how can you doubt her? The thing is, her assalt order is 21 inches- only 3 or four mechs can come close to that. infact, that is farther than morst tank drops I've played aganst. it will have a 12 (modified to 11) attack when it comes and do 5 armor piercing damage. that is the highest attack of any long move shot AND the most damage. only charge could posibly be better, and anna is all but immune to charge.

single use evade means when you run, you may take on damage rather than on heat- perfect for a controled means of getting to your sweet spot.

other mechs

stephani- my fave till aod was released, steph has an awesome heat dial and is cheap. steph is not retired and can't use equipment, so she is out.

arnis- numerous FAQs to nerf charge have hamstringed this candidate

Bounty Hunter- an hounorable mention only because he invented a whole new play style (the salvage suicide squad) is point cost is prohibitive and he is such charge bait its not even funny. I pathetic gimmik at best

bekker- for those who enjoy artillery attacking thier own units, he is great. with hammer/ wolf card he even out ranges many mechs, but his lack of gear slot makes him just a little worse than anna

tara/caber- a good mech with average reach assault order, anna needs a 12 to hit her on the run. she is still vulnerable to charge, the bane of mechs. She also has a worse heat dial, less range, is slower, and only has a 1 in 3 chance of causing more damage. and she costs alot more too.

anna/ alpha has the best rang in the game, with lots of acuracy and damage to go with it, toped of with a special charge defence that is hard to beat. she is also cheap, alowing to to bring a kelswa to up her defence or hammer atvs to hold things down. her speed is high, her heat is great, and I feel this makes her head and shoulders above the competition.

oh, and I'm a sword sworn player by the way, and my thunder fox is going to be great when they make a piolet who can drive it.

man I wish sanduvol wasn't such a putz

Unless the rules have changed with AoD, single use evade is only considered 'used' if you use it to add to your defense against a ranged attack, or use it to improve your chances of breaking away. Running w/o heat doesn't cause you to take the click.

Bekker gets a huge boost in this set, imho. Most people don't like the SW Faction Pride card, but it's as close as a guarentee that you've got to getting your figs into prime without your opponent jackslapping you into mediocrity. IMHO, SW figs are best used when you take advantage of your great prime stats for the point cost--our figs, at peak, tend to be better than any similarly costed unit. While this set makes it easier for us to be kicked into our sweet spot (note all of the 2 and 3 dmg units out there), people know how to beat us--hit us hard, up and over our good stuff. When we're at peak, it's much harder to treat us like red headed stepchildren. Our numbers are plenty good enough to cause all manner of grief to everyone on the field.

I know I'm in the minority with these thoughts--most SW players prefer to get knocked around by their opponent before really getting started. I don't think this is a bad idea, IF your opponent is a new player or has no idea how to fight SW. With the new rules, you can't stop your opponent from nuking you silly. Base one of his figs? Aww, he's shooting at a 19 instead of an 18.

Bah, enough ranting.

I agree with you Tassa... The AoD rules for fire out of base contac had a impact in the SW play style... Our defenses are not high enough to benefit of one +1, so now is easier for our enemies to past our units sweet points. So, the SW Faction Pride card can be a asset to compensate this..

And regarding Alpha... Maybe is not the best mech out there, but I think she is in the top five, togheter with Bekker...


As pcchappel says, just my oppinion anyway.


BR

I find this, If AK and her mech have some backup from another hitter (A light mech, a tank of somekind) Then she has MORE than enough time to get into her sweet spot. With that support shes just a beast, with SW Faction pride all you need is two turns.

As for gear on her i like Decoy it helps to make up for some of her lack of defense.

the SEC says:

EVADE:(optional) this unit gets +2 to its DEF value against range combat attacks. It also Fails to break away only on a result of 1. If this unit is mech it does not gain 1 heat when using the run option


the rulebook states

Special equipment as circles: Special equipement colors shaped as circles are the same as squares except that the unit using that special equipment is dealt 1 pushing damage after the order resolves.



I think EVADE is USEd when youi run and not take a click of heat, since it is part of evades abilities, so running w/o heat pretty much says you have used the SE to prevent your mech from heating up. And if I am not mistaken Evade is optional so not turning it off means it is on and by not turning it off and the controlling player decides to run using evade (not gaining heat) then it is considered to have used evade therefore takes a click of damage.

Well prehaps this is another FAQ issue along with "Can normal pilots pilot quad mechs"

Why is this even an issue? If a pilot can't be used in something, it's on the card what it's restricted to (ie it will say Light or Dragon's Fury, such pilots can only pilot those things, otherwise they can pilot whatever they want).

Well so their will be no battlemasters saying otherwise, and it will be unversilly understood a NIAS pilot can pilot a thunder fox lol

Nice to see you are still sticking with MW Ralph6669. I'd have to agree with you that Alpha is probably one of the best in the set. Its stats impressed me when I first glanced at them .. but each time I look at it and compare it to the rest of the mechs it just keeps getting better.

This certainly does point out that WK will have to be extremely careful in future expansions to make sure they don't produce a piece of gear or a pilot which will turn a mech in a former expansion in to an uber unit (I'm assuming the design team has enough smarts to not produce a broken card-figure combo within the same expansion ... but trying to balance with previous sets will be more difficult as time goes on).

