Tactics and Strategy Review

[GhostCat]

One of the most notable features of the Bannson's Raiders is how easy they are to repair.  Everybody loves that about them and it is a great selling point.  But there is a down side.  They often get fewer clicks of life on the dial than similar units in other factions.  Also many units have a "Glass Jaw" which makes them suddenly less effective after a few clicks of damage, thus encouraging the need to keep repair units conveniently nearby.

Sometimes it's not easy to disengage from combat to head off to the nearest repair unit.  So many times, I've had repair units standing idle because the battle units were just too far away and could not escape easily.  So it becomes cost effective to put a Repair Vehicle or Combat Technician in a Transport. 

Ordinance Trucks are transports that can also repair things too.  Sure, you knew that, and you know the Raiders have a JI100 RV equipped with Point Defense just to make it's job easier to manage.  And we all know what a big target that becomes when opposing forces start by killing repair units first.  The synergy of the LE transport and repair drop can make the 54 points a sound investment.  Yes, they can even Push to repair each other.

By the time Age of Destruction was produced, my collection had been stripped down to only a few dozen figures by other players that liked the Zombie Mechs more than I did.  But, it just happened that the first Mech and Pilot I pulled from a booster was the Cygnus and Enrico Fernali  with Single Use Pulse as the Gear card.  Quality Control was erratic back then, and nothing said that Preferred Pilots had to be packed with their Assigned Mechs.  It's a good thing that I didn't see Jacob Bannson's stats until much later.

As it turns out, 'Rico became my 'go to' pilot for every Assault mech except his own (but that's another story).

So, here is the Original Zombie Mech, with 450 Build Total and three orders. 

AOD124 Cygnus 'Persuader' 234 pts. (Bannson's Raiders)
AOD-G-023 Pulse (Single Use) (Assault 26 pts.)
AOD-GS-014 Enrico Fernali (Assault S:2 A:2 D:1 47 pts. Gunslinger) Recruit(Base): 7 (BR): 5

E127 Basil 'The Edge' Kozaka (J-37 Ordnance Transport) 32 pts. (Bannson's Raiders)
D042 JI100 Recovery Vehicle 22 pts. (Bannson's Raiders)

6x F019 Kage Battle Armor 14 pts. (Bannson's Raiders)

As you can see, even with the increase point total from 300, there still isn't much room for support because that One Big Mech is using up more points, too.  The Big Mech played the Hero part very well, and repair drops were timely and well placed.  The Kage moved in two formations of three, but only served as brief distractions while the mech got rest and repaired.

In later expansions, more options were available, including the Solitaire mech and a variety of Planetary Condition cards.  Generally, Blocking Terrain is the most useful for this team, with plenty of places to hide while getting repaired.  Perfect Day and other cards that prevent Blocking from becoming something else are always good to have.

AOD124 Cygnus 'Persuader' 234 pts. (Bannson's Raiders)
AOD-G-023 Pulse (Single Use) (Assault 26 pts.)
AOD-GS-014 Enrico Fernali (Assault S:2 A:2 D:1 47 pts. Gunslinger) Recruit(Base): 7 (BR): 5

AN051 Solitaire 100 pts. (Bannson's Raiders)
DOM-G-091 Improved Targeting (Light 23 pts.)
AOD-GS-001 J. P. Millhew (Light S:2 A:2 D:1 21 pts. Gunslinger) Recruit (Base): 5

1x E127 Basil 'The Edge' Kozaka (J-37 Ordnance Transport) 32 pts. (Bannson's Raiders)
1x D042 JI100 Recovery Vehicle 22 pts. (Bannson's Raiders)

5x L030 Clan Battle Armor 17 pts. (Bannson's Raiders)

Total 600 points

So, here the army has improved by adding a second mech, and the infantry is packing AntiPersonel SE.  The synergy is still good with four orders.  Oh, yes, the best part about having 'Rico pilot the Cygnus is he can make it Run 20 inches with a 12AV, which is pretty amazing for an Assault Mech.

GC

[Boldrick]

Heh, now thats looks very familiar , heck...same mech setup, Kozak +J100 combo, dont have much of Kagas, but i used
monocycle thingy, for very same points and purpose .
I differ with Solitaire setup, using Kelly + pulse on one, while other would get IT +  Mila Mazur for cheapest +2 def pilot.
Very compact armies..

