I was inspired to do my own Verfinsterung build.

Here is what I used:

Verfinsterung + LE Maximilian Marius + Improved Tracking
Magister Raven + Scott Graves + Inferno Flamers
4 SH ATVs
1 SH Cavalier Battle Armor
1 HS Sylph Battle Armor
HS Faction Pride (+1 Damage)
= 600 Points

I was able to hit nearly every high-defense opponent that I faced. Improved Tracking and LE Marius means 13 attack and no worries about evade-equipped mechs. The Streak missiles were my favorites and it helped my really slow assault mech cover a decent amount of the battlefield.

Magister+Scott+Inferno Flamers was a fun idea that turned out to be pretty dangerous. That gear added two damage to any non-mech that I made a close combat attack on, if I added faction pride I can do a whopping 6 damage to any non mech. The built-in Improved Targeting on Magister also helped with close combat assault orders. Why this gear? I use it to help keep things from basing my king crab. I know that there are other more optimal combos out there, but I sure had fun with this little raven. :-)

Here's an army that I've put together to use some units thatI've yet to use; namely the LE version of Jasek, the HS Jaguar, and the SH Sniper...

165 "Scion" Eisenfaust
46 Jasek Kelswa-Steiner "Might of the Steel Fist"
22 R.I.S.C. Armor-Piercing Explosive Rounds

100 HS Jaguar
26 Scott Graves recruited to HS
10 Extended-Range Ammo

23 HS Shamash Recon Vehicle
42 HS MHI APC
32 HS SRM Team x2
22 HS Minigun Cycle x2

61 SH Sniper
17 SH Elite Infantry
14 HS Combat Tech

20 +1 Damage FP

600 pts.

Okay...as is...you're actually over; ER Ammo for Lights runs 17 points (my fave Jaguar Combo runs 135; Jaguar + Minoru Kurita grad + ER Ammo), so you might want to adjust that army around.

Second...I'm not to well sold on SRM teams; they have good accuracy and armor piercing; but their lack of speed isn't much help (nor their low defense). I see that you're transporting them, though in the MHI Amphib...

As an alternative suggestion...I'd drop the Shamash (even with their infiltrate to a 2 pulse shot) and replace the MHI Amphib with a Bishop for one point less and add another Elite Infantry to protect your SRMs and create a formation out of that (the PD helps with the SRM teams alot)...or even move your Elite from Sniper guarding to the Bishop. In place of the points from the Shamash and the extra one you get from the transport switch...I'd use the Elite Ravager BA as an arty guard (much more durable, IMO).

The only thing I'm not sure on working with is your choice of gear. I'm not much into using RISC cards myself...and as I know some of our kammeraden would suggest...the addition of Extra Ammo will help out "Scion"/LE Jasek out. The other alternative is to replace "Scion" with "Avalon" and its pilot (Its 175...the pilot is 30 in 'Mech, thanks to 0 recruit for Steiner), which can give you more points for gear choice (and a much more versitile ability, IMO).

There's a few suggestions for ya. Good luck with your army.

You know, I thought something was wierd when I was typing my post. I had the army in front of me, but I didn't have the cards so I looked them up on the Wizkids website. I had originally planed to use the Goshen Graduate, but when I did the math I was 7 points over so I substituted Scott Graves. Sure enough, while the TROs say the ER light is 10 points, the card does say 17. Long story short, replace Graves with the -/2/1 and we're back to 600.

As for the SRM teams... at first I thought that they were rather blah myself, but now they just might be my favorite infantry as they are cheap, long ranged, and live forever. One of life's pleasures is the look of disbelief when my oponent finds out that, yes that SRM team is still alive.

As for R.I.S.C. APEX, I'm not too crazy about R.I.S.C. gear either, but APEX is so situational that I tend to leave it off unless I need AP or AnP for a shot. At 22 points it's much cheaper than straight AP, AnP, or Infantry Hunter Retrofit.

I would love to get a Bishop in there, but even though you save a point, you need to create enough points for a third infantry. If you drop the Shamash and Switch out the MHI, then you have 24 points to work with which is too little to squeeze two units out of, so I think that I'd be stuck with a Ravager. The Ravager is more survivable than the SRM team, but at the cost of losing the speed of the Shamash, I don't know...

The beauty of keeping the Elite Infantry with the Sniper is that I can push the Sniper and use the Elite's point defence to lower the defence of the Sniper to repair it. I really don't find the EI's defence to be high enough to be of much help when facing enemy units, 18 is still very hitable.

As for switching out "Scion" for "Avalon", I don't have "Avalon" yet, but will definatly use it when I get it.

I didn't, however, realize that Minoru Kurita Grad was Quad speed mode. I'm not sure if I even have one, but I'll definatly have to pick one up. That's a nasty 21" AO even if your only looking at effectivly a 9 attack.

