Good Job in Texas! I am also liking Liao Faction Pure. Getting very familiar with my pieces and the tactics for them. I'm surprised at how well I'm doing playing faction pure. Won another tournament this past Saturday with 4 participants. Used:

Liao Faction Pure with awe:
Targe x2
Long Tom
Combat Engineers x2
ATVS x3

Went up against a force with
1) SW Construction Mod, BR Raider MKII, Merc Zahn with tank drop, and other support
2) Janella, SW J-37 with ROTS Kelswa drop, Liao ATV, ROTS Lamprey with BA, and other support
3) Tank army with Liao Arrow IV, JF Kelswa, LIao Glory Fire Tank, SC Behemoth, and other support

Won't go into detail because I felt that I was lazy in my tactics and playing impatiently just for laughs. The games were very close. Won all 3 games more due to my "forgiving" army build rather than due to tactics and die rolling.

Here's my after action report for battles over the weekend. I went to two tournament, although at one I was the only person who showed :(. The second one had a decent turn out, though, with a total of 4 participants. Here's the breakdown:

I ran:

Jung Chae (First time out for a spin since I got him last month :))
PDS
TrackBike x5
Spec Forces Team

450 Total, Awe, and almost regimentally pure.

First game was against a mixed force, with Jiyi Chitsu, a Merc Sniper, DF PDS, JF elite Skadi, a couple of JF Sylphs, and maybe some other filler, I don't recall. I went second, and set out a couple of water terrains, he put down some blocking and a low wall. I don't recall this battle too well. It started with a brief arty war, with my PDS taking out the AP off of the opposing arty units. After that, I scattered pogs around the VTOL's to either keep them moving, or hitting them directly. I mistakenly pogged Jiyi once (forgot the reactive). Jung took out a VTOL, and then forced Jiyi back towards his DZ, pushing him, failing a heat cascade, and shutting down. That was all that was needed. Jung moved up the turn that Jiyi started up, and then blasted him for 5 the next. Threat eliminated. A Sylph played with the Bikes protecting the PDS for a bit before biting the dust, letting the TrackBikes set out towards the opponents DZ. In a couple of turns, I had most of my force stomping on the green arty he fielded, and running Jiyi back towards my DZ. Time was called, and I had lost one unit (a Bike, I believe). Took all three VC's and the win.

Next game was much more challenging. My opponent had a SSw Balac, DF Donar, SH Aesir with SH Gnome Escort, Highlander Behemoth with Sniper escort, a Republic DI Towed arty, SH DI Towed arty, 2 Liao ATV's and a BR filler infantry. Again, I went second. 2 more water terrain from me, and some blocking from him, with the water at roughly 6 and 9, and the blocking at 12 and 3. He infiltrated the two ATV's near enough to base whatever they wanted.

He started off pogging the PDS directly with the Republic unit, and double pogging the shield around it with the SH arty. He then based Jung with an ATV. I laid counter battery fire on each arty and between the two VTOL's, and moved the base screen out from the incoming onslaught. A formation of Bikes based the remaining ATV, and a formation of Bikes/Spec Forces moved up for support.

I got lucky, and his Republic shot missed the PDS, but drifted onto the Bike/SF formation. The SH arty rolled a 17 (but not a crit hit), but didn't hurt anything (yay reactive). His other action was to move the Balac up. My turn to resolve arty. I hit everything I was after, taking the Republic arty off AP, knocked the SH one down a peg, and hit the Donar. Jung killed the offending ATV at his feet.

The game then proceeded with my PDS pushing to keep the VTOL's moving, and the rest of my forces systematically destroying his. He got luck with a couple of 13's to hit Jung with the Balac a couple of times, and there might have been a Donar hit as well (he took 7 clicks in that game). It helped that I got Awe maybe three or four times that game, and got it a couple turns in a row early on. In the end, he moved the Behemoth up, and captured a couple of Bikes with his infantry screen. Jung moved in to base the tank, and over a couple of turns used a close combat formation to take it out. My remaining Bikes freed the captives by the end of the game, leaving me with two dead units (again, 2 bikes, but one dead from pushing), and no active opponents units. I got VC1 and VC2.