[Captain of C-21]

GhostCat that is definitely some cool stuff on Bannson's Raiders.  The new kids in our club up here seem to have taken a liking to them, I need to scrounge up some repair vehicles to throw in the library box. :)

Alright, so this coming week I am going to have the regulars play against the new players to see how well they are understanding the rules.  Mostly I am doing this because the new players have kind of been playing against each other, while the regulars in our group do likewise, kind of by default.  I want to start mixing it up so we can start having some 10-12 people tournaments!  I told all our regulars though to build some fun but not too competitive armies to use this coming week.  Here's mine.

255pts  "Eternal Spirit" Sphinx (Marat Deleportas)
w/ 18pt Heavy Star Captain Clan Nova Cat (+1, +1, +1)
129pts "Malisa Nova Cat" Uller
w/ 10pt Light Star Commander Clan Nova Cat (+1, +1, +1)
w/ 33pt Evade
26pts "The Scorchers" Clan Battle Armor
18pts "Shadow Stalkers" Purifier Battle Armor
17pts/51pts Clan Battle Armor (Dark Age) x3
20pts Spirit Cat Faction Pride

The new players all want to use pilot/gear cards on old mechs, so I let them on a caveat; no unique pilot cards on unique mechs, only generic ones.  I have never gotten to use my Sphinx in a game before, while Malisa Nova Cat and her Uller were my standby SC piece back in the pre-AoD days.  Should be fun, I think. :)

[GhostCat]

Captain of C-21, Bannson's Raiders has quite a few interesting units, not the least of which is the LE infantry known as Killer Clowns.  One of them is a Scout ATV that has Foot mode (you know, it's a Clown Car). 

Let me introduce you to a slightly older mech that might be in your random box.  It still has value even if you don't add pilot and gear cards, though many other Dark Age mechs failed to stay useful with the obvious power creep that AoD rules permitted.  All by itself, it gave charge monkeys a Bad Name and sparked a sudden interest in how the game mechanic should be changed.  It even earned an unofficial nickname as the 'Gunhead'.

F080 Legionnaire 119 pts. (Bannson's Raiders)

Keep in mind that this is a medium mech though Dark Age mechs were rarely identified by weight class.  It can be repaired to Full from Salvage, has Infiltrate on the first click and Camoflage on all the others.  No Single Use SE, the usual method was to Charge something, take a click, then hide in the Hindering.  Brawling appears on the Secondary weapon, but can be use with the 4dmg Primary, allowing it to deal six clicks of impact (ignores hardened armor) damage.  And it's Fast, so it can Run back to a repair truck, and Charge back into Battle until something kills it.

So, it's dangerous at range, and deadly up close, and though the Heat Dial can be sometimes painful, you also have the satisfation of knowing it can be repaired.   

AOD-G-007 Armor Piercing (Medium 35 pts.)
AOD-G-010 Mechanical Repair (Medium 17 pts.)
DOM-G-096 Anti-Personnel (Medium 24 pts.)
WS-G-169 Improved Targeting (Medium 35 pts.)

DOM-G-108 Explosive Rounds (Medium 39 pts.)
Attaches to: Ballistic
Ignore this gear when this unit's equipped damage value becomes 0. (optional) After this unit resolves a successful ranged combat attack targeting one or more opposing figures, score 2 damage against each unit in base contact with the target(s).

DOM-G-127 Double Rate (Medium 37 pts.)
Attaches to: Ballistic
(optional) Give this unit a ranged combat order targeting a single opposing figure. If the attack roll succeeds, make a second attack roll; this unit gets - 2 to its attack value for the second attack roll. If the second attack roll succeeds, double this unit's damage value (to a maximum of 6) when resolving the attack. If the second attack roll fails, use this unit's damage value to resolve the attack.