I've found that MHI APC's early Recon SE more than make up for having only two units inside. Essentially a free unload, it gives you more options to set up formations, or even just give you that 'bonus' attack.

Of the army, the only tweak I'ld add would be to drop a SRM team, scrap two points out, and put in the 18 HS ISBA for AnP. Situational, but I've made a habit of putting one AnP unit (usually infantry in a transport) in builds. It pays off fast, both as a deterrent to enemy infantry formations, but also as a way to whittle a group down.

Okay, this is going to be one of those, "I don't think I can win with it, but it will be fun to try" kind of armies. My primary goal is to use the Immobilization Retrofit gear.

149 HS Stalking Spider
25 -HS Sergeant -/2/1 from the PW Battleforce
85 -Immobilization Retrofit

90 HS Gambit
5 -Canopian Institute of war Graduate 2/-/1
15 -Grapple

26 SH Anat
36 SH Towed Gauss x2

33 HS Minigun Cycle x3
8 SH Minigun Cycle

61 SH Sniper
14 HS Combat Techs
18 SH Elite Infantry

20 +1 Damage FP

Okay, the whole point is to use the FP on the Stalking Spider to Pulse for 5, shut down the target, get the +2 and hit for another 5. Generally speaking, I find the Immobilization Retrofit to be too expensive for my tastes. Spending 259 for a medium mech is a hard thing for me to do, especially with heat rolls 2 clicks into it's heat dial. That being said, the Stalking Spider is the only medium we have with a 4 damage energy weapon.

The Gambit's primary role is to cover the Stalking Spider if it shuts down (and it always shuts down), but by using grapple, it can also tie down enemy units. With an 11 speed, I can get it pretty much anywhere on the field quickly. I'm not planning on using it much to attack with, but with 3 AP, I might be able to use it to take out enemy infantry. I don't expect much from it, but it's one of the few HS units I've never actually fielded one before.

The Sniper/Combat Techs, Elite Infantry combo is pretty self explanatory - fire, push, repair using the PD of the Elite Infantry to lower the Sniper's Defense. The Anat and TGRs are there to help in a firing formation, to finish off damaged units, and take care of opposing infantry.

Finally, the Miniguns are for harassment and basing. I'll probably use them in a movement formation with the Anat at first so I can push them as a movement formation allowing me to order everything for the first few turns. While I'll be using these guys for basing or getting VC3, if anyone lets me slip the formation into their rear arc, I might have to give the FP to one of them and try to pulse for 6 damage.

If the build is 600 your 15 points short
Very fragile if you don't hit with Quad, Change the transport so you can drop a formation of three just in case. Maybe 2 SH Minigun + HS minigun instead of the three and one, and Bishop with 3 Towed Gauss instead of the Anat and the SH Elite Infantry. The Gambit is not an ideal support unit (Havoc is a bit tougher), for 7 points less you could put a aesir aa in a j-37 transport, and have a sylph for the grapple/basing. But then I'm totally messing up you army concept. Tough to build with that medium

Actually, I'm 16 short because the Elite Infantry is 17 points, not 18. Damn it, I thought I double checked my point total, but must have screwed something up as I was switching out units. I'm going to have to rework some points.:embarrassed:

As for switching out the Gambit for a tankdrop, part of me would love to, but the Gambit is there to screen the Stalking Spider when it shuts down. The problem is that I need a second mech to block LOS. The Gambit about the cheapest alternative. I was toying with the idea of a Mining Mech, but the Gambit gives me much more speed. I'm not even sure about putting grapple on it because I'm pretty sure it's going to die, but it will make sure that it has a chance to stick if it bases something.

Oh well, it's not like I don't have time to ponder before the next time I play...

Well if you are spending all that points on SS, then put Yeager/Karensky in it, +2
speed is well worth of 10 points. I would still use +1 heat roll FP, since it enhance
your primary striker more then +1 damage. Don't forget SS can do DFA.
For a second mech i would take Jaguar/ER ammo or repair.
I know too many points, well i wouldn't use Sniper in 2 mech army, and combat tech
would be in Anat along with E infantry to give you more repair options.
Use WH Mjolnir !

This post is mostly an attempt to revive this thread, but I do also have an army I would appreciate comments on.

For 750 points:

"Unsterblich" Atlas + Vallen Brice + Anti-Personnel
HS Night Stalker + Jasek Kelswa-Steiner + Beagle Active Probe
HS Skanda Light Tank + HS Hadur Fast Support Vehicle x2
HS Minigun Cycle x5

Good stuff I see: It's got a multitude of cheap basers, a close combat 'mech to take care of evade and decoy units, a 13 attack with the tank formation, and the Atlas spells instant death for infantry.

