[Batreps] How to run a big business

Yes, I have done four or five games now as a preperation for a small tournament. But since there was a lot of other stuff to do in the last two weeks, I decided to skip that games for the moment. Maybe some reports follow soon, but I tend to continue with the tournament-report and the following games.

But regarding REMs, I have really reduced the abundancy in my lists. It is either two Fugazis for cheap orders while taking a TAG, or having a Bulleteer and the EVO, together with other stuff to compensate the thow-away character of the Bulleteer. The limited potential of Pathfinders and the increased flexibility and usefulness of most other troops changed my play here.
Since we can link nearly everything now and I try to play with a lot of hacking, the core-link is filled with two Brawler-hackers, the MSR and one Druze, but not the KHD, together with the Clipper or the LGL-Druze. Then I need at least one KHD in a more flexible position and since I can take ABHs now in the link and want to field Wolfgang...The competition is too big for Pathfinders here and a Bulleteer is more reliable and easier to play than a Peacemaker.

For now I am 2/2 W/L and the lost games came down to dice in most cases, so the new list-concept pays off for me. If I missed something, it was a well placed Hunzakut or a second KHD, but never a Pathfinder or the Peacemaker, surprisingly...

 

I am no big fan of the HMG, N4 did not change that. It is still a pricey 1W gun without any visual mods. The MSR is different. You could put him up with two 12p ABHs and pick out specific enemies. That is at least something I want to try in the future. The normal hacker is an option, too, since this one point WIP can be quite valuable. While the Brawler Lt has a red cross on his chest and I often need a cheap Druze to build the core-team, the Lt-profile became handy now. So yes, single profiles find their way better now than before. But the number of Druze at all only change if you don't put all the characters in your lists. My first two N4 games had such a list, which was really nice. You have no big restrictions for links now, so it is easier than ever to keep a full core alive, but for this at least three Druze profiles should be there and more is better. So just give it a try or take Druze themself as a kind of supervisor for the lower ranked mercs!

 

This weekend we managed to run a small (really small) tournament to close ITS 11 for us and give the new N4 rules a first competitive test. Due to the current Covid-19 circumstances we ended up with five guys and a lot of space. As organizer, I took the first bye and then got the last three games.




The missions for that day were Show of Force to encourage the players fielding some heavy gear, Highly Classified to force some thinking out of the box and then concluding with Frostbyte from ITS 10, since it is an easy mission but not only killing stuff with the biggest gun available. Since I know that the tables I build can end up quite dense and a bit empty from time to time, depending on the box I grab, I decided to build my list with densitites in mind, able to do every mission.


The first list was more or less derived from what I am used to in N3, sprinkled with the new tools we got in the new edition. Since spitfires and multi-rifles don't like long ranges that much and I have no tools to deal with a linked MSV2 MSR overwatching nearly everything, this list is supposed for denser maps, where I can move freely and work on shorter ranges. The core-link is the base-line here to defend my homeground and deliver some hacking-support. Gromoz joined for her pitchers and to get something against TAGs, if I need this list in Show of Force. One KHD is a must in this list and besides this, the KHD is a great tool for Highly Classified, especially with the easy to get cybermask! Group two is mostly designed around a haris with Wolfgang to push forward and wreck havoc. Here I included an engineer for mission-reasons, but also to have at least a small chance to fix a broken REM on the way.


Since open maps can be dominated easily with sniper rifles, the two options DBS offers were set here. Again, the Brawler marked the anchor for my defense, while Armand offers more flexibility, also in the active turn. The hackers here are more or less there to defend my Anaconda a bit, which should be covered by repeaters or the KHD on its path. The HMG on her is a cheap option to deal with opposing long-range AROs and if it has not to engage a MSV2 MSR, the evac-system can be quite useful, too. But since there are no other great tools in this list, other then the red fury-ABH in a haris, the Bashi Bazouk, now quite flexible, showed up with rifle and LSG to clear what is left by my big guns. I opted to use this list better in show of force and not in highly classified.

As it turned out, I got the bye for Show of Force and joined the party for highly classified against White Banner.