AOD-P-008 Graduate Certificate - War College of Tamar (Medium S:1 A:1 D:0 10 pts. Not Applicable)
AOD-P-009 Master Sergeant (Medium S:1 A:1 D:0 10 pts. Bannson's Raiders)
FI-P-018 Graduate Certificate - Sakhara Academy (Medium S:0 A:1 D:1 14 pts. Not Applicable)
VG-P-056 Graduate Certificate - Lyons School of Combat Preparedness (Medium S:2 A:1 D:0 11 pts. Not Applicable)

The above Gear and Pilots can make some useful combinations.  I never tried it that way, but, then I prefer to add more combat units with the points not spent on cards.

The Gunhead's biggest handicap is perhaps it's 9AV which makes RHDMs relax a bit.  The secret is to Charge with several mechs, then use a Close Combat Formation if things get really desperate.  Of course, you should pick off the small stuff first, run back to repair, then concentrate on the hard targets.

Here's a quick little army with good Zombie Tanks, Charge Monkey mechs, Repair Drop, and fast moving Wall of Flesh infantry.  Only the Artillery units are missing, but for 600 points, you can't have everything.

2x CA078 Behemoth II Tank 98 pts. (Bannson's Raiders), 196 points

F080 Legionnaire 119 pts. (Bannson's Raiders)

F080 Legionnaire 119 pts. (Bannson's Raiders)

E127 Basil 'The Edge' Kozaka (J-37 Ordnance Transport) 32 pts. (Bannson's Raiders)
D042 JI100 Recovery Vehicle 22 pts. (Bannson's Raiders)

8x F019 Kage Battle Armor 14 pts. (Bannson's Raiders)  112 points infantry 

600 points total

Use Planetary Conditions and Terrain as you please, half Blocking and half Hindering, should work out nicely.

GC

[Alleycat-Leader]

I have not been able to play Mechwarrior in over four years now, but I still have fond memories of playing as part of LordNth’s Merry Band of Miscreants in SE Michigan.  So, continuing the current Bannson’s Raiders theme of this thread, here was my 600 point army that was guaranteed to get me called ever nasty thing my opponents could conjure up or dig out of a thesaurus.

Build Total, 600 points / 4 orders

AN051  Solitaire [Bannson’s Raiders] – 100 pts.
DOM-G-117  C3i [Light] – 17 pts.
AN-GS-021  Scott Graves [Mercenary  S:+0  A:+2  D:+2] – 23 pts.

AN051  Solitaire [Bannson’s Raiders] – 100 pts.
DOM-G-117  C3i [Light] – 17 pts.
BF-GS-A20  Matt 'ZXQUEB' Vanek [Mercenary  S:+0  A:+2  D:+2] – 23 pts.   

AN051  Solitaire [Bannson’s Raiders] – 100 pts.
DOM-G-117  C3i [Light] – 17 pts.
VG-GS-055  Mila Mazur [Mercenary  S:+1  A:+1  D:+2] – 14 pts.

AN051  Solitaire [Bannson’s Raiders] – 100 pts.
DOM-G-117  C3i [Light] – 17 pts.
DOM-GS-049  Kelly Bonilla [Mercenary  S:+3  A:+3  D:+1] – 36 pts.

AOD-MC-006  Bannson’s Raiders Mercenary Contract – 5/150 pts.  (20 pts.)

BF036  Combat Technicians 'Rhodes Graces' [Mercenary] – 15 pts.

Total – 599 pts.

Preferred Planetary Conditions:
Perfect Day (Negate an opponent’s planetary condition.)
Dust Storm (Maximum range reduced to 8” and VTOL and Artillery affected.)
Heavy Fog (Special & ranged attacks beyond 8” receive a +1 to target’s defense.)
Magnetic Deposits (Ballistic range attacks receive a +1 to target’s defense.)
Rocky Terrain (+1 to foot infantry defense and tank drop cancelled.)

The tactics of this army can be summed up in two words, “Wolf Pack.”

The Solitaire always seemed to carry a level of intimidation with a lot of players, and staring at four of them across the board set most opponents on their heels from the start of the match.  Fear could be just as effective a weapon as any unit in the game.  The speed of the Solitaires (28” run with no heat on the two slowest) meant that on a 3’ x 3’ board there was very little chance I could not move to support my units in one turn if one ever got in trouble.

