Esperanza is Republic of the Sphere not CJF, so the recruit cost would just be 5 points for DeJesus

Oh, thank you, i had a CJF one in my box till i looked a little more and found this one, but yeah my points would have been off anyways, so im now 2 points under on that army.

How important is it to hit the exact mark for a point build? (300,450,600 ..ect) ? i see alot of builds that are exact but i always seem to come up a point or 2 short.

it isn't too critical i accidentally played one of the storyline events 52 points under (point and laugh at me everyone does) and still won 2 out of 3 rounds until i played the guy that was 26 or so points over because he didn't notice the extra cost of one of his pilots being exactly on isn't a major thing as long as your close without going over

I have to disagree about it not being critical....being over the point total is against the rules and can provide a significant advantage to the player who is over. Ponder this army...

Kami + Tadashi + Heavy IT
Jack + Julz(LE version) + BAP
4 x HK Scout ATV
1 x DF Peasant company

600 pts.

Give me 26 more points and I can add 2 HK scout atv's which army would you rather face?

What Kharma is saying is that if you have 598 and your opponent has 600 it isn't too critical but again I disagree.

If you have 598 and your opponent has 600 your opponent is winning. That means the onus is on you to do something to win. Whereas your opponent doesn't need to do anything.

And since VC2 is the decider then even if you get VC3 you still lose.

An aggressive strategy can pull it back but it's never good to start yourself off with a handicap.

where VC2 is the decider most people have a faction pride or situational alliance which means they start down 20-40 points for VC2 already and how often have you gone through a game where nothing has died or been salvaged? two points in the grand scheme of things doesn't matter all that much.

Oh really? Actually that may be true where you play but it certainly is not true everywhere. Someone playing SAD may be playing True Grit and so it's feasible the rest won't use a Faction Pride...

The devil is in the detail. Yes the two forces will engage. They have to because one player is losing. Of those two players, which one is most incentivised to take risks to ensure engagement? Answer - the one losing. Meaning immediately they are predictable because they have to force the engagement. A clever opponent can use that against them.

Gotta agree with this point - while I've occasionally had to go with a build that
was 1 or 2 points under, it pained me grievously to do so. When I've lost, my
opponents have had to work for their wins. ;)

I may be wrong here but I don't think you can move the SSw HB's in formation
with the Merc. Zahn without a House Davion/Swordsworn Mercenary Contract
card in play. Remember, before AoD, Mercs could be included in army builds
but could not participate in formations. Even with each other.

Other than that, the army looks solid. :)

Yes, that is true. But we are now under AoD rules, so mercs can make formations with anyone.

It does not matter which set the merc unit is from (pre-Aod or post-AoD); ALL mercs may make formations with any other faction.

Hope this helps.

Yes, I am aware of that, Asbury. ;)

Just one point of clarification is still needed, though. If Mercs. can automatically
make formations with other factions in AoD, then what is the point of paying
for a Merc. contract?

Please allow me to expand on this (tried to edit previous post but ran out of
time).

I was aware that Mercs. could formation with faction units in AoD but was
under the impression that this was facilitated through the use of the Merc.
Contract cards. Otherwise, what's the point of having them?

I think you're thinking of the fact that Mercs. can formation with each other automatically in AoD.

NEVER MIND - I just read the RoW section on formations. Asbury, you are
110% correct. I remembered after reading this that the Merc. Contract cards
allow the Merc. units to benefit from faction pride.

What can I say? When you don't use it, you lose it. If my wife had her way, I'd
NEVER use it. :(

No big deal - everyone needs to reread the RoW from time to time! lol