Last game was against a DF force (but not as scary as could be). He fielded a couple of Schmitt's, each with a fast infantry protecting the 'dead spots'. He also had a Merc Sniper arty, 2 Merc Balacs and Wahab (the DF LE Balac). This time I went first and made a comment about how because of that, this time I was going to lose. I should have kept my mouth shut. :) Two water and two blocking again, with a choke point in the middle of the field between the two waters. Because he didn't have any deep infiltrators, I didn't base screen the PDS. First mistake.

I started the game moving Jung into water and passing. He moved a Balac up to the side of the board where my PDS was, placed a pog in front of Jung (good placement, if I wanted to get away, I would have to leave the water), and moved a Schmitt up towards Jung. Next turn, I ran Jung between the two blocking with his back to one, pogged the arty, the moved Schmitt and moved Balac, and ran the Bike formation up to support Jung (second mistake).

His arty hit empty space, and he moved the other Schmitt team up, and based the PDS with the Balac. My arty resolved, hitting the Sniper off the AP, and knocking the Schmitt down a bit. I decided to pull two Bikes back to help support the PDS, and let Jung cool. Over the next two turns, he used a pincer action flank Jung with the Schmitt's. Jung hit the remaining Balac and Wahab, and then charged the damaged Schmitt into salvage. My two Bikes took their time in clearing the offending balac, but that finally happened. After Jung charged, he rammed with the other Schmitt and hit. Here's were it got interesting. He started swarming Jung with infantry for the capture. I decided to cool Jung, and then step on the remaining Schmitt instead of fleeing, since I figured with the PDS I could free him before time ran out. But, I forgot about the other VTOL's. Mistake number three.

My Bikes supporting Jung took out the other Balac, and the PDS moved back to get Jung into arty range. He then based the PDS again with Wahab. Bah. My opponent needed an 11 to capture Jung, and got it. I spent the rest of the game chewing slowly through his infantry protecting the captor with the Bikes (and taking time to salvage the other Schmitt). Eventually I destroyed Wahab as well, but it was too late. The PDS got a shot off and hurt some of his infantry (killing a couple of damaged ones), and salvaging his Merc Sniper. Game was called, and I only had VC 1. He was clinging on to life with the captor and one more infantry. All his VTOL's were dead, and all his vehicles salvaged. But he had the prize, Jung, right in the middle of the field.

It was a very good game, and I lost it due to some tactical mistakes (leaving the PDS undefended). Live and learn, right? Because of that loss I got second and fellowship. But it was a fun day, and besides that tactical brain fart in the last game, I was happy with my performance. For facing such a large number of VTOL's, I did really well. The multi-poggs from the PDS helped loads, and Jung is just awesome. He's not quite a 'can't lose' piece (as evidenced by my results), but you have to try to do it. :)

@White Knight: That's a great idea. While Cat is jinxed, she does tend to avoid those critical misses. Maybe large firing formations are what the witch doctor called for. So, do you have any RotS EBA's you can send my way? :)

@Ixnaydude: Congratulations and welcome to the wonderful world of Jung Chae. :) I've been clamoring after him since he was introduced, and only just got to use him. He is just such a beast. I agree with all your points. Depending on how often I'm playing, I'm wont to forget just about any of the Faction Abilities, although it's normally only one per game. But when I'm playing regularly, it's just second nature.

@Upgrade: Congratulations as well. I've found that nice high defense fatties just tend to make it more impressive when the opponent consistently rolls those 13+ needed to hit. What really hurts is that happens when I'm playing the odds, and leaving one of those shots possible for board position. What can you do, right?

@Camille: Well, after reading about your tactics, it's a fairly solid army. From my personal experience, while I've liked the multi-Salamander drop, it tends to be inconsistent. But if it's working for you, keep with it. You could always switch out the Salamanders/GDSA for 3 Snipers, and get a mobile firing formation drop at 12 inches (it also gives you a point to spare). Also, depending on how useful you find Chee being (from your description, it seems like the rest of your forces do the bulk of the work), you might consider swapping him out for Felix Jarta. Same points, still Elite, but you get a potential 8 pulse at that 8 inch range. He also sports a slightly higher defense and heavy armor. He has a berserker dial that can surprise most opponents at the wrong time, too. Just ask White Knight. :) By the way, any luck getting that Liao Zahn (I don't have one to spare, unfortunately)?