For an Assault to Heavy Class Battlemech, I would go with a single four-mech group, with Mazur and Vanek on the front running blocker (Impeding line of sight) for Bonilla and Graves.  For an opponent using multiple Medium to Light Class Battlemechs, I would go with two two-mech groups, with the bubbles from their C3i’s overlapping just enough that I could quickly move one way or another to exploit any opening that presented itself during a match.

Even with the midrange 10” distance of the Solitaires secondary weapon, their 14” move meant I could setup just beyond the 16” range of even the most far reaching opponents for an assault order the next turn.  This would force my opponent into assaulting the very high defense values of the Solitaires if he wanted to be the first to strike.

For high defense values, the C3i’s gave a +3 bonus once all of them were lined up on a target.  If needed, Bonilla could bring a maximum attack value of 15 if she was the last unit I attacked with in a turn.

For infantry-heavy armies, the Evade SE on the Solitaires meant that I broke away from base-to-base contact on anything but a 1, and allowed me to damage infantry in the bargain.  Even if based, the Solitaire could still lend the C3i support to a squadron mate’s attack, so long as the target was in range.  If faced with infantry using Grapple SE, I would usually have the Solitaire physically attack the highest attack value in the infantry formation.  If my opponent presented the opportunity (Infantry far enough away from support), I would have the Solitaires gang up on the infantry and quickly kill the formation by stomping them to death.

For “Charge Monkey” armies, the Solitaires usually had high enough defenses against charges to withstand the initial assault and then quickly deal with their attackers.  It was rare that this army was matched for numbers of Battlemechs, so that meant I could quickly gang up on the enemy units.  The overlapped coverage of the C3i’s meant that even a damaged Solitaire had a good attack value to complete its ranged combat attack against the enemy Battlemech.  The added benefit of using lasers meant the opponent went from a bad heat condition (Charge) to a terrible heat condition, and was usually rolling for heat effects.

The Combat Technicians were there to sit near to my deployment zone and provide quick repair to the Solitaires when they required it.  It was rare that a Solitaire would pull off the line with more damage than could be fixed in one turn (Especially with a good dice roll), and if needed it could return to the fight quickly to lend its C3i support to its squadron mates.

Again, the secret to this army is to operate as a team or “Wolf Pack.”  Keep the Battlemechs close to one another, supporting each other with overlapping fields of fire and C3i support.  It was extremely rare that this army lost a match / tournament, and in the later stages of playing in LordNth’s group I started teaching my fellow players the same tactics and where they could be beaten.

Most of all, remember that it is never the metal, it is the meat driving it.  (Superior tactics will always beat superior equipment.)

[GhostCat]

Alleycat-Leader, that was a most excellent review of the C3i Solitaire Army.  It was, in fact, one of the few truly rare combination of Pilots, Mechs, and Gear in Organized Play that could spark long discussions about the Metagame on the Wizkids Forums.  Such pieces could not be proxied, you either had them or you played with something else.

Although I've posted a few armies using similar tactics, I still enjoyed seeing this one.

GC

[dethtungue]

I frequently built armies using 4 CNC Vixens and C3i for 600 pts, 3 vixens + Phoenix Hawk I also for 600,  or 3 Vixens + a Nova Cat with C3i for 750 pt builds.  In fact, Lord Nths pictures in a different thread show my units in one of his big basement tourneys.  The gear is tricky to use as all your units need line-of-sight to take advantage of it, which really puts them out in the open for counter attacks.  I love the Vixens for their hitting power, but they shrink like violets after they heat up. 
Anyway,  the biggest hassle I had with C3i wasn't with my armies, but with players who were unfamiliar with the gear.  It was rare gear and even more rare that someone would field 3 or more units with C3i.  I remember being at Gencon tournaments and having Mike Miller, the rules arbiter (can't recall his call sign right now) being drilled by my opponents on when I would get the attack bonuses.  I had to pull out printed copies of his ruling so he could refresh his memory on how he ruled on the gear's use.  I took to taking it with me whenever I played away from home.  Heck, I even played at a few venues where the Battlemaster outright rejected the Published ruling on the gear's function, saying that you could only use the C3i bonus on one single unit per turn. 

