Hello all!

This thread is intended as a general guide for those coming into MW:AoD, and whom are in need of army composition and strategy help. It is also somewhere for those of us who are more established to seek out any advice, to test it against the known "metagame" without the pain of playtesting. Our goal is to try and understand and help mold the ever-changing beast that is the metagame, and we want to help everyone else understand it too, because the more in tune players are with the metagame, the greater competition will be, and at the end of the day, competition is what we live for. :)

This thread will be moderated/reviewed by:

Elite130


Kotch


Midvalley


TrevortheOkay


A reminder, this thread is for EVERYONE, not just newbies, but we ask that all follow a few simple guide-lines:

1) When posting, please post courteously and with an open mind, following Internet Etiquette and good/readable grammar/spelling (if possible).

2) Only one army at a time. Please wait until you've been responded to.

3) When posting an army, please include faction and point costs for all units, as well as total points (it's just plain helpful).

4) When posting unit (collection) lists, please post factions, points, and also organize it some how: (Mechs, Vehicles Infantry, or by faction, ETC). This will greatly help us to build you a better army. :)

5) When posting a 'Mech, please denote any pilot and gear with costs.

6) Have fun, and take everything with a grain of salt!

There may be some terminology used that we/you may not be familiar with. To help this along, what follows is a brief glossary:

>Faction Abbreviations:
-BR: Bannson's Raiders
-CJF: Clan Jade Falcon
-DF: Dragon's Fury
-HL: Highlanders
-LI: Liao (also the Liao Incusion Set)
-Merc: Duh ^_^
-ROTS: Republic of the Sphere
-SC: Spirit Cats
-SF: Sea Fox
-SH: Stormhammers
-SS(w): Swordsworn
-SW: Steel Wolves
-HK: House Kurita
-HD: House Davion
-HS: House Steiner

>Set Abbreviations:
-DA: Dark Age
-FFE: Fire For Effect
-DFA: Death From Above
-LI: Liao Incursion
-CA: Counter Assault
-FP: Falcons Prey
-AOD: Age of Destruction
-FI: Firepower

>Unit Abbreviations:
-CBA: Clan Battle Armor
-CavBA: Cavalier Battle Armor (or just Cav)
-HBS: Hover Bike Squad
-PBA: Purifier Battle Armor
-TAC: Towed Autocannon
-A4: Arrow IV Artillery Tank (Also the Towed Version)
-AAA: DI Towed AA Artillery
-MHIAA: The MHI Def fence AA
-SRM: SRM Teams (Typically)
-Snipers: Sniper Teams (Typically)
-EBA: Elemental BA
-TTL: Towed Thunder Launcher
-TGR: Towed Gauss Rifle

Finally, if there are any players/rankers of their Respective National Competitions whom would be interested in joining the reviewing group, please PM Elite130, Kotch, Midvalley, or myself!

Trust us, we're not the only "experts" in this game, we're just a bunch of like-minded thinkers that want to give everyone a place to lay it down. :)

Thanks, have fun, and let's get the ball rolling!!!

EKMT

And just so everyone's aware...

As my sig has stated, I'm laying low until Nats hits, but I wanted to get "the thread" rolling again. The cast of characters changes (except for Mid :p), but the concept keeps on keepin' on! So yeah, don't expect a lot out of me until July, but I leave this thread in the all-too-capable hands of Elite130, Kotch, and Mid. Shine on, crazy diamonds. Shine on.

-T

Rokurokubi + Stephan Dirks + Improved Myomer 115+21+17 (153)
Rokurokubi + Wahab Fussili + Improved Myomer 115+15+17 (147)
Rokurokubi + Galedon 115+8 (123)
DF Shun + Merc FaShih + JF Salamander 47+29+25 (101)
3x LI ATV 36
JF Sylph 30
DF Gun Nest 10
Total 600 Pts.

A friend of mine play in every 600 Pts. unrestricted Arnis + two Zahn w/ Kelswa+TGR

So I'm not interested in playing Arty, my plan is to charge the Transports with enough Damage to destroy both the transport and the passenger. DF shun + Inf are my insurance against Arnis. They're order is to tie him up and formation Flamer. The rest are harassers.

