Starhawk VI

[Gunfighter]

The Ryoshis don't have the IF the Outlaws do, and I don't think they pair up right with the Thunderbird. You might be able to pair up the Ryos with a Rhino, and use the Ryos to keep the pesky planes away... hmmmmm

 

PS

good point.

[Gunfighter]

How about a ThunderBird with Heavy Infantry?

 

that could hand out a LOT of Love!

 

Tim

With Mortar and AT-23

Tried that one last night. (AT-23s, not mortars), the T-bird was the bait and the Infantry were the surprise. It worked well enought to waste a Butcher and cripple a Mantis, but the Champs were my 2 T-Bird/2 Hawk VI section.

 

I gave both Hawk VIs Chainlock and kept them going full blast around the table while the two T-Birds sat behind a ridgeline and rained IFMs on the enemy. I didn't hit as often as I would have liked, even w/ +4TL, but since we were playing a double blind game, the look on his face when his chase unit of 2 Challengers, 1 Hawk V and 1 Spartan tried to flank what he thought were either Sovereigns or Regents and found T-birds instead was classic.

 

He got revenge, after I killed the Hawk V and one Challenger, he managed to gang up on me and deliver 6 (SIX!!) points of damage to one of the T-birds. OUCH

 

But, the overall result was a real pounding that his units (mostly lighter, faster superiorities) just could not take (+2 armor Vs +6 Hard), not good. One game doesn't supply overwhelming proof of my concept but is a nice start. Looking forward to further experiments. I will keep you posted, if only to encourage my fellow SuperHeavy fans.

[Stubbdog]

You got any pics of your battle? I always enjoy pictures....

 

What were the total forces in that game? That's a ton of points there you had in that one section...

[Spartan6]

Sounds awesome Gunfighter. I can't wait to get mine and field trial them.

[Gunfighter]

You got any pics of your battle?  I always enjoy pictures....

 

What were the total forces in that game?  That's a ton of points there you had in that one section...

unfortunately neither of us owns a digital camera, I spent all my tech budget on my laptop.

 

the command section (2 T-birds/2 Hawk VIs) was 2180pts w/ no crew upgrades.

(probably why I kept missing TL rolls) I don't remember all of Pat's forces

but mine were:

 

section 1: 2 Thunderbirds, 2 Starhawk VIs w/ chainlock

section 2: Starhawk V, Regent, Challenger, Talon

section 3: Mantis, Dictator 70, Regent, Talon

section 4: Thunderbird w/eccm, 3 Heavy Infantry w/ 2 at-23

section 5: 4 heavy inf w/ 2 at-23 and eccm

section 6: Puma w/chainlock and eccm, 3 Heavy Infantry w/ hvy mortar

(didnot hit the target even 1 time!!! biggest waste of points ever!!)

section 7: 2 Malefactors, 2 Hunters

 

Neither one of us had any air units, Pat doesn't have ANY yet, and I didn't draw the right card for either of mine. I explained earlier that we use a house rule where we take all the initiative cards for our force, put them in a container and roll a die, in this case Pat only owns about 7-8 sections worth of models period so he took everything he had and I drew d10-2 worth (rolled a 9, not bad actually) right now I have about 30 cavs, 4 sections of Hvy infantry, 2 of gunships and 4 of tanks.

 

I don't have my roster here at work so I don't remember the points for everything.

 

I do remember that Pat has 3 Assassins, 2 Archers, I believe 4 Challengers, a couple of Starhawk Vs, and 2 Spartans, he also used a section of light infantry w/ heavy mortars very well (HIS mortars hit almost every time, mine couldn't hit the barn roof from the inside).

 

One thing that we didnot do because he had only played 3 times before was use any crew upgrades. Trust me, the way he rolls dice I WILL use them next time.

I never use ACE/ACE anyway, my force commander gets Elite/Elite, and I generally make my section leaders Veterans, but I reserve ACE status for my Century commander alone.

 

The real telling feature in THIS game was the terrain, we let someone else set up the table and then deployed without either of us knowing what the other person had, or where. The table was set up with a lot of rolling hills and several heavy woods. There were only a couple of areas that could give a direct shot of more than 18-20 inches, perfect terrain for T-birds.

 

I won't have so much success next time I play him, he called me yesterday and told me was working on the 2 Revenants and 4 (FOUR!!) Starhawk VIs he had just picked up. I guess I better finish my other Thunderbird and roll out the 2 Hawk VIs

I still have in the blister pack.

[Stubbdog]

Ok, so I am counting:

 

18 hard units (14 CAV, 4 tank)

10 soft units (10 Hvy Inf)

 

with a total Point value of 7358.

 

I am fairly new to CAV (have not actually played a game yet). So, always trying to gather data and over-analyze it to see how I can use it.

 

Can you tell me what size the playing area was?

 

Also, if you were not playing double blind, would you have preferred the same forces (I say preferred because I know you use that interesting system for choosing forces).

 

Did you deploy all forces from the begining or were there delayed reinforcements?

 

How exactly did yall pull off the double blind?

[Spartan6]

Don't give up on the mortar teams. They actually do work.

[Gunfighter]

when we play to a points limit I always reorganize my sections to give me a little more flexibility. Fewer supers and more middle weight Superiorities, I 'd tailor a Super in with a section that would compliment the vehicle and not be overly extravagant in points. This battle was what we call a B&B "bring and battle", i.e. bring what you own and let's battle it out.

