Private communication sent, although I have more to add to that list since I noticed the "other isorla" comment....

Hail All.

Just completed fighting my first official combat as Clan Jade Falcon. The Trial was based on February's Storyline II. Therefore, given thsoe perameters, as well as a last minute trade with my bondholder, I fielded the following force:

:^^^: Loki
+ Star Commander
:^^^: Loki
+Frihet Graduate
:^^^: Clan Battle Armor (x3)
:^^: PAL Suit
:^^: WH Minigun Cycle (since I only had one non-BA CJF infantry piece)
-----------------------------------------------600 even

My concept was to avoid the whole "build a shelter" motif altogether. It hails back to a catch phrase I used to use a while back: "if it ain't hurtin' - it ain't helpin' ". Excuse the language - it was a while ago. However, I felt that if I focused purely on offensive output, then perhaps any opponent whom paused for a moment to build a shelter would be overwhelmed with sheer damage output. All infantry (aside from the PAL suit) carried Anti-Personnel, so the guaranteed requirement to possess infantry in the Storyline also became a liability for me to exploit.

In every match, I achieved one kill/salvage on my first turn. In all cases, no opponent lasted more than 31 minutes.

My first match against Star Commander Joho of Clan Jade Falcon.

:^^^: Thor
+ Star Commander
(?) Pheonix Hawk I
+ Minoru Kurita Grad
+ Lock on Targetting
(?) Vixen
+ Minoru Kurita Grad
:^: Sniper Team (x3)
:^^: PAL Suit (x2)

He fought very well, but both Lokis operated to great effect. No heat effects failed, and I only missed once (a critical failure...). The planetary conditions eliminated every single non-BA infantry piece on the board by the end, leaving me with unscathed Clan Battle Armors to threaten capture (and otherwise harass). The Vixen was eliminated on turn one, and the Pheonix Hawk I the very next turn. His Thor took a little more work, but a concentrated effort between both Lokis managed to shut down and eliminate this last man standing. One Loki was four clicks from elimination at game's end.

Elapsed time: 20 minutes
VC1 and 2. Total Elimination.

Second Match: AntiElvis of the Rasalhague Dominion

:^: "Odin" Ursus
+ pilot
(?) Raptor
+ NAIS
+ Impact Armor
(?) Raven
+ Kapten
+ Heavy Armor
(?) Towed Gauss Rifle (x3)

I contrated efforts on the elimination of the Ursus first, if only to remove the Alpha Strike/restart/Alpha Strike/Rinse-and-repeat threat of this piece. This Meduim fell turn two, followed by the Raven. The Raptor was merely Salvaged by turn three, and eliminated shortly thereafter. Due to the damage inflicted by the PCs in play, all non-BA infantry were eliminated once again, without firing a shot in anger.

Total Elapsed Time: 31 Minutes.
VCs 1 + 2. Total Elimination.

Had I thought to do it earlier, I would have requested a Trial of Position. Such is life. At days end, I eliminated 6 Battlemechs with two. However, the six eliminated had far less damage output then the Lokis, so such a claim is not totally fair. I hope that my efforts impressed my bondholder with my intentions to represent my Clan with all Honour.

Please forgive me for entering your hall uninvited. I come here to tell you that your Madcat rocks. I have fought it in 2 different battles and both times it has taken everything I can throw at it. For loadout details ask Tirrex. He uses this mech as well as anyone can.

MC MK IV / "Lizzie" / PPC Cap.

12 AV, 10 Move, 17 in. AO, 20 DV (23 DV with Evade) w/Decoy

Had I ran to my DZ or not shut down the game would have been mine. Granted that was after you finally hit the thing threw hindering. Dang lucky shot.

One of these days I am going to challenge you over this, and when I take you as my bondsman I will have you remove the "Green Chicken" part. The rest is ok but that has got to go.

I so want to see that battle, a true clan grudge match. I can hear the auto-cannons and smell the ozone from the lasers and PPCs already.