I'm diggin' on the Rokus... but I would probably drop some points in HK Faction Pride that lets you add +1 damage. I would THEN add a HK Oni-drop in lieu of your Grapple-Flamer drop. That would give you a much more offensive posture. Against non-Arnis foes, your Rokus can consistently charge for 5 dmg (yay, Pride and Myomer!), and you've got a potential 3 ArP drop if you like it.

So, there y'go.

Heres a Fernali/Black Rose combo I've been thinking about...

Black Rose/Fernali/EC 338
5x Liao ATV's 60
BR Sprint 34
ROTS Shock Troopers 18

450 perfect.

The shock troopers are your little capture pieces, once you get the defense low enough (usually after a DFA or ranged combat attack.)

ATV's are VC getters and "tie them up" pieces.

Thoughts?

@ Trevor

Thanx for your comment.
I thought about HK Faction pride, too. But with 5+ Damage the passengers can disembark, because I'll salvage the transport before my next order is given.

You have the 3 Roku's together which are pretty strong, You have good range and your army should allow you to engage a fat Mech take it down if you lose 1.5 Mechs you will be ok.

Your support is something more questionable.

The Shun + Merc Fa Shi en the JF Salamander can be re-arranged otherwise.

My suggestion is to add the HK FP +1 Damage as such you will be deadlier.
Add the cheese drop a BR Sprint + BR Fa Shi if you need one. 34 + 23 = 57 (not 10 % sure on the points of the FA Shi. Leaves 24 for 2 more Liao ATV's and you drop the gun nest.

It strengths the components you use already.

Good luck
Elite130

Ok, I rethought (possible word?) my Army and here is another one:

Rokurokubi + Stephan Dirks + Improved Myomer 115+21+17 (153)
Rokurokubi + Wahab Fussili + Improved Myomer 115+15+17 (147)
Rokurokubi + Galedon 115+8 (123)
DF Shun + SC Undine + HK Óni (E) 47+20+22 (89)
3x LI ATV 36
HK Faction Pride 40

Basing Arnis with Merc FaShih and JF Salamander and my opponent will make a close combat against my salamander and I my attack lose his strenghts.

So now he has to decide if he want to attck my Oni or my Undine with his Arnis. My Undine loses his grapple but my Oni can try to capture him (23def vs. 9att w/IT) or shoot for 3dam.
If he decides to hit my Oni the capture attempt will be more dangerous (23def vs. 11att)

at the risk of seeming stoopid (not hard) :cross-eye is there any particular reason for the marked increase in 600pt armies in need of review. i am aware that WK is actively considering raising the tourney limit to 600pt however the prevalence of these armies prior to the official announcement is making me nervous prior to the UK Nats. :surprised :nervous:

here is a little RotS army i have been using recently with success

1. "Audrey" Stalking Spider w/ Raptis an Enhanced Imaging 232pts
2. HL Paladin Defence System 77pts
3. RotS Centaur BA x2 38pts
4. RotS Shock Troopers x3 54pts
5. RotS Fa Shih BA 26pts
6. RotS Shamash RV 23pts
   450pts

PCs Jungle, Perfect Day an Urban
the Centaurs remain in base with the PDS for PD an making formation moves plus giving AP 2 pog dmg. the Shock Troopers an Fa Shih are on basing an capture duties. the Shamash is for either blocking charges, VC3 or ram duties. Audrey is the main beat stick used for incoming 'Mechs or vehicles. Raptis' excellent pilot ability means that as soon as the pbi have slowed the advance down she can go to work. LMK what you think... :surprised

Most of the storyline WizKids tourneys have been 600s, so there's at least a real place to play them once a month. I suspect a fair number of BMs have gone to 600 unrestricted because people like playing big mechs with nasty pilots and lots of gear and 450 doesn't work very well with that.

The Quad/juimpjets is a mobile platform from hindering terrain as such it is a good piece. Good defense in hindering and more mobile than a Mech.