[Captain of C-21]

I remember reading C3i gear on Warrenborn and thinking "What a need gear, too bad it'll never be usable outside of big point battles.  Who would ever run a 3-4 mech army in a tournament and think to win?"  Seeing these armies though, man am I glad our community was pretty mellow about competition. #P

Also GhostCat, thanks a bunch for posting about that Legionnaire.  Unfortunately, the library box of stuff does not have one in there, but between "Thug" Neanderthal, and the three Zeus in there, I'm not sure the new players will miss it much.

On another note, I just put down an order for L-028 Kisho Nova Cat, the version with his "Anticipate" ability.  How did I never see this card before?  Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that ability allow him to move for free, then give him another order?  That almost allows him to assault the entire board for (actually that's a lot) 3 heat!  I kind of want to build an army around him now.

[GhostCat]

Ohhhhh Yeaahhhh !!!! I remember Kisho Anticipate very well.   You're either going to love it or learn to hate it.

Now, repeat after me while gently holding his Heat Dial:  "Anticipate, Push, Assault, Pulse."  yup, that's right, four Heat.

You're going to need at least two Coolant Trucks, running around in Water isn't going to help much.  And you'll soon become an expert at forming adhoc formations with multiple JI100 RVs and Elite Infantry PDUs. 

On second thought, just put it back in the box and forget the whole thing.

OKay now that we're done laughing, when it works, it works really well, but the down side is you spend an aweful lot of points in the build total to make it happen.  That's right, almost 200 points in supporting units that can't fight.  Well the Elite Infantry can do a little more than the vehicles, but how many do you want to use?  So, in 600 point builds or less, Kisho and one sidekick is pretty much all you have.

The trick is to have two Coolant Trucks and maybe a mech Geared with Coolant Gun, and then have Kisho bouncing from one truck to the other to get Flushed every turn.  Sooner or later, the trucks have to Rest, and you'll need to Rest Kisho, too.

Of course all those trucks and infantry are vulnerable to lots of attack forms, leaving Kisho high and dry when he needs them. 

More later.   ::) O0

GC

[GhostCat]

Okay, it's Later.

First, let me point out that after the Fortune and Glory fiasco, Wizkids had to reconsider effect bonus actions and free orders had on the Game.  So, Anticipate doesn't come without some Pain.  Let's look at it:

AN-L-028 Kisho Nova Cat (Medium S:2 A:1 D:1 16 pts. Clan Nova Cat-Spirit Cats)
  Cost in Preferred Mech: 27

ANTICIPATE (Optional) Before giving this unit an order, you may give it a move order, which does not count against your order total for the turn. This unit may not use the run option during this move, and it may not be in base contact with any opposing figure at the end of the move. This unit gains 1 heat after resolving the move. This pilot cannot be used in the same battleforce as AN-L-020.

As worded and explained by the WK Rule Arbiter, it is still an Order even if it is free, and it gets an Order Token if it doesn't have one already.  And it gets Heat for using the Ability.  But it's a conditional ability that depends on receiving an Order from your total for the turn.  You are committed to complete the Order before moving on to the next unit.  Even on turn one from a cold start, if Anticipate is used, Kisho is already Pushing to complete his order for that turn.  Use Anticipate, give it an Order Token, then give the Order that Pushes and whatever else it does.  Yeah, expect Kisho to overheat and shut down a lot.

But ... You can use Anticipate to get out of trouble, move away, then use an Order to Vent.  So it's not all bad.

The other problems the Wendigo has are the mediocre range and damage values.  So, Combat Enhancement Cards are required.  I like PPC-Cap because you don't have to roll to hit twice, and six damage energy at two targets is plenty scary.  Add the Faction Pride for extended range and the mech is on parr with most Heavy mechs from other Factions.  Then, there's the Phawk with 18 inch range, TSEMP and Improved Targeting.  Try it, you'll like it.

At 600 points, you can only choose one attack with the Faction Pride, but 900 points will let you do this with two units per turn.

Basic 600 point Anticipate Kisho Army

AN074 Wendigo 'Nebula' 160 pts. (Clan Nova Cat)
AN-G-079 PPC Capacitor (Medium 29 pts.)
AN-L-028 Kisho Nova Cat (Medium S:2 A:1 D:1 16 pts. Clan Nova Cat-Spirit Cats)         
  Cost in Preferred Mech: 27

DOM085 Phoenix Hawk I 114 pts. (Clan Nova Cat)
AOD-G-003 Improved Targeting (Light 23 pts.)
VG.-P-052 Graduate Certificate - War College of Goshen (Light S:0 A:2 D:1 19 pts.)     

