at the 2 venues i usually play at, we play 600 point games, this is the killer army my friend usually kills me with, it is pure swordsworn:

Behemoth II
3 J-37 ordinance transports
5 towed autocannons
2 arrow IV arty. tanks
3 aesir AA vehicles
2 balac VTOLs

how can i beat this?

Well, it depends how low you want to stoop to do it and what you think of playing faction impure. Here are some counters to what he is using. If you want to play faction pure it may require more thought.

You could play DF ATV's or Trikes to infiltrate and take care of the arty. If he tends to meat shield his artillery, then play an artillery of your own with a transport. If you play a VTOL, play one with a high defense (HL VTOLS) or reactive armor like the RotS Balacs with blocking terrain so the AA guns can't really hurt you. RotS Balacs also come in handy for ripping up the TACs when they get dropped. Throw in a charge monkey mech to salvage whatever transport has the Behemoth and then base the behemoth with an infantry for the rest of the game. Play your own anti-AA (pretty much any of them can hit a SSw Balac). At this point you've neutralized the Artillery and Balacs as well as making his AA guns a costly investment for what they are capable of doing. All you have to deal with are the drops, and if you go after the transports with infantry you can really chew them up pretty well and they will have trouble breaking away. Come to think of it, you can go after the transport with the Behemoth as well. You could also play your own tank drop or infantry drop of some kind.

There are some general ideas. A lot of your selections will depend on your collection. Based on the fact that you have a RotS symbol, I would nudge you towards the RotS Balacs. I'm not sure if RotS has any good infiltrators, but find a solid mech that can get across the field quickly, or set up some sort of puddles so it doesn't take heat as it moves up.

I agree with Czech.

Actually, the disadvantage of players who often bring the same army to the tourney is that you can prepare the next battle and design an anti-thesis army.

4x4 DF ATV swarm + infiltrate should enable you to base almost everything that need to be based in the first turn. J-37 are not the best tank or TAC-droppers you should not have any problem intercepting them. You may use an MHI AA-drop to take care of those pesky balacs. He will regret fielding those 3 aesir if he has nothing to shoot in the sky at.

Essentially here's the units breakdpwm
4x4 DF ATV formation = 14x16 = 224
Merc Zahn + SS MHI AA-drop = (56+30)x2 = 172

Leaving you still with 204 points to bring in heavy-hitting armors to finish the job.

His orders are REALLY hurting...

Take a Liao Force in stead...just ONE AWE will hurt them SOOO good...

That and the Healing ATV's will help...

OK so:

15x LI ATV's 180

Andrzej Czupek 239

Merc Zhan 30
>LI MHI AA 63

BR Peasant 4
LI Paladin 82

598

GIves you an AWE Roll, and he has to choose between shooting your arty, or your Mech/Tankdrop that are moving up-feild...

If he shoots your arty, he MUST take dammage, due to the SU AP...

The T/D has a good likelyhood of hitting your mech (with the TAC help) but it doesn't have the range to out-distance a charge from the Yu Huang...

LI ATV's are just as effective as the DF versions against this army due to the high numbers of :^: units *Transports*

The only thing that'll be a problem is the A4's with their armor...

Just my take though...

Mid :)

(alternately, you COULD do a CJF/LI army if mixing factions, using CJF kites and Sylphs in place of the ATV's)

The ATV assessment is correct, although 15-16 ATVs is probably both overkill and hard for the average player to field. Mid's on the right track, though. You could probably field:

Andrzej Czupek - Yu Huang - 239 pts.
:^^^: (LI) Paladin Defense System - 82 pts.
:^: Zahn Heavy Transport - 30 pts.
:^^: (LI) Infiltrator MkI Battle Armor - 15 pts.
:^^: (LI) Scout ATV Squad x7 - 84 pts.
-----------------------------------------------------
TOTAL: 450 pts.

It gives you a fast, high defense 'Mech to make his life difficult, more order-efficient artillery (with plenty of screen if you need it), and all the ATVs you need to silence whatever you don't want him to have. Happy hunting.

@Enkil

Can you tell me what units you have, because it doesn´t make sense to build an army you can´t copy.

Use

Bounty Hunter 326pts
2x DF Donars 104pts (deploy them LOW He's got no charge monkeys)

10 x DF Scout ATV's 140pts
1 x DF Sylph 30pts (Again Deploy LOW)

Voila 600pts.

