btw, where are these pics you told us about, i want to see them!

One other build, CJF related, uses the Loki again, but also utilizes the MDFA aspect you mentioned:

:^^^: Loki
+ Star Commander
+ Battlemech Jump Pack
:^^: Gyrfalcon (V2 with 16" range)
+ Sakhara Grad
:^^: Gyrfalcon (V2 with 16" range)
+ Sakhara Grad
:^^: Gnome Battle Armor (x3)
MDFA Faction Pride.................750

Long range and short range, all JJ/BJP equipped. Can Capture, destroy, out-range...does lots.

And yes, Storyline II is totally open for abuse. Not what one would call "well thought out".

Let me see if I can get them uploaded properly....
I hope this works.
Basically, the game was 2100 pts. 2 of my friends played against me with their Steiner army. They were geared for moderate pog warrior and enough heavy units to end my game fairly quickly if I wasn't careful.
Roughly, they had:
HS Faction Pride that give them a +1 to all heat effect rolls(I so want one like that for Davion!)
1 Madcat IV(Frihet pilot and IT)
1 King Crab with its pilot
2 Stalking Spiders, both with pulse, one with a +2 pilot and one with Yager
1 Jackalope with Graves and Evade
1 Raptor II with IT(I think)
2 Morning Star
3 Sniper Artillery
2 Sylph
5 SRM teams?
4 IS BA
5 Mini gun cycles?
They chose subzero tem for their PC card and their mission was to kill my R10.

I had:
1 Madcat IV (Stark, PPC Cap)
1 Vulture IV (DeJesus, Anti-P)
2 Loki (Friehet)
2 Vixen (Both with Decoy, 1 with Graves and one with Sain)
Formation-
R10 with Kelswa
MHI APC (no formation units! Whoops!)
1 Morning Star
1 Undine BA
Formations-
Cizen & 2 Track bike squads
4 Vet CBA
4 Purifier BA
3 Thunderbird BA
3 Shamash

+ 1 Yasha VTOL

My Mission card was to defend home base and my PC was Heavy Fog. I would suffer less from this card since I planned to jam my units right into their face!

Oh, and just for context, we also play with only 7 orders a turn.
They placed hindering terrain out near the center right of the field, so I worked hard putting blocking around it so I could deny their Stalking Spiders easy firing arcs of the field. Whats more I was planning on using my superior mobility to get them off balance. I was first player in this little game, and I intended to make the most of it. I first advanced my Battle Armor up the field.
Next turn I began moving my mechs. The R10 and its assets were the victim of a devasating artillery assault, with several units taking 4 clicks!

I kept my cool and ran most of my mechs down the left flank. My Battle Armor and the Shamashes began to engage their main line. I had large losses of Battle Armor and all my Shamashes but I still had a plan. I moved into the near their left flank right to their deployment zone. A Sniper Artillery got smashed by the Mad Cat(my personal machine), while the Lokis demonstrated just how devastating they were...
A Stalking Spider moved out and slagged the R10, but put itself in range of a Loki to do so. It got hit by the Loki, shutting it down, but it missed the pulse shot! However between the Cizin, Yasha and a Ramming morning Star, the offender went down. The Raptor II though it was safe in base contact with by CBA, but was shocked when I pushed them into a firing formation, damaging it and leaving it vulnerable to the other Loki which then proceeded to hit it and DIDN"T miss its pulse shot. 2 enemy mechs down. The Purifers had eventually based their Madcat IV, and even succeeded in getting a critical hit(I wish I was rolling for capture)! I also smahed every slyph they fed me trying to hold my mechs off.
In the end, they smashed many of my support troops, but I destroyed several larger units, got my mission as well and several VCs.

Summary:
The Lokis as we all know are just plain deadly. Pin units then close and wipe them off the map.
The Madcat and Vultures provide very mobile firepower, and should never be underestimated.
I used the Vixens as mobile shields for the Vulture and Madcat and they operated in this role excellently. Several shots were fired but none could land on them.

This was the 1st time I used the purifiers: great battlearmor with a excellent combination of speed, starting attack, and late dial improved targeting. Definately recommend them.
Overall, it was a fun game and a challenge from both sides. The Falcons though won the day and drove off the Steiner defenders.

From the looks of the pictures it seems they made the mistake of moving in between your two forces when they should have done something like rush one side and sacrifice the sylphs to pin your big mechs on one side while they attack the other.