2x DOM063 Coolant Truck 40 pts. (Clan Nova Cat)                  
2x D040 JI100 Recovery Vehicle 16 pts. (Spirit Cats)                
2x F001 Elite Infantry 14 pts. (Spirit Cats)                  

4x VG009 Clan Battle Armor 17 pts. (Clan Nova Cat)               

DOM-F-023 Clan Nova Cat/Spirit Cat Faction Pride  20 pts.               
  To qualify to use this card's alternative point value, your battleforce must be composed entirely of Clan Nova Cat units, or entirely of Spirit Cat units, or entirely of Clan Nova Cat and Spirit Cat units. 1/450: At the beginning of your order stage, a friendly Clan Nova Cat unit or Spirit Cat unit gets +2 to its maximum energy range value that stage.

600 points total.

The Elite Infantry has Point Defense and can benefit Repair Orders and the Coolant truck has Flamers, so it can use a Close Combat Attack.  The JI100RV does no damage and has no range, it only does one thing, and that only sometimes.

Add this to get 900 points for the Faction Pride:

VG065 Thor 201 pts. (Clan Nova Cat)
VG.-G-153 PPC Capacitor (Heavy 32 pts.)
VG.-P-058 Graduate Certificate - Frihet Training Facility (Heavy S:0 A:2 D:1 31 pts.)   

D155 The Scorchers (Clan Battle Armor) 26 pts. (Spirit Cats)            

DOM-F-023 Clan Nova Cat/Spirit Cat Faction Pride  10pts.               

900 points total.

If you don't have the Scorchers, choose one of the following unit types as a replacement.  All are good, but Scorchers are just on a different level.  The 300 point upgrade includes the extra cost for the Faction Pride, and so on.

2x D007 Hoverbike Squad 13 pts. (Spirit Cats)

1x FP017 Sylph Battle Armor 26 pts. (Spirit Cats)

1x DOM036 Shamash Reconnaissance Vehicle 26 pts. (Clan Nova Cat)

Normally, as part of the metagame, talk would now turn to what Terrain, and Planetary Conditions you might use with this army.  You might want to keep Blocking at the extreme edges of your long range and just dare your opponents to enter your clear line of fire.  Water anywhere is fine as long as you don't stand still.  A stationary target is an easy one.  Jumping mechs can dance in Hindering, and that alone makes then hard to hit. 

GC

[Alleycat-Leader]

Here is a House Davion Army that I created to defeat a 600 point Bannson's Raiders Solitaire / C3i army.   }:)

Build Total, 600 points / 4 orders

WS068  Vixen [House Davion] – 108 pts.
AOD-G-002  Evade [Light] – 33 pts.
AN-GS-021  Scott Graves [Mercenary  S:+0  A:+2  D:+2] – 23 pts. + 3 pts. Recruit

WS068  Vixen [House Davion] – 108 pts.
AOD-G-002  Evade [Light] – 33 pts.
BF-GS-A20  Matt 'ZXQUEB' Vanek [Mercenary  S:+0  A:+2  D:+2] – 23 pts. + 5 pts. Recruit

VG035  MHI Amphibious APC [House Davion] – 42 pts.
VG008  Towed Gauss Rifle [House Davion] – 27 pts.
VG008  Towed Gauss Rifle [House Davion] – 27 pts.

VG035  MHI Amphibious APC [House Davion] – 42 pts.
VG008  Towed Gauss Rifle [House Davion] – 27 pts.
VG008  Towed Gauss Rifle [House Davion] – 27 pts.

AN006  Scout ATV Squad [House Davion] – 14 pts.

WS019  Purifier Battle Armor [House Davion] – 20 pts.
VG015  Gray Death Scout Battle Armor [House Davion] – 19 pts.
VG015  Gray Death Scout Battle Armor [House Davion] – 19 pts.

Total – 600 pts.

Preferred Planetary Conditions:
Perfect Day  (Negate an opponent’s planetary condition.)