@yogo_rendo: And a congratulations to you as well. The Chancellor must be proud with all these Capellan victories. :) I'm curious, do you use the ATV's as base screeners, or deep harassers? With only the two CE's, your Tom seems a bit bare, otherwise. Although with using the Assault order and Friendly Fire, one of the Targes can help keep the arty in action as well. Can't wait.

well i had a felix, i need him too now i guess (but chee is awesome, heheh, AWEsome

Is there any idea to use Noel Hurtado or any other unique/le mech with rank green or veteran (exept Flavio ofcourse) when there is elite ranked liao unique/le mechs in collection?

@Mechafan: Awe, while being a cool ability, is debatable useful. Some people roll Awe consistently, other's hardly ever see it. Also, all Liao elite units pay for Awe in their points, while green and vet unit's do not. This means that in general, for an equivalent amount of points, the G-V units will have either better stats, longer dials, or more SE's than the equivalent E unit.

With all that, there are still tons of great U/LE elite mech's for Liao. They do tend to overshadow the non-elite ones, but there are definitely several good mechs that wont give you Awe.

Probably my favorite is Clara Parks. 14 inch range 5 AP with 10 attack, 22 heavy armor, command (not that you'll use it with a 291 point mech), and she infiltrates. One of the hardest hitter we have. Rhi Chan is pretty good, offering a 14 inch AnP and a 360 degree arc. That can be brutal against a green unit flanked by infantry. He's a bit glass jawed like all Targes, but still worthwhile. Jacyn Bell is Andrzej with range and armor. Danai Liao Centrillo is our long range agility mech. Sandra Sung has 22 Hardened armor, lives forever, and has multiple 14 inch range weaponry (unfortunately she also has a Targe's heat dial).

I should get getting Noel sometime soon, and when I do, I'll make an army for him and let everyone know how it performed.

Okay, i don't exaclty know what you're asking, but I can deduce it a little.

Yes, there is many reasons to run non awe mechs. Danai Liao gives us a good agility mech that has range. Weak vs. choppers but that's where an MHI and Long Tom can help. The Raider is a great piece. Cheap with long range and good damage. And single use AP if you need it. The spider and wasp are great flankers/harrassers and the Wasp can really chew up infantry. If you can find the points, Clara Parks is astounding with her leadership, great heat dial and 14" AP attack. Jacyn Bell has that long range attack that Andrejz lacks.

The problem with Noel, Jaquelin, Vederman, or Sandra Sung is that there are better options for that point cost. However each has strengths that can be captilized on. Sandra has 14" ranged ballistic and energy attacks. This gives you better options than most of the other Liao fatties which has one long attack and one short. Vederman will be alot more usefull with AOD. His IT will make his Assault Orders hit more often.

I've catually never lost a game with the Vede, buit then again I'm a genius!:confused:

re: genius

Nice to know we have one in our ranks! :)

And I'll agree, 18 inch ranged assault order with 10 IT for 5 ballistic is nothing to sneeze at (I'm talking about the Vede, for all of us non-geniuses who couldn't infer that :)). And the +1/+2 to defense he'll get from all the new fangled rules wont hurt him either. Love that hardened armor.

Ok, for 280 points, we can have a 10 JJ, 22 Defense, 20 range 6 ballistic attack with an attack value of 9. Vs a green unit, we can do 7 damage, and we can make use of fanaticism to help repair the click that this attack will give to us. Is it worth it?

A slightly slower Jacyn, without armor, but a decent heat dial. Very high damage at very long range. Assuming that the Liao-Republic situational alliance allows ranged combat formations without base contact, here's an army using the new P-Hawk+Pilot:

Hellfire + Trebor Ydek (pay for Liao Faction)
RotS EBA x3
ATV x6
Spec Forces
Liao-RotS Situational Alliance

450 (should be, anyway)

General strategy would be to keep the EBA and a small group of ATV's (plus the Spec Forces) near Trebor, and send the rest deep down field. Use the downfield ATV's to help Trebor's 9 attack vs whatever target you like. Pick a green one, and take it out in a couple of turns (or even one, if it's small enough). Try to use the screen around Trebor to take some hits and repair him up with Fanaticism.

Probably not competitive (would need to see Trebor's stats first, but in general a mech that costs 280 points that doesn't have Hardened Armor isn't competitive), but it would be fun to try once (and then potentially more, depending on how that first time went :)).

Might this be good Liao army:
Catalina Trujillo
Liao Shun VTOL
Liao Arrow 4 Artillery Tank
Liao Sniper Team
2x Liao Purifier BA
4x Liao Special Forces Team
TOTAL: 447pts. +awe

SFTs are meat shield for A4, Shun transports Purifiers for basers, Sniper Team infiltrates and uses its long range, A4 fires pogs to enemy units and Catalina stands in water and uses her ballistic attack(i might but blocking to front of her).