Since Aesirs Work on Cruising VTOLs why not go low, since he doesn't have mechs to charge you with anyhoo,BH is fast, Real fast High Def Against Range attacks SS balacs won't nip ya they have poor maneouverability.

i have a ton of HL and Rots DFA stuff, also spme of the newer les and uniques, assorted other things, but thats about it, i can get my hands on some BR stuff from my brother if i need to

All right, now we can build a plan. My suggestion is to play a combined HL/RotS army, including the following pieces:

2x J37 Transport, HL
2x DI Towed Field Ari, RotS
2x Balac Strike VTOL, RotS
2x Mobile HQ, HL
1x Behemoth II, HL
1x Maxim, HL
1x Katsu Moriyama

This army's total is 556 pts., leaving you with 44 pts. for some infantry or an additional small vehicle.

The concept is quite simple, we try to fight fire with fire. This army provides you with 3 command-roles per turn (something your opponent lacks), which will allow you to use your artillery continually. Katsu and the Behemoth will take care of the tankdrop while the Balacs will deal with the enemy's infantry. Once the tankdrop is eliminated, try to get close to the artillery- pieces and scrap them.

how about this :
LI:
2 xTarge
9 x ATV
MH1 Def AA
Zhan
Arrow 4
2 x Infiltrator I
left about 1 pts or so.

anyway the tactic is. the twin targe could charge either of the transport (the bigest treat first). it can deal 6 click to that transport

use the rest of the ATV (and infiltrator ) to based anything else make sure they stay close , it can be use to help the targe get back one click :)

and for the balac treat them with the MH1 Def AA, 9IT 20 range to 16 eh.. for 5 click some more eHHHHH.. :)

and you got to use AWE too :)

Two mistakes:

- the SwSw-Balacs have an effective Range of 22 (6 movement + 16 weapons-range).

- the MHI Defense AA Tank only deals 4 Damage to the Balacs ´cause the are elite-units, not green.

Alrighty, let's look at his army, first of all.

Balacs:
Low defense, not push friendly, and only a nine attack. Good range, but any decent AA rips it to shreds. Your opponent can always repair it, but that costs him even more orders that he doesn't have.

Aesirs: 8 Attack, 2 damage. No IT, so nothing to worry about. Donars and Sprints do not fear this guy. Same goes with ROTS Balacs.

SS A4 Drop X2: Whoa, now THAT costs you some orders. Without Command, he's going to have a tough time using all of his figures continuously.

Behemoth Drop: Behemoth has decent attack, high damage, good range, but no IT and slow as a rock. Get the J-37 to Salvage, base the tank. End of story.

SS TACs X5: These guys can't move...why fear them? Unless of course, your opponent is dropping them. In that case, his Arty is meat because it isn't screened or even mobile.

So, what are your opponent's weaknesses? Lack of orders, for one thing. Also, other than the Balacs, this army seriously lacks mobility, meaning you can outmaneuver him with little difficulty. Also, his transports are just begging to be based. A 4+ breakaway means these things should be getting some friendly ATVs latching onto them, pronto.

With all of that said, how you beat this army? First and foremost, you need some ATVs, preferrably of the Dragon's Fury kind. When infiltrating, make sure you do so just outside of his TACs' range. Remember, if he drops his tank, he's only going to get a single shot off. Also, you could benefit from an AA-Drop. Although the LI AA seems to be favoured around here, I prefer the SH Aesir. However, it's up to you wether you want the extra 12 AA range, or slightly more damage and durability. Either way, put one of these in a Maxim.

Okay, now you have to worry about his arty. Is it easily baseable? If so, base it with an ATV and move in for the kill! If not, you could always just play First Strike, while you still can! That being said, I doubt that you have the required BR Sprints or Gunsho Hiroshi Kato, so I'll refrain from posting one made for 600 points.

Alrighty, so we need Speed, AA and something that can efficiently deal with his arty. Here's what I think you should play. If you dont have the pieces that I'm listing, just go back and read what I posted, and build an army accordingly with what you have.

DF ATV X4 - 64

BR ATV X 4 - 48

ROTS Balac X2 - 96

Jaquelin Pejiko - 47
---> HL Elemental X2 - 40

HL Maxim - 34
---> SH Aesir - 48
HL Maxim - 34
---> HL SRM Team X3 - 45
HL Maxim - 34
---> ROTS Po II - 41
HL Trike Squad - 12

ROTS Mobile HQ X2 - 56

599 Points

I think that this is a realistic army, with only a few hard to get pieces, according to what you said you have on you. This army should have no problem defeating your friend. You've got the Command rolls that he doesnt, you've got an AA drop, an SRM drop and a lighter drop for an extra little punch.

Your Balacs, can destroy his transports, and have nothing to fear of his AA, and he will have to damage his arty to attempt to damage you. Your smatter of ATVs can easily tie down his forces, giving the rest of your army plenty of time to get up the field. Also, I included the litte infantry-drop from the Crane to give your opponent something else to worry about.

Marc