I started working on this counter-army to my Solitaire / C3i Army after I started enjoying a near 100% victory rate at my typical venues in SE Michigan.  If I learned one thing over the years playing Mechwarrior, it was that if the other players noticed something was winning more than 75% of the time it was not long before everyone at the venue was trying it with some permutation of their assembled pieces.

The tactics of this House Davion Army can be described as “The Hammer and The Anvil.”

This army takes a certain degree of finesse and tactics, but it is more than capable of taking down a Solitaire / C3i Army.  There are a few things that you need to remember from the start so that you do not start your match at a disadvantage to the Solitaire Army.  They are as follows:

1. Save Perfect Day for your match against the Solitaire / C3i Army.  (This is to counteract the Solitaire player seeing your transports / gauss rifles and him throwing Rocky Terrain or Magnetic Deposits to cancel / hinder your gauss rifle drops.)  I never saw more than two Solitaire / C3i Armies at a venue on a given day and the odds were usually long that you would face both of them in a single tournament.

2. Stay Calm and DO NOT GET SCARED!  (Intimidation was more often than not a major part of the Solitaire / C3i Army, as well as most successful armies.  The opponent would see what he was facing, get scared and then be off his game the entire match.)

3. ACT, don’t react.  (Play the match with this army the way it is outlined, or using a permutation of your tactics for this army.  DO NOT react to what your opponent does each turn.  If you are reacting to him or her, they have the initiative, and will more than likely win the match.)  An example of this is a younger player that I played against and tried to teach a lot at LordNth’s venue.  We worked on using tank drop and formations to attack and kill high defense opponents.  The problem was that against me he would react / panic to my Solitaires, drop his tank and formations too early, worried they might be killed in the transports, and then I could easily cut them apart piece by piece.

4. Be VERY AGGRESSIVE.  (It could be very unnerving to a Solitaire player to have an opponent that was as, if not more, aggressive than him or her.  If you are aggressive with them, it can have the effect of putting them on their heels, reacting to what you are doing.  This army is designed to be a first strike army, and should not wait for the opponent to come to them.)

For setup, you want the transports on the line, in the middle of your deployment zone to start.  You should deploy the Scout ATV Squad as part of the transport’s movement formation, and DO NOT infiltrate it.  You will want the extra click of life for potential pushing damage situations.  Setup the formation of Gray Death Scout Battle Armor on the line of your deployment zone, next to the transports.  Infiltrate the Purifier Battle Armor, and place them in base contact with the (2) Gray Deaths to setup another movement formation.  This is to get the higher attack value on the Purifier’s very long dial.  Setup one Vixen on each side of the formations in your deployment zone, on the line.

Move the transport formation up the center of board, with the infantry falling in to cover their rear arcs.  The Vixens should start sandwiching the formations, but can move to one side or the other if your opponent overloads his Solitaires to one side.  If your opponent seems to not want to engage or close with your army, but wait to see what you do, keep moving up the board towards his Combat Technicians and his deployment zone.  This should have the effect of forcing him into an engagement to protect his repair resource.

Once the range between a single Solitaire and your transport formation closes to under 19” the trap springs closed.  Use Recon on the transports to save your four orders, and unload the Towed Gauss Rifles in range of the target Solitaire.  The setup is critical, as all of the Rifles need to be touching to create a fire formation, and in range of the target Solitaire.  If you have to put the rear arcs of your transports into range of the target Solitaire to achieve this, do it.  This is the “Anvil” element.  With the (4) Towed Gauss Rifles deployed in a fire formation, all within their 12” range to the target, you will have a 13 attack value (w/ Improved Targeting!) to hit the Solitaire for 3 clicks of damage.  Assuming you are shooting at a 24 defense value on one of the +2 defense pilots, you have a better than 70% chance of hitting.  If your opponent put the Bonilla Solitaire in a bad position (23 defense), your chance of hitting climbs above 80%!

Having spent the first of your four orders this turn, and assuming the Dice Gods do not curse you, the Solitaire will be damaged.  It will have lost Evade SE and Pulse SE, and now have a defense value of 21.  (This is assuming a +2 defense pilot on your target.)  Now comes the “Hammer” element.  You should be able to assault order both of your Vixens onto the wounded Solitaire.  The 20” range assault order of the Vixens will help GREATLY with this.