The RotS Centaur according to mwrealms is 1 ArP so in order to get 2 you fire both at the same target, which i think is order intensive. I would use RotS grey death or Highl Gnomes (the AnP ones) in base contact and destroy atv's with it.

You have an expensive Inf. formation I can not see how without a little help from your opponent they base a Mech in order to capture them. I suggest using a Rep. Zahn and drop the Inf. then move the inf in base contact you will have more range and it will be impossible to attack the fa-shi beforehand.

the Shamash are expensive replacements for ATV's but I understand their need.

If you must play faction pure the army could do well as the meta game is totally different from the normal game, specially with set-retirement. Although you might have som problems with high defense stuff.

I would try to mail Anup Dave and ask about the status of the UK Nationals, as TJPANDIV mentioned somewhere else it might be 450 constructed "normal" But I am not sure of this.

On the 600 front all scenario's these day are 600 and I woudnt be surprised at a update in the tournement rules in which 600 will be the norm.

Good luck
Elite130

You have all your eggs in one basket, you will fear mobility and range. The Yami's and the Alpha they might hit you on a direct shot without using IT. And then you are in big trouble.

the sprint and shock troopers will be lost against most armies everytime. And the command is wasted on your army. You might want to use a Fa Shi in the Sprint as it will help the Black Rose to close on your "prey"

Using lots of blocking you might pull this army of. Most will run away from your Mech and score on your support.

If you can score more than what you lose no problem. But it will be hard.

Good luck Elite130

Alright.... here goes

CNC NC + Aiko 264
SC R10 ICV 48
loaded with:
3 HL TGR 57


3 SC Fenrir 45
2 ROTS Shock troopers 36

450 pts.

I know this army lacks artillery.... but I'm hoping an infantry swarm will do the job :)
So far I lack a transport for the other infantry.... my R10 is my only 3 cap
currently I am waiting for CNC to be allied with SC so maybe I could use SC-HL SA? (Is that allowed)
And I don't have Aiko yet... hoping to get a copy of her somehow....

TGR drop and NC used to crack RHDMs....

Any suggestions on tactics? (I'm pretty new...... so I'm kinda lacking tactics/strategywise)

The CNC Nova Cat has good, stable stats and a classic range. With Aiko in it you have a unit that is better than Declan Devalis in almost every way. Not that Declan Devalis is all that competitive these days to start with but there you go!

Your problem is that whilst Aiko is good defensively, it doesn't enhance your attack or speed much. So you have a fairly slow force with no artillery back-up. You definitely need to tweak your support.

You will suffer against artillery armies. Moving the R10 with the Fenrir will take several turns to bring your TGR into range, even though the Hardened Armor will protect it against non-ArP. Lacking Evade it is also really easy to pin down, restricting your drop range at not much cost. It's strengths are its length of dial and armor and those features are good when carrying a really valuable cargo. Immobile TGR don't fit that bill for me. Hence I'd drop that in favour of a more versatile transport.

Aiko can run ahead but with that heat dial I wouldn't advise it. A 24 defense is no good against artillery. You need something faster to get upfield quick.

Also the Shock Troopers look like filler to me. You'd be better off with HK Oni, who benefit from an alliance with the Cats and so could move in formation with the Fenrir or the R10.

Worth pointing out here that any army that is slow and lacks the means to eliminate ATVs early in the game is likely to find itself losing VC3. So in order to do well you must have a means of securing VC1 and VC2 with some certainty.

As Elite130 has pointed out to me in the past, sometimes having the ability to win one victory condition even if you lose a game can mean a lot when entering a big tournament - like the Nationals.

In a smaller environment, just winning becomes the more important factor.

However, conceding VC3 from off the bat means that you must secure VC2 and not lose VC1. Hence you will probably be acting more predictably than your opponent. All your opponent needs to do is somehow kill more of your support than you do of his and/or capture a 'Mech and even a losing position can be retrieved as a result.

So when building a relatively slow force you cannot have extra baggage (read the Shock Troopers) and you need something capable of taking down ATVs without immobilising your entire force to achieve it (Aiko doing a CC assault means one hot 'Mech or dropping one or more TGR will leave them open to artillery strikes or anti-personnel assaults on the transport).