PoisonTail's Quest for the Shaltari

Well, and heres a thing to remember:

Commanders can go in non-command units. A court of elders requires you to take a command unit, but not to place the commander in it....

You could use a Jaguar and put a shaman in that. It halves your sphere of influence, but its still functional.

I do that on larger games when I have a backfield force of ocelots etc and just want to keep the SOI going.

Well, and heres a thing to remember:

Commanders can go in non-command units. A court of elders requires you to take a command unit, but not to place the commander in it....

Yeah, there's that too. I guess it will be easier at larger games too, when there is more room to wiggle, and when I have a larger barracks to draw from.


A few days ago I got in another game against the UCM - this time at 700 points. The advice I've gotten here has sunk in I felt and list building was, lets say more knowledgeable. Thanks for all the help!

You can read the report here:
https://poisontail.wordpress.com/2017/01/29/more-shaltarigans-a-dropzone-commander-shaltari-vs-ucm-batrep/

Also, I have some reinforcements coming - Thunderbirds, Yaris and Jaguar. Should freshen things up. The UCM have some stuff coming as well - the solid plan seems to be putting up more steel in the air. That means that a Ferrum is an inenvitable encounter at some point. The Scourge player, is going in the opposite direction by putting loads of tanks on the table instead. If only our AA was at +1 E. That would make things so much easier. Luckily I've grown up with those insane NES games...
(Plus, there might be a UCM or PHR force coming soon, yay!)

I met the Scourge.

Luckily the UCM forces bore the blunt of the Scourge assault in our three-player free-for-all:

https://poisontail.wordpress.com/2017/02/21/three-way-traffic-james-a-three-player-dropzone-commander-batrep/

I am positively surprised on how easily the rules allow for this. It's not like 40k/Fantasy where you get a mess (in "multiple-combats"), or have to wait ages for your turn! Of course this was only at 700 points each, but we can still shave off time by being more familiar with the rules.

It's finally time for some expanding. Right now we have been playing at 700 points, which has meant for my Iceni tribe:

--2 Eden
--1 Spirit
--1 Haven
Coyote Commander (lv 2)
3 Tomahawks
3 Kukri
1 Braves
1 Pungari

Now we are progressing to 1000 point Skirmish, and I am thinking:

--3 Eden
--2 Spirit
--1 Haven
Court of Elders
Coyote Commander (lv 2)
2 Yaris
Swordtip
3 Tomahawks
3 Kukris
Warrior Clan 1
2 Braves
Warrior Clan 1
2 Braves
Warfist
1 Jaguar

With an alternative to add a Command level and swap Yaris and one or two Brave squads to Pungari, depending on which way the wind blows and how the stars are aligned. Nothing different I believe, as I am still relying heavily on my starter set.

The opposition is air heavy UCM (3 Gondors, 3 Ravens, 2 Falcons), so I need AA, and ground AT heavy Scourge (6 Hunters & 4 Slayers if that fits into 1000 with 3 Reapers and transports).




Any pointers, comments or suggested changes/alternatives? 4 Thunderbirds and 2 More Yaris are available, but I'm up to all ideas short of buying an UCM or a PHR army.

Thanks!

/PoisonTail

The real world sphere of influence of ours has now become large enough to turn other players' eyes here. One of the most eager Dropfleet players around came around and stalked a game, and now around New Year he hopped in. We did a test run of his Heavy Tank force at 1000 points. It was interesting to see how different he works compared to the other UCM player around. This time a PHR Admiral came to take a look, and rumour has it he is looking at a starter.

Here's the new UCM force (swift bugger this one) - click the image to get to the corresponding blog post.


We will soon try to get another game in, and he is eager to push beyond the 1000 points I sit at. The largest list I feel I can push to is 1388 points:

Eden x 3
Spirit x 2
Haven x 2

BG1: Coyote (lvl. 5)

BG2: 3 Tomahawks
3 Kukri

BG3: Braves
Pungari
2 Firebirds

BG4: Braves
Pungari

BG5: Jaguar
2 Firebirds

BG6: 2 Yari, Ion Cannons

I feel I have a lot of weaknesses, especially lack of AA. (For that I have Birdeaters coming.) Nonetheless, it is a good opportunity to get a feel for what can be improved upon in my collection. This, together with said birdeaters, another Jaguar, a Scorpion and some Ronin should form the base of my 1500 points (with some potential variation).

What I'm mostly interested in learning is if 3 Jaguars make a viable list. Any comments and suggestions are welcome!

Wade appeared again, and rolled on to the centre like the 50 tonne block of solid steel his heart is. Feels like I need some bigger guns! But it was an eye opener pushing towards larger point games, and question all my choices. And regarding the battle plan: mistakes are good as long as you learn from them...

Well, I have no experience at all fighting against General Wade, but Tarantulas and Ocelots make quite effective can-openers for high armor, high-DP targets. Of course, if you manage to achieve substantial local superiority using gate mobility, enough basic E10 shots will do the trick too.

As it is, I honestly think you have quite solid AA strength, with 3 Kukris and a Jaguar. Certainly, you could ramp it up further, but I think you would start to sacrifice too much in other areas if you do. (given the same point total)

Yeah, I've been looking at Tarantulas at least. Heavier stuff will probably a common sight on these battlefields so they would be a generally good fit for me. I don't like the idea of putting a lot of trust into a single shot - is the Ocelot pulling its weight for you? Some demolisher could be interesting, though.

That game is what I need to practice. I feel I tend to spread out too much, when I should focus my forces.

1500 points is the target for us - so yes, it will be about the same. Interesting to hear that you think I have a decent amount. I feel I'll add a second Jaguar to get to an initial 1500 (I've got that one lying around) with so adds some AA as well.

Thanks for the comments!

Yeah, I've been looking at Tarantulas at least. Heavier stuff will probably a common sight on these battlefields so they would be a generally good fit for me. I don't like the idea of putting a lot of trust into a single shot.

They are well woth trying out, I had a squad of 4 in some games and they are ace! Plus 'FREKIN LAZER BEAMS' are alot more usful than you might think.

Yesterday I got hold of two Birdeaters and my socks started spinning. This already warrants a look at the Tarantulas. But I hear ya, the big guns look better and better as more UCM and PHR peeps are showing up.