Hail fellow clansmen,

I am a relatively new clansman seeking the advice of the wise. While it is not questioned that our 'mechs reign supreme on the battlefield, I would request advice on best use of our fine vehicles and infantry assets aside from simple support roles. Do any of you use these second-line assets in your primary attack lines? General strategies employed thus far are as follows:

1. Multiple formations of tanks/infantry with reactive armour to foil artillery.

2. Cardinal carrying a pair of TTLs to be deployed and fired at forward enemy elements.

3. "Tank Drop" with an R10 and tank of your choice (oh for a Kelswa).

Please critique these mini-strategies and lend others to a fellow warrior. As well, what are the top 5 vehicles and infantry that one should acquire and their best uses.

With gratitude,

Goreb

1st off what makes an I.S. Pilot think he can walk into a Clan's hall, let alone speak of watching a Trial?
2nd, yes it was a lucky shot, but odds were on my side I only missed it like 100 times before I hit the darn thing.
3rd, Tirrex I changed my sig for you (LOL).

Since Minoru Kurita established a training academy to share the techniques of Clan Nova Cat and House Kurita. Next question. Consult your Loremaster for further inquiries to spare yourself any embarrassment.

Secondly, I would suggest that the observance of a Trial may actually teach any true Warrior the value of Honour and Prowess.

Saw that, Wolf. It still smells of disrespect. Khan Hallen Pryde would never permit such behavior amoung Warriors, regardless of their Clan of origin. As you are addressing the SaKhan, I would request that you refer to him by that title. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

*stands with arms crossed*

If you seek information on the use of infantry, I am quite sure that my bondholder, Star Commander Joho can answer that... ;)

In addition to that, I would consider the fact that the majority of artillery used to date (exception - Steiner TTLs and Liao/Wolf Arrow IVs) use Armor Piercing. Reactive versus these is moot. To be honest, I would use swift Light Battlemechs to base the artillery before moving infantry into threatening range. Then again, amoung this Touman of Falcons, you will have multiple solutions to the same problem.

Recon_Raven, Tirrex Falcon knows I mean no disrespect to him or his Clan. We are often on the same side of the battlefield fighting along each other instead of fighting each other. AS for the I.S. pilot he is, I believe, trying to drive a spike between Tirrex and myself in order to save himself from having us allied together. Tirrex and I are brothers who are in 2 different Clans, I hold him in high respect and I believe he does me as well. Thank you for speaking up, I know you were only doing so because you thought I was doing it all in malice.
As far as the InterClan teasing it keeps us sharp so that when the Clans unite once again we shall be ready and take Terra once and for all.

Bargained Well and Done.

Hail Kerensky,

I was looking over recent clan victories when I noticed recon_raven boosting over victories during storyline II. Quite an impressive army, yet the fact that the Feb. II storyline said you require three infantry without battle armor. I only count two.
Maybe you had changed the rules for the trial. That is still an army to be prowd of regardless of the storyline.

*Bows* Thank you Bondsmen Raven,

As stated, reactive armour is not that important; what is important is speed and manoeuvrability, i.e., jump jets. If dumped out of a transport with infiltrate, or from any high speed transport good infantry can blaze across the field and soon be upon your opponents artillery. It must be kept in mind that your opponent -if he is worthy of his rank- will not simply let your infantry swarm over your artillery like a battle-armoured tied; so you will have to distract him, or corner off his forces with the rest of your army. If you can rush your infantry between his front line and his artillery (assuming they are not one and the same, if they are simply get behind the line) some or all of his forces will most likely turn around to engage your infantry, and when this happens the rest of your force can shoot at your enemy's exposed back. Even if you cannot force your opponent into the above situation , getting infantry to base his artillery will probably keep it from firing for a few turns, giving you a rest from a rain of shells. If you can manage to capture his artillery this will put your opponent at a sever disadvantage because the only way to damage the captor of a unit is with close combat attacks, or artillery blasts, and then it comes down to weather or not your opponent has another artillery unit that can fire on the captured one, and weather or not he is willing to damage, and possibly destroy his captured unit.