For you second order this turn, assault order the first Vixen onto the target Solitaire, using its 14” range laser.  If possible, maneuver the final shooting position of the Vixen to block line of sight from your opponent’s Solitaires to the transports.  (The Towed Gauss Rifles are less important to cover, as being infantry the Solitaires can only shoot them for 1 damage.)  The Vixen will have an 11 attack value (w/ Improved Targeting) to hit a defense value of 22 (21 defense +1 for assault order).  Again you have a better than 70% chance of hitting the Solitaire for 3 clicks of damage, and now an additional heat.  If the attack is successful, the Solitaire will be severely damaged and now have only a 19 defense value and no damage on its secondary weapon.  (Again, this assumes a +2 defense pilot.)

For you third order this turn, assault order the second Vixen onto the target Solitaire, using its 14” range laser.  Again, if possible, maneuver the final shooting position of the Vixen to block line of sight from your opponent’s Solitaires to the transports.  The Vixen will have an 11 attack value (w/ Improved Targeting) to hit a defense value of 20 (19 defense +1 for assault order).  Now you have almost a 90% chance of hitting the Solitaire for 3 clicks of damage!  If the attack is successful, the Solitaire will be destroyed and removed from play, along with its C3i and pilot.

For your fourth and final order this turn, move your infantry formation to make your opponent basing your two MHI Amphibious APCs on his turn less likely.  This is to ensure that if you have to push the transports, load the Towed Gauss Rifles, and move to cover until a few turns later, you do not have to break away from an angry Solitaire first.  Only push to move away if absolutely necessary.  The 270 degree arc of the Towed Gauss Rifles mean they have few blind spots for the Solitaires to hide in, and their damage could catch out another Solitaire next turn if the chance presents itself.  Also, the MHI Amphibious APCs mount Hardened Armor for two clicks which will make them much harder for the Solitaires to damage / kill.

At this point, you will be up on your opponent in VC1 and VC2 by at least 131 points.  Your Vixens with their 24 defense values will be very hard to hit / damage.  Even with your opponent using Bonilla as his primary shooter, only 2 C3i’s will give her a maximum attack value of 14 now.

If your opponent concentrates on the transports, trying to hit the lower defense values (19), you can look at doing some of the following:

1. Look for openings to hit the Solitaires with the Towed Gauss Rifles.  Their arcs will make additional chances to have fire formations on a single Solitaire occur, and their 12” range outranges the Solitaire’s 10” range.  A 10” range on the APCs means they should be able to add themselves to a fire formation as well.

2. Close combat attack them with the infantry formation.  With Purifier Battle Armor’s 8 attack value, you would have a 12 attack value (+4 from the Gray Deaths) to hit a 22 defense value on the highest Solitaire.  Evade SE does not give a +2 against close combat attacks.  If you add the Scout ATV squad to attack, and get an attacker in the rear arc of a Solitaire, your attack value could climb to 16!
 
3. Use the Vixens to quickly finish off a damaged Solitaire, if possible, assault ordering into the Solitaire’s rear arc to gain the +2 advantage.  Keep the Battlemechs close to your transports to keep the Solitaires from overwhelming them.  Remember, overlapping fields of fire and mutual cover.

If the opportunity presents itself, send the Scout ATV Squad to grab VC3 in your opponent’s deployment zone, and kill the Combat Technicians.

This army stands an above average chance of taking down a Solitaire / C3i army, and has enough flexibility that it would not be toast against other regular armies in the same tournament.  You do not even have to use these exact units.  Use the overall concepts, but insert your particular pieces.  The two things that are crucial to the tactics working are Improved Targeting, to increase your odds of hitting, and the ability of your combination of units to be able to deal out at least 8 clicks of damage in a single turn for three to four orders spent.  It takes 8 clicks of damage to kill a Solitaire, and if you only damage it, it is more than likely to be headed to the Combat Technicians on your opponent’s turn to be restored to green condition.

Good luck, and remember that it is never the metal, it is the meat driving it.  (Superior tactics will always beat superior equipment.