Concerns: Artillery. If the enemy has maybe 1 or 2 artillery vehicles, the Night Stalker should be able to infiltrate and destroy them before my tanks and miniguns are slaughtered. Any more than 2 artillery vehicles or any artillery infantry and the Night Stalker won't be able to take care of them very fast. Also, the tank formation needs open space to operate; due to the varied speed modes, they can't enter hindering and are extremely slow moving in water. I considered replacing the Skanda with Carmen Hern to make an all-hover formation, but I couldn't fit it in.

Also, I can't quite decide which planetary conditions to use with it. I can bring two, and I'm definitely bringing a perfect day, but the second slot remains open. I've narrowed it down to either Swamp or Underbrush. Both would help my non-'mech units, one by giving enemy artillery a smaller blast radius, and the other by giving them defense bonuses.

I did field "Unsterblich" Atlas + Vallen Brice a few times, but her ability didn't work
that well, since repairs markers. As I understand it, it does not ignore markers ? For her price you can put Enrico in it, or save some points with Max (for Carmen), there seems to be a huge rift between 24 and 24 defense. AnP with 270 arc works well.
Choice of second mech is interesting and gear combo should provide extra attack
point for killer AP shoot. Send us a battle ROM.

Perhaps the choice for your third PC would either be Caverns (as non of your army uses it anyway...and it keeps poggers off you) or Lightning Storm (save your Night Stalker and miniguns...your forces rely upon ballistics). You could even go Salt Flats to speed up your non-Mechs, too (except the Hadurs).

Only thing I'm wondering about is the second Hadur...is that for keeping a high damage on your light vehicle formation?

The problem with using your Night Stalker to go after arty is that it will be so far from the rest of your army that your opponent will be able to take it down by concentrating all of his units against it. I've tried doing this with a Night Stalker myself and learned this lesson the hard way.

Wow:eek: ... I'm not the only one still watching this thread.

The army was....... okay. I really didn't pay much attention to synergy with this. The Night Stalker needed blocking to hide behind, while the tanks needed open space. Also, I wanted some puddles for the Atlas, but neither the tanks nor the miniguns can go through water effectively. This, combined with Steiner's generally low speeds and a ridiculous number of enemy VTOLs led to me being severely out-maneuvered. BAP was utterly useless as the Night Stalker had to run across open fields to get near any enemies. I'll look for some way to replace the Night Stalker with a Raptor, that ought to improve it signifigantly. To answer wolfbane's question, the second Hadur exists because it fits the points, and it has better defense and damage than another Skanda would have. The lone Skanda is there for its 9 attack and armor piercing.

Lessons learned:

Tanks are useful. Very useful.

Underbrush makes tanks VERY useful.

VTOLs are also useful.

Do not approach Widowmaker + Natasha from the other side of a hindering piece. :knockedou

10" infiltrate does not scare artillery.

I can't make the venue games in my area anymore. The one that did Friday nights stopped carrying and supporting clicks (comic store). The only one left does Saturdays, but for me that's family time, so no go there. I'm missing approved play, but we did recruit 2 brand new players for our weekly Wednesday night friendly play at homes.

So with 4 players instead of just 2 in friendly play, we've converted from two 900 pt matches to one huge 4-player free for all 1,350 pts on a 4 foot board instead of 3 foot. The one match runs from about 7:30 to 11:30ish (we are all dog tired at work the next day) :) That's plenty of time to get the 1 huge game in, all kinds of trash talking, snacking, a few beers, socialize, etc. Been working out pretty well for a few months now.

Gonna give this a whirl sometime. Might trade out Enrico in Unsterblich instead of Vallen like some suggest.

Oh, I know this one is mech-heavy, but me and the experienced player will usually do combined arms. The 2 new guys, however, are still nearly pure-mech junkies. They enjoy slamming in all assaults and heavies if they can. We figure one day they'll settle down and start using some of their vehicles and infantry when they get tired of pushing every mech to shutdown, LOL. Anyway I decided to build a not-so-combined army for one week.



236 Mad Cat Mk IV
27 Aiko Ryohara
5 Recruit Aiko
32 PPC Capacitor

226 Sturmgreif Cave Lion
40 Burkhard Schlomer
38 Decoy

261 Atlas Unsterblich
50 Vallen Brice
43 Angel ECM

101 Havoc
23 Scott Graves
3 Recruit Scott
23 Inferno Flamers

95 Raven
14 Mila Mazur
8 Recruit Mila
33 Evade

16 Simian Battle Armor
16 Simian Battle Armor
13 Cavalier Battle Armor


45 House Steiner Faction Pride (heat roll bonus)

---
1348