@Mechafan: Not bad. Catalina doesn't quite need the water, but it helps her avoid enemy arty. Just don't expect to sit her in the water and take on all comers, since she has a 12 inch range, it'll be fairly easy for your opponent to keep things out of her reach. So expect her to be mobile, and make good use of blocking. Not only does her streaks mesh well with that, so does her JJ.

I'd probably upgrade the Purifiers in the Shun to Grey Death Scout Armor. They are slightly slower for terms of basing, but they are much more of a threat to those that they have based. And the Shun is fast enough that you should still be able to base what you wanted too.

With you last point, I'd maybe upgrade one of the Spec Forces team to an Infiltrator Mk I. That should put you at 450 even, and give you a bit more punch in your screen to help clear out those ATV's a bit faster. You might find that the lone Sniper doesn't do that much for you, so you could possibly drop that, and upgrade your screen to TrackBikes. Or, you could minimally screen the A-IV (using one infantry and angeling the arty so that anything that bases it, does so in it's front arc). Then you could take more Snipers to have a bigger mid-field presence, and in dire circumstances you could use the Snipers as a base screen.

Hope that helps. :)

Liao ATV bait (if you lose initiative):

If you and your opponent both play ATVs and you lose the initiative. You might want to infiltrate your ATVs near your DZ making them look like they're just ready to pop into action when threats come close, but still all are in range of your mechs, sniper teams, or vehicles.

Many an opponent looks at my ATVs and think of it as a target of oppurtunity! They may base my ATV with 1, 2, or 3 of their ATVs in its rear arc. 1st turn, they will spend the whole turn plinking my ATV.

After the Liao ATV gets damaged a bit, it gains evade. I easily break and use my mechs, sniper teams, and Vehicles to blast their ATVs.

I start the game with a point advantage, less hinderances, and usually my vehicles, sniper teams, and mechs will have a turn to rest as my arty goes into action. I'm pretty sure that others have discovered the same tactic. Just wanted to share it just in case anyone else didn't consider it. Hope this helps.

@yogo_rendo: Nice tactic. A lot of people don't realize just how long one of our ATV's live. Five clicks is a lot for something that people associate with three or four. It's always brings a nice smile of satisfaction when someone attacks an ATV for the second/third/whatever time, and then say 'it's not dead yet!?!'. :)

As sort of the opposite tactic, when going second and there aren't any enemy deep infiltrators to worry about, I'll spread out my ATV's in front of my opponents DZ, using them as bait. This will normally allow me to use freely advance my other forces while my opponent uses all their orders trying to kill ATV's. Normally I'll have one or two left, and they'll then go and base any unscreened arty (eg their normal role), covering my advance that way. You just have to be careful using this tactic that you can get back the VC1 lost in the first round.

@mechafan: You constructed a good army for Catalina. Muppetwarrior's suggestion makes it even more effective. I agreed with every suggestion made because it makes your shun drop more scary with the GDSAs and brought you to 450 pts. It also made more usable pieces. There seem to be too much infantry devoted to protecting the Arrow when the points could be more effectively used for basing and harrassing. Might I suggest that you consider one Fashih in your Shun and rearranging your infantry just a little to dig up some points? Having a Fashih could provide a little more versatility in comboing up with your Arrow IV. The whole idea when playing with your 23 def mech is to beat down the enemy units with the highest attack values, so Catalina can wander carefree whereever she chooses. With a Fashih, you could lock down that certain high attack unit and pog it with the Arrow IV instead of the unit moving out of harms way. Just one "ding" is all it takes for Cat to feel safe. The Fashih can also aid you against Tank drop which seems to be the bane of this army. You might also want to try the Liao Paladin or Long Tom instead of the Arrow IV to aid against VTOLS, arty, and Tank drops. Other than that, if you have some scout ATV's they could be added in as a baser or your source of VC 3. For terrain, I'd bring 1 water, 1 blocking, 1 hindering, and 1 whatever terrain will hose the majority at your venue. I have had tons of fun with Catalina and her JJ. Just bump her def. 1 more. Good luck!

@Muppetwarrior: Will ponder using my ATV's as bait like that. I definetely will have to rush to get stuck in and gather VC1.