While the table was not very dense and had some quite scary firelanes, I wanted two Hunzakuts and Wolfgang here, so I went with the narrow-list. Mainclassifieds were mapping, HVT: retroengineering, sabotage and in extremis recovery, my personal one was follow up. To avoid getting crushed by Guilangs or a linked Shangji HMG, I opted for a restricted deployment, only leaving the Clipper and the MSR out to ARO and trying setting one Hunzakut in SF in front of them. Unfortunately that did not deliver the wanted effect and the HMG crushed all of them with ease and without any losses. Even the second Hunzakut, templating the Zhanshis of the core-link, only managed to kill one of them. So the path was free for my opponent to score the first two classifieds.A bit under pressure, Wolfang and the Bulleteer made a great comeback, dropping the Shangji HMG and some other stuff to prepare an objective run with my KHD in the following turns. A dangerous situation appeared as Wolfgang engaged a Guilang from behind, which had layed a mine next to my link-remainings. I opted for my chain-colt, but the Guilang and the mine made the saves. Luckily I shredded the Guilang in CC then and tanking the mine after a failed dodge then... By putting my opponent in LoL, I gained some more freedom and survived a shot by chance of a Long Ya-REM on my Lt. Wolfgang and the Bulleteer then finished the remaining stuff, utilizing the repeater and my KHD, so that Wolfgang could score in extremis recovery and prevent the Mechanic from scoring HVT:retroengineering in the last round, while my KHD sneaked around several mines and a monk, scoring my own classified and sabotage, ending up with a reliant armor but one order short for mapping. In the end it was a narrow loss in a very intense and joyful game.



The last round went against Cosmoflot, fielded by a very experienced Ariadna-player and ended up in a personal mission to kill Wolfgang as bloody as possible. The list was build around a Varangian-core with a Voltolak ML and the Unknown Ranger, some camo-troops (SAS) and the Polaris-team, supported by Wiliam Wallace. I wanted some more guns on the table and opted again for the narrow-list. I got the second turn and got lucky that Uxia failed her infiltration roll. That was balanced by a Volkolak ML dropping my MSR, while the link advanced on my unprotected left flank. The SASs activated two heaters, but got stuck in LoF of the Bulleteer and the Clipper. The Unknown Ranger dropped both of them and finally the Bearpode rushed into my DZ, killing Gromoz and threatening my LT, as well as my engineer. The KHD failed against his smoke-dodge, while Wolfgang was pasted by a Voltolak missile-crit on 15", leaving me without any good chances for the rest of the game. But my Lt managed to crit the Bearpode with his viral-pistol, killing it instantly. A bit of repairing and a landed Gizmokit got me both REMs back and one Hunzakut could activate my heating unit. Nevertheless it was just a matter of time, until the SAS and the core-team managed to wreck the rest of my crew and warm themselves up in my DZ, so that the second turn ended with me in retreat.



Thanks to the OPs I scored in highly classified, I ended up on the fourth place of five, but without any glorious moment. Most of that I would track back to not that optimal list-designs. Wrapping Wolfgang into a haris, just because he is a wildcard, is a waste of points and resources, since he works totally fine on his own. The freed space there could have been used better for a Peacemaker, securing the side where the Brawler won't overwatch. Or maybe a Sierra could be squeezed in, if the Clipper is dismissed. Here things have not changed - I can't get a proper use of this REM and would prefer the LGL-Druze or none of that. But this needs to be tested better.

N4 plays more killy than N3, that is fact and many defensive strategies may be thought through now. DBS in special is missing a good mid-field defense, since we have no minelayers. Of course, we have Hunzakuts, Peacemakers and Swanson now, but they are quite easy to dismantle with a dtw, which is quite frequent for attack-pieces. I really felt the need of something to shoot from 11" to not have the autoloss against a chainrilfe. Maybe a better deployment can solve this, but for such nasty things like the Bearpodes, that would not be enough. Besides that, DBS is a more solid sectorial now and can recover quite good, even with a stronger turn one now. If that keeps valid if you don't include Wolfgang, a Bulleteer and or a TAG, needs to be tested further.

 

While the European Team-Tournament ended a week after N4 was released, I decided to offer an individual aftermath to meet your favourite opponents again or to play against someone you have not faced yet. In three rounds with 300 points ITS 11 but now with N4-rules, we now clash against each other without the support of our teams. My first game here was Acquisition vs. Starmada, played by Al'Espagnol, a spanish guy now living in France.





Since I knew that the opponent would be Starmada with a ton of mimetism and quite fast and potent gunfighters on short ranges, I also shifted my list a bit towards these ranges and challenges. The alltime-favourite core is build around the LGL this time, since I needed one Druze and wanted to utilize my hacking game a bit more. The Bulleteer in group one is the main-beatstick. Everyone will take two orders from group one with him there, so Wolfgang showed up in group two, hoping to have a plan b alphastrike. There is an opportunity to build a haris, but this is only supposed as an option. Wolfgang should act on his own and the KHD with cybermask is also supposed to be a solo-piece. I made no big plans to play the mission, since the Hunzakuts are able to click the consoles easily and controlling them at the end of the game isn't that important. But the tech-coffin needed some more planning. For this, Arslan showed up in this list. He is more durable than most of the other stuff and he is able to gun down mimetism-datatrackers in turn three. From my experience, I should be able to pull enough orders together in my last turn and push him up in the center. Until that time, Wolfgang and the Bulleteer should have gunned down everything else.