 

The board size was 8'x4'. Double blind is best carried out using a hand drawn map (or graph paper) and writing down what units are where. (or you can use markers...coins, dice, etc). When an opposing unit has a valid line of sight to one of your units then it is placed on the table top, we usually play with the rule where we place units when they move or fire, but in a double blind game it simulates the uncertainty of combat better by placing them only when they can be seen. I wish there HAD been a camera available when Pat's Spartan first came around a rock outcropping and found himself 14" from 2 Thunderbirds. LOL

 

The main thing is we like to get real imaginative with scenarios and use plain jane stock units and see who accomplishes more of the scenarios objectives with a given force, this time the scenario was a "recon-in-force" with Pat's force trying to penetrate my lines and find my base of operations, his bad luck to run into so many of my SuperHeavies, MY bad luck in that I can't use those same forces in my next battle unless we fight in that same area again. (campaign rules).

 

FYI, 3000-3500pts is our typical game, this one was so big because we both committed 2 battlegroups instead of one, so I for example, had a total of 16 sections (Cav, Air, Infantry, Vehicles) and had that many cards to choose from when I rolled the dice.

 

Spartan, I know you are right about the mortars, HIS mortars killed my Puma and 2 of MY mortar sections. Next time the Dice Gods will be on MY side.

[Spartan6]

I hope they will be on your side. I have crappy luck some nights and it's the most frustrating thing in the world.

 

 

I'm using single and double mortar armed stands. Partly to confuse my opponent and partly to saturate a given area with IFM fire.

[Gunfighter]

Ok, played a game last night where I got my @%% handed to me on a silver platter and it was the most fun I have had in years.

 

Scenario was as follows: the survivors of an ambush have to try and breakout of the engagement area and get to high ground, severe electromagnetic storms have all regular communications down, most comm satellites have been shot down and the defenders only hope is to get to the top of a nearby ridge where they will have laser LOS to an orbiting warship.

 

defender gets: 6000pts (actually I went over almost 200 points but I already had sections printed up and ready to go, so we upped the attackers points level)

 

attacker gets: 3 1/2 times defenders points.

 

 

The fly in the ointment was that the defenders route to the ridge line passed between 2 impassable swamps with an area between them only 30 (30!!) inches wide and 48" inches deep. no (NO) cover other than scrub brush and rock piles BARELY 1 level tall, (why I used infantry).

 

time limit: 6 turns (OUCH!!)

 

 

forces:

 

Defender (me):

 

section1: 2 Thunderbirds (vet/elite), 2 Starhawk VIs (vet/vet, Chainlock) 2970pts

section2: 4 Heavy Infantry (2 at-23, vet/vet, eccm, +2 move) 868pts

section3: same as section2

section4: Spartan (vet/elite, eccm, chainlock, LBGs traded for RNW4 LBGs)

3 Heavy Infantry (2 hvy Mortars, +2 move) 921pts

total: 6141 pts

 

attacker:

 

I don't have a copy of his roster but as I remember:

 

2 SuperHeavy sections: 1 w/Ogres and Thunderbirds, 2 ace/ace, 2 elite/elite

1 w/ 4 Revenants (ouch) 1 elite/vet, the rest vet/vet

 

4 superiority sections: mixed bag, mostly Dictator 70's, Dictators, Mantis,

Butchers, a couple of Hawk VIs, and 3 Hawk Vs

(obviously I wasn't going to win a foot race.)

 

2 (yes 2!!) fire support sections 1 w/ 4 Regents 1w/ 4 Conquerors (+2 move)

 

2 sections of Hvy Infantry w/ fa-45, at-23, +2 move

 

2 sections of 4 Sabres

 

I don't remember all his upgrades, but he went over like I did (just not as far) because he also wanted to use his pre-organized units.

 

originally the scenario was 2:1 attacker/defender, but I wanted to really make it a challenge and I did.

 

I still had fun, I LOST, but we spent more time rolling on the floor laughing than playing. After 1 whole section of his infantry missed a Jump and landed in the swamp. and then, still trying to recover from that laugher, one of my Hawk VIs got a little too close, missed a terrain roll.... you guessed it... SPLOOOSH!! Oh well!!

 

It was great fun even though I knew I could never win, but the moment when my Command Thunderbird faced down his Command Ogre was one of those moments gamers live for. I rolled a 9 to his 4 for tl, then rolled a 10 to hit with the PBGs , Tl, and +1 for being within 12", versus his 1 to hit,

14points exactly. Critical roll... can you guess? yup, 10!!

 

needless to say his defensive fire hurt me pretty bad, and the rest of the section finished my Thunderbird off the next turn. 4 more inches and I would have made the ridge line and claimed a draw.

 

But I still had a great time.

[Gunfighter]

By the way Spartan, since you wished me luck last time, I switched my Panther for the Spartan in my mortar section, never missed a single shot, killed a Hawk V, a Butcher and almost all of his 2nd Infantry section. That section is now a PERMANENT fixture in my organization.

[Spartan6]

That's awesome!! I'm glad to hear it worked out for you.

 

The Spartan must have brought you luck One of my favorite sayings is " It's better to be lucky than good ".

[Gunfighter]

" It's better to be lucky than good ".

Yep!!