Also, if I ever see a CJF Loki my goal is to deal at least 4 dmg to it before it can attack me. That pulse is nasty.

Good luck with that, Bondsman Jegred2. You will need to survive contact first. ;)

The Haus Steiner opponent certainly failed to assess the Falcon tactics correctly. He should have anticipated the flanking rush, and developed either a defensive "arrow" formation with covering lanes of fire, or forced one of your two major formations into a choke point, throwing *you* into a defensive position.

As it was, he over-extended his offensive push without proper support (Sylph and artillery), and got himself cut off, probably overheating in the process.

Was your opponent familiar with Falcon mobility?

May I ask why both Haus Steiner and Clan Jade Falcon felt the need for Morningstar Mobile HQs?

Actually both players also use the Falcons. I suspect its one thing to play them, its another to play against them.

Their Faction pride saved them from suffering too much from overheating, but they actually got a Stalking spider driven right to shutdown, making it easy bait. They also hadn't anticipated the amount of fast basers I brought to the field, so their heavy guns ended up being mostly fly swatters for the game.

I actually boxed him in, but your right, had they focused on one element it may have been a different story. Still, if they pushed against the Madcat and its 3 other team mates, the Lokis would have pushed in from behind blocking. Had they made a move against the Lokis, I probably would have retreated them while my flankers had a field day in their rear lines.

I've learned to not stand and fight with the Falcons when I can redeploy for my advantage. I also try to avoid choke points if I notice.

As for the Morning Stars... well, it was a fun game after all:grin:
Still we were limited to 7 orders a turn so we wanted to get in some extra orders. Besides, my Morning Star finished off a Stalking Spider!

Heh. I use both factions and I love to use the Battle Armor for both factions. The nasty thing about JF BA is they are fully capable at taking down opposing mechs by themselves.

New solaris thoughts? My biggest question... do we get faction abilities? If we do, sweet time for some Goshoppin. My guess is no, since FP are illegal, my gut says we're screwed. I know I'll be getting warmed up with a few friends this weekend, for the onslaught that will be Solaris VII for rest of this year. I think this will be good for the game, simple, only one unit to familiarize your self with, might be good for drawing new players in. Regular game looks so complex, noobs are so confused, Solaris VII is just mechs kicking the #### out of other mechs, that's sure to get a few more players involved. So what is going to break the solaris format? I will be dreading the RHDM that will start popping up, evade/decoy/hindering/elevation bonus, it's going to get messy. I'm bummed they pushed the release date back to August I wanted to bust some heads this summer with a new Shrike (after I repaint it, no way I'm going to play with that ugly paint job).

To be honest, Trothkin, I had not given the Solaris VII concept much thought. True, the game has become rather complex, but I will bet you a week's wages that Solaris VII will also evolve into more than you bargained for.

Perhaps later I will peruse the Solaris rules so that I can better answer your question in an educated format.

Trothkin,

I do believe that faction abilities are not allowed in S7 format. The S7 rules do not mention them and those are the only rules that govern that sub-game. Although it might be nice to have Merciless as it would be a crowd-pleaser. Truthfully, S7 might be interesting, but in no way will it be better than the regular game. Where sometimes things seem "broken" or "cheesy" in the regular game, there are always counters to those things and either figures or tactics that can level the playing field. My fear with S7 is that it is too much like many duel-style CCGs in which players are allowed total freedom to min-mix their unit and create a situation in which their opponents are left cursing the heritage of their opponent. This can be somewhat checked in the regular game with units, faction prides, PC CECs, tactics, etc. but in S7 where you only have one unit to worry about and a wide-open point spread to work with, I think that it will create a negative play experience when younger or less-experienced players go against the min-maxers among us.

As to what units will reign supreme in S7 format? I think we have yet to see some of them. Only time will tell for sure although I have heard Bounty Hunter mentioned, along with "Fell" Warwolf because of it's pilot ability.

And you are correct, that Shrike is way too bright. As a Falcon fan, I am disheartened to see one of our signature machines in the hands of a Speheriod surat playing at war for profits and entertainment.

Chris

Yet another victory for CJF with my twin Loki format. I played a Trial of Grievance (for fun), and used:

:^^^: Loki
+ Star Commander
:^^^: Loki
+ Frihet Grad
:^^^: Clan Battle Armor (x3)
:^^: PAL Suit (x3)

My esteemed opponent (CDNReece) used:

"Alpha" Mad Cat IV
+ Annastasia Kerensky
+ Streak Missiles
:^^^: Mjolnir
+ Minoru Kurita Grad
+ Agility
:^^^: Mjolnir
+ Minoru Kurita Grad
+ Agility
:^^: Towed Gauss (unsure of actual rank, but it was the WH variant)

Both were 600 point faction pure forces.

