MattyFoe

I am a fan of the Mil-net auto-ten rule where you roll a second die to try and match the target number for the roll. You keep that "one in a million" or "force guided" shot while neither allowing infantry machine guns to pen Wolverine armour or said Wolverine to completely blow off 90% of the weapons on the board. Both sides have to think a little more carefully when making their moves.

Didn't one of you guys say that RC09 was going to be final my the end of May? I seem to recall an offhand comment to that effect from one of TPTB.

The problem with that line of reasoning is that RC09 was supposedly 'on the verge' of approval months ago. Sgt. Crunch has a post from August telling us that he heard the cards might approved any day then. To use the holiday excuse for Reaper is just that. An excuse. I have been into Cav for only a year-plus now and have been loyal - almost to the point of rabid. Yet, I find myself very much falling into the bitter/resigned line of thinking of those such as Gunfighter. Without even giving us an official version of RC09+cards and an integrated rulebook (not hardcopy. Just integrated. With all the erratas, updates etc. included) it is hard to continue giving Reaper and company any more benefit of the doubt. Come July, (when we may finally see RC09 entered as official and perhaps the Crusader and Kraken minis) I find it hard to believe that I, or any of my gaming group, will care. I do not mean this as an attack on you Saint. The first paragraph was a response and then the rest just flowed. I have been too frustrated about this for too long and just needed to vent.

Except that only Artillery Superiority gives you the free FiST. Air Superiority allows extra slight sections.

Yeah, Terrans have some of the strongest doctrines out there. However, they are not a super faction. Just try to get some mileage out of whatever doctrines are available to your chosen faction and pray to Khardullis that it is not Malvernian.

Thanks guys. That should put an end to that debate.

Had a dispute arise before the last CAV game over how free points affect expenditure maximums. Say we agree to a 2000 point game. One side chooses a Terran Air or Artillery doctrine. Now, they get 10% in free points. This does not affect game size, as I understand it. The just get to play with a force that may be up to 10% larger than their opponents' (assuming they spend at least 200 points on strikes. This means their entire force can now amount ot 2200 points. No more, right? They cannot claim that their force size is now 2200 and claim an extra 10% on those 200 points, no? They cannot "chain" up to 2220. It seems to me thatif one could chain even that once, then their is no reason that they cannot continue to claim 10% on each new little increment. While this number of extra points goes asymptotic quickly, it still seems to violate the common sense of the rule and technically would go on infinitely. Now their strike cap. Strikes say that you may spend up to 20% game points on strikes. That means a Terran player is restricted to 20% of the agreed game size. They are not allowed to count the extra 200 (from the above example) as part of the game size to allow them to inflate the strike package past 400 points. Obviously, the first point about overall points also applies to other "free points" doctrines such as the Terran infantry doctrine and Templar upgrade doctrine. I also apologize if this is at all disjointed and/or confusing, as I am trying to get it all out before my superiors realize I am still at lunch and not back working. :o)

It is no longer a surprise in our group. In fact, it has become a staple. The only problem with it is that it really relies on making its points back quickly. A well balanced list will be a able to put a stamping on the little guys fairly quickly after they show up. So, if you flub a few strike/missle rolls, you may have just cost yourself your investment. That said, it is still nasty enough to have rapidly become a staple here.

Title should be clear, but here is an example; An Ogre wants to Run & Gun for the extra movement. However, it also wants to Salvo Strike to have a chance of penetrating its intended target's defenses. Can the Ogre make the elongated move and also salvo up its 2 or 3 shots?

Ow! Did you just out-rule me? The worlds are colliding! You're killing independent Matt!

For units with two IA weapons, such as the Outlaw and Thunderbird; If Adjustable Munitions is purchased, does it have to be taken for each weapon? If so, does that mean the cost is doubled? I.e. an Outlaw must spend 100 points for AM as opposed to a flat 50? If it is taken separately for each system, does the option exist to only take it for one of the two systems?

I do not know if data card quirks are still being asked for but I found that the Thug and Thug Infiltrator have one. The OM Thug has smart on its Hb2 DFM. Meanwhile, the new Thug Infiltrator has a Hb2 without smart. Both weapons have an otherwise identical statline.

A good stopgap to get FiST into the force is to make the Kikyus the TA variant.

The Kharl 74 is worth it. I've been upgrading Kharls to almost the same specs as the '74 for more points. The Conqueror 73 isnt' that much different really, but it's nice to have the adjustable munitions, though I have a tendency to forget about it. The one I need to play with more to figure out if it's worth it's points or not is the Vanquisher 74. The first game with it underwhelmed me. Now that the RC08 Beta has come out, I do realise that the Conqueror '73 got a little less of a bump than previously thought. I still take the '73 over OM at every turn, though. A real DV instead of that joke 9 is too much to pass up. The SuperKharl is still out in my jury. The changes to the basic model leave me wanting more, but I still feel hesitant over the price tag. In the one game I have snuck them in, they were far from all-stars. They ended up making back far more than their points cost, but they were really only nibbling on scraps most of the time. The Pierce on one DFM and Shredder on the others makes it hard to choose what to do with them. I know the versatility is nice but values of 2 or 3 being wasted feels a hair much to be disregarded. I like the '74, it just has not fully grown on me yet. The Vanq '74 hauls butt compared to the "new" OM. Just the part where it keeps its 24" range is decisive, nevermind the DVs, or any of the actual upgrades. I have only fielded it in one game and came away dissapointed in how weak the new card have rendered the "Soft Hunter" designs in relation to the average unit. Alot of good factional heavies can hurt soft targets almost, or just, as easily as the Vanqs./Ghost/Sabetooth can (no knowledge of the Sabertooth Ja's performance). I need more playtesting before I really come to any decision. Still, regardless of any of these cards, I have one upgrade to point out and then I rest my case for Rach awesomeness: Dictator '70: Assault.

Can you explain this sentence in more detail? I think Forlorn Hope got it fairly well. Edd and I calculate the number needed to score a hit of the d10 roll. I.e., we add all of the bonuses and penalties (RAV, cover, etc.) and then subtract this value from the target's DV. The result is the roll needed. For a critical, we add one + any shielding value to arrive at a critical damage target. Since the big guns can put out such high mods, sometimes shielding cannot actually stop you from taking automatic critical damage. Such as when something can put up a ten-plus against something damaged down to a six or seven. Spartan, We also see a 1 as an auto-hit with only a polite roll to determine if the hit is a crit. possibility. I have found this to be painfully relevant with the Rhino and that Blaster SA.