Another tactic against artillery is fast, light vehicles like the Shamash, some versions having recon or infiltrate will let you get the unit in place quickly, and once they are in range they can ram and thus base the artillery, and if you field enough you could destroy or salvage their artillery. If your rams do not destroy it, you have still managed to base it, and thus keeping it from making artillery attack and keeping your enemy’s shells out of the sky for a few turns.

I suggest the following units for anti-artillery duty:
Sylph Battle Armour - You will not find a faster infantry.
Minigun Cycles/Track Bikes - Cheap and fast
Vanguard’s CJF Clan Battle Armour - 12” movement + Jump Jets, start them in a transport, unload them and they will be on your opponent in no time.
Shamash Reconnaissance Vehicle - All versions have recon or infiltrate and high speed, which lets them cross the battlefield quickly.

I do not use VTOLS very often, but I am willing to be that there are some that act as excellent anti-artillery units.

Also, you could combine the above tactics and use a mix of infantry/VTOLS/fast vehicles as well.

Finally, an artillery unit with a longer range is another good way to counter artillery as well. Good luck Mech Warrior.

Star Commander Joho out.

P.S.
I apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes; it is 2:30 AM and I should be sleeping but instead I’m surfing the web :D

That would be because there were three minigun cycles, Fritzfry. that particular piece of information was deleted when I added the "WH" in front of the minigun cycles. If you doubt the validity of my claim, you may contact either AntiElvis or JOHO to confirm.

Had you actually tabulated the points declared above, you would have noticed that 20 points were unaccounted for. This is a convenient amount, quiaff? That it equals exactly *two* more WH Minigun Cycles? (Something SaKhan Tirrex Roshak PM'ed me about....thank you SaKhan). A simple inquiry would have rectified the situation. However, once posted, I missed the window to edit it. I assumed that my fellow Falcons would take me at my word.

No rules were changed, Shark.

Were you local, perhaps a Trial of Greivance would settle your restless soul?

Yes to formations, no to multiple and no to Reactive.

You absolutely, positively, must have formations. Being able to take a second move order without pushing is not just critical, it's essential.

Also, in general, you only have the points for a single effective formation. Generally this is something akin to an R10 with a tank inside and at least a pair of CBAs or Trackbikes running escort duty. It's possible to pack two R10s, one full of tanks and one full of infantry, but that starts to drag orders out something fierce. However, a R10/tank with a pair of flanking CBA/Trackbikes and a Saxon or two with their own infantry load is a versatile and nasty piece of work. You can split the Saxons off on their own to cause havoc and keep the R10 in a move formation.

Though CJF does have some effective Reative units, generally speaking, you cripple yourself pretty badly only using Reactive. You're fast and moving fast so you can get under the arty umbrella anyway and when it comes right down to it, APCs make excellent ablative armor.

Classically this is a MHI infiltrate TTL drop. This allows pogging of the enemy first turn. Generally speaking you don't use your arty to annoy advancing elements, you use it to make your enemy advance.

See also formations. This is why formations are nasty. Being able to drop a tank and not take damage will make any opponent miserable, especially when the escort units can surge out and make life miserable as well.

There are surprisingly few 'bad' CJF infantry and several very good vehicles.

Raidens, Trackbikes, Gnomes (both types), CBAs (both types), Fenrirs, Undines, Sniper Teams, Elementals, Purifiers, TTLs, Thunderbirds and a Salamander or two. Sylphs. Learn them live them love them.

Shamashes, Saxons (I love Saxons), Cardinals, Yashas and Hawk Moths, R10s by the dozen, a MHI APC and a Cardinal or two, the arty Hadur, Cizin, Enyo, Sniper arty, Tokugawa, Carnivore, Long Tom arty, Sekhmet, Heuy and the almighty Kelswa.

Now, that's more than 5. But really, any of those on the list will make you more than satisfied. It's whatever's easiest to trade for.