The first 10 minutes seemd to last forever, as we both positioned for the right time to strike. Wolf Hunter forces (all three Mechs)entered Hindering terrain about 20" away from my Lokis, which I held back until I felt the time was right. I advanced my two formations of infantry into strike distance, hoping to bait my opponent forward to the easy kill.

For whatever reason, the Mad Cat IV side-stepped from cover to get a better shot. I advanced quickly into RAO range with one Loki and savaged it, while moving my CBA into base with both Mjolnirs. At this time, the PAL bagan a flanking maneuver to worsen the situation. The second Loki moved into strike distance on both Mjolnirs. Since they were based, they could not assault, giving me complete control of the battlefield.

On the next turn, the Mjolnirs performed a successful break from the CBA, only to be pounced on my the PAL. The second Loki hit them both for 5, ending their threatening future. The poor MC4 was struck again for 5 by the primary Loki, then finished off by a single shot by a pushed CBA.

At this point, Hegira was requested and granted.

The match took 27 minutes.

I believe that the match came down to the first blink...the first hit. Whoever got it, won the game. We both knew that it would be bloody, and so it was.

CDNRecce would now like to experiment against this very force again, and I am more than willing to oblige.

Am I the only one posting here?

One month later, and another victory for CJF.

I faced Wolf Hunter, Clan Jade Falcon, and Rasalhague Dominion forces. We played June's Storyline II (since the original tourney was cancelled). I played:

:^^^: Loki
+ Star Commander
+ Battlemech Jump Pack
:^^: Pheonix Hawk I
+ JP Millhew
+ Alpha Strike
"Milagro" Jade Hawk
+ Frihet Grad
+ Anti-Personnel
:^^^: Clan Battle Armor (x4)....750

I faced Victory_Saber (CJF) first, and faced another Milagro, two PHXs, and three full formations of infantry ( 3 :^^: CBA, 3 :^^: , and 3 Thunderbirds). I lured the infantry in with a baited Loki, then blasted them with my own "Milagro". It cost me a lash from one PHX's PPC to the Loki, but nothing else was damaged. My opponent's Milagro was smoked with a Critical Hit from my own PHX, only to be followed by a blast fromt he Loki.

The fight lasted 40 minutes.

My second fight was against my old friend CDNRecce (WH), and my explanation of why the scenario was broken was proven on him. He deployed two Thors and two Jackalopes. However, I took the time to place my major Mechs behind each of his to get the rear arc shot, supported by a single Infantry for possible basing purposes in case I needed it. By the end of turn 3 (where units without JJ are eliminated), I had one Jackalope shut down, one Salvaged, one Salvaged and Captured, and one fresh and Captured. None oof his pieces survived.

The fight lasted 37 minutes.

My final fight was a little more difficult, as it was against an RD opponent (Toktamish) who played a force that was mostly going to wait for turn 4 to deploy. Aside from the three CBA he used on turn 1, I faced 3 Ravagers, two Tokugawas, two Huitzilopochtli, and the Unique RD Atlas (with a pilot I cannot remember). This was definitely a came of cat-and-mouse, and came down to patience and waiting for the moment to strike. I guessed right, and only lost one CBA...whereas he lost two CBA, a Huitzilopochtli, and a Tokugawa.

Result: three wins with three sets of VC 1 and 2.

Playing with a Loki is like an addiction that I am having a hard time fighting.

Hey, got an idea for a recon in force in a city battle, any comments welcome!:

-Panther:^:
-Koshi:^:
-Mongoose:^: + star cpt + agility/improved myomer
-Eve Buhallin Eyrie :^:
-Nacon scout:^:
-Hawk moth:^:

with agility in the mongoose its 600.

Wow. Holy older pieces Batman.

To be honest, the only two tht I would even consider fielding are the Panther and the Eve Buhallin Eyrie. The rest would probably become golf tees or fishing lures. ;)

Good point, but doesnt the mongoose have some merrit? 12 at, 22def and with zelbrigen it can charge for 4 clicks impact at 20 range? the idea of the army was for a fun game with a lot of MDFA:)