Yeah like new gear "Rocket assited shells" much like the navy's new AGS or some of the 155MM Shells >_> Giving range increases (E: Alpha could be given a +2 Balistic range)

Thats what the SW/SH Situational Alliance is for! Call it a 30 point gear card that adds +2 to ballistic range.

Anastasia Kerensky in her Mangonel is a good combo but after some Decoy gear her cost is closer to 300 points. With a sweet spot sitting on a 21 Defense, it can be a huge liability.

I think the best way to pimp the Mangonel is with Either Kev Rosse or Aiko Ryohara as a pilot with Decoy gear. It only comes to 250 points and the 22 Defense w/ Decoy is so much more difficult to penetrate. Not too mention cheaper.

In an older faq, someone had asked "Does single use Evade cause a click of damage for running with no heat?" The Answer was No. It was in the warlord forums, too. *shrugs* I wish I had some proof to back it up, but it's late, I'm tired, and don't have the files handy. Maybe later ^_^

And as for Kev or Aiko... Kev can't pilot it. He's SC only. Aiko Ryohara... well, you could use her, but I'd rather have charge immunity than 1 point of D. It makes all the difference when we're talking first strike. A problem with alpha... starting D of 20 w/Aiko. You charge her, roll average, and she's 5 or 6 dmg in. Wow, what a great use of 250 points. I'd rather pay the extra points and have the better peak control.

There is a huge difference between a 22 defense and a 21 defense.

More so than the difference between a 12 attack and an 11.


Concerning First Strike,

With AOD, First Strike no longer is emphasized by Charging at all. I mean, come on, you have to have LOS to Charge in the first place.

Protecting yourself from a Charge no longer consists of Agility. Agility(super agility ability.. whatever) as it stands, is nowhere near as useful as it was pre AOD, pre 1/2 damage.

If a player is stupid enough to allow Alpha (w/Aiko) to get Charged before beefing it up they shouldn't be playing this game. More realistically, with Terrain (even without) in most cases, an Assault order via ranged combat will come before Charge will. In reality, Anastasia is in much more dire straights than Aiko because Alpha will start with a 19 defense when piloted by Anastasia per your example.

An assault order is just more difficult to prevent.

Charging can be prevented several number of ways. With Blocking Terrain and Base prevention screens mainly. And given your hypothetical scenario, If Alpha just took a 5 or 6 damage charge, the mech that just charged will be taking 2 or 3 damage on top of Heat effects. And will most likely be well into an opponents territory.
Because of the way the gameplay dynamic works in AOD, Charging has become a liability. Peak control? So a 21 Defense (at peak ) is peak control?

NO, the truth is, Anastasia doesn't have the defense to compete in a world of 11 and 12 attacks. Charging is a dead language. In AOD, Mechs must be designed to combat Assault orders and Formation drops, not Charges(unless BR Lego makes a come back). And a 21 Defense doesn't cut it.
Another truth is the fact you could have a stable point advantage to pump into an Infantry Screen to prevent charges when fielding Aiko over Anastasia.
So essentially you have the constant +1 Defense more as well as more points to use for other units.

I guess it really comes down to your local meta and what people are fielding.

I forgot to mention how Range combat has become so dominant post AOD. The ability to Fire in and out of Base Contact (especially for mechs) has also neutered the "Charge Order". In the past, the dynamic of Charging would take away from ranged combat dominance. Its more simple post AOD to base and prevent a possible Charge threat via drop and/or infiltrating infantry (or whatever) than it is to prevent range combat. So according to my playstyle, I'd much rather focus on keeping the SW Mangonel at its sweet spot with a 22 Defense as oppossed to a 21 Defense. Again, the difference between hitting a 21 defense with Decoy and a 22 defense w/Decoy is pretty big. Don't get me wrong, I know Anastasia is awesome in her mech. With a Ranged Assault order, Alpha can always end up 16" away forcing the oppossing target to make a Ranged Assault Order back. Which pretty much means Anastasia will grant a 22 defense (w/decoy) and Aiko will grant 23 (w/decoy). And generally speaking, its safe to say that in such a situation, regardless of who's piloting Alpha, Alpha can keep a good distance away from opposing threats at the same time staying relatively close to support infantry/vehicle support that could easily provide a Charge proof screen.

Again, because the current dynamic of the gameplay post AOD, Ranged Mech to Mech combat has taken precendence over the mech having to rely on the Charge order. Because the Charge Order is, more or less, a huge gamble when compared to both types of Assault Orders. When you really put it into perspective, a Close Combat Assault order is a much better option than a charge order, in which case, Anastasia's pilot ability does not prevent.

Ahh... the close combat assault order. It all comes down to range--especially against a big hunk o' metal like Alpha. Would you like to try to get close to that 'mech? Close enough to move your normal movement for a close combat? Even if you hit, you do will receive a very large faceful of AP next turn. In fact, you already will have received another 5 just trying to get close to the Mangonel... assuming your opponent has some skill.

Besides, think about it... NO ONE would want to risk being in Alpha's range next turn if they don't hit. Say your... hmm... Battlemaster AO's my Mangonel. You're now within 14". Should you not hit, Alpha will calmly step back 2 inches and light you up. Alpha misses? You need to assault order again (for a total of at least 3 heat) or run away.

What I mean by all of this is that the Mangonel really is asking to be charged. Kerensky is the #1 pilot MADE for this 'mech. Not even a 12" move could close combat assault this thing without having a 7-8 attack due to a recent 5 clicks of damage.

Coop