extended targetting struggles against armoured targets - the Falcons aren't exactly flush with these. The last big Falcon mech-fest has yielded the Thor and the Battleset - hardly stellar.

For competitive play, I'm leaning toward CNC/ROTS pieces to stave off some of the more recent developments. This really hurts as I've been spending the last few years taking the mick over one of our BM's love of Hilghlanders and their Formula 1 speed ratings. If he ever makes it over the other side of the table in 50 minutes, he ends up with a nose bleed

I can't knock him too much - he's a great bloke, the senior MW judge at the UK Nats and a massive 6ft 4in Police Officer - 'nuff said!

Oh, and if you think having a Police Officer as a BM is bad, our other one is a Driving Instructor !! Oh how we laugh - NOT