We discussed Starmada before the game a little bit and the list in the end. As it appeared, I have done a few more games with Starmada for the moment than Al'Espagnol. He was still struggling with the limited long-range potential in that sectorial, so two Varangians and the Epsilon HMG showed up to compensate this and maybe that is the reason for the Kappa HMG. The added PsiCop is quite flexible and can shift the potential of the core a bit. The Cyberghost seems to be the needed specialist here and there, while the Raptor KHD with Devabot may be a great datatracker. And then there is Andromeda, simply to slow everything on the opponent side down.



Someone may recognize this table from the ENTE, since I simply threw together an interesting mix of maps. It is a quite open map in the center and on the left, while the right is obstructed by saturation and low visibility zones and some big rocks. The new terrain-rules made it a bit easier to play as it was in N3 and Arslan got even more value here, next to the Hunzakuts.

I win the Lt-roll and decide to go first, in fear of a hard alphastrike with a Zeta or whatever. So I am forced to deploy in the south.

My core is deployed around the left building with my Lt, the LGL and the MSR on the roof. One Fugazi reinforces that side, while the rest of group two is deployed on the left. Wolfgang hides in the grass there, to get more vectors to attack. Arslan is allone in the center, drawing some attention from the Brawler Lt and overwatching my back, if there is a Santiago Knight dropping. Hunzakut 1 starts in the center, while the second one hides around the left antenna.

The Kappa-core is deployed on the right but completely prone. The Raptor and his Deva take the center, together with one Varangian, while the rest is scattered on the right. For now, I only see the Kappas and the Epsilon as heavy guns.

The Bulleteer, knowing that I won't use him in turn one, is also deployed in the center and Andromeda appears on my right flank, pinning down the whole group two with her zapper. Arslan is my datatracker, while the Raptor gets to be the Starmada one.

DBS 1: As expected, I loose two orders in group one. This leaves the Hunzakut with enough orders to probably get Andromeda outside of 8" in her back. With my first shot I realize that I am standing in the woods, so not only my odds are terrible, but also I am loosing burst and allow her to dodge nearer to my group two. So I cancel this plan, parking the Hunzakut in front of the enemy DZ in the woods. Wolfgang climbs up the antenna in his forest-zone, from where he manages to gun down Andromeda. Some orders are spent to improve my position and to cybermask my KHD.

Starmada 1: The right Varangian advances a bit, followed by the Epsilon, gunning down my Hunzakut. Together with the Varangian, he advances on my right, killing the Fugazi and Arslan. Instead of placing the chain rifle of Wolfgang over the Epsilon and the Varangian, I dodge into CC with the Epsilon, only to be engaged by the Varangian then. Both die in combat.

DBS 2: My Brawler manages to gun down the Epsilon, while the left Hunzakut activates the left antenna and save it with a repeater and a mine, retreating back into safety. The Bulleteer advances a bit and enters suppressive fire.

Starmada 2: The core-team stands up. The PsiCop manages to down my MSR Brawler, freeing the Raptor. He manages to reach ZoC of my Bulleteer, frying my Brawler HD, while getting crushed by my KHD in return. Meanwhile the Warcor fails several times to score in extremis recovery on my Hunzakut. Obviously a pen can't solve every problem!

DBS 3: I drag everyone into group two and buff my Bulleteer. If I can shoot down the ML-Kappa, I can score my classified (extreme prejudice) on the Devabot and go into suppressife fire on the tech-coffin. So I first shoot the Devabot unconscious and then get two hits from the Kappa in the next order, blowing the remote completely. The left Fugazi tries a rush into the center but is also crushed by the Kappa. So the Hunzakut places an other mine and secures the left antenna.

Starmada 3: The left Varangian takes out the Hunzakut in CC, while the Lambda revives the Raptor. He then secures the tech-coffin with ease, other than the Warcor, failing one more time on the classified, but securing the right antenna. To finish the mission, the PsiCop re-activates the left antenna and secures it.

With that, the game ends as a 9-0 for Al'Espagnol. Loosing the Bulleteer against the Kappa was crucial for my loss, while the success of the PsiCop on my MSR was the only option to get the remaining Starmada-tools into the game. That the Raptor gets two wounds from my KHD was a bit of bad luck. I am still not sure if it was the right decision, to use him to reduce my hacking game. Of course, the Lambda was available to get him back with nice odds, what turned out very good, but it still was a heavy invest, just to kill my Brawler HD. On my side, Arslan was in the wrong position, not only on the table, but also being in the list in general. Besides this, I probably made the wrong decision in my first turn. If I have started with Wolfgang and the antenna, there were 6 orders in group one for the Hunzakut, which had a path to at least suicide-run to kill the Epsilon.But since that would have come down to the last order, maybe even one order short, I didn't want to take the risk and paid the price for this.

In general I felt quite comfortable with my list. Wolfgang does his job(s) and the Bulleteer gets scarier with each turn he is still alive. The Hunzakuts were useful as always, as well as the core-link. I had no opportunity to utilize my hacking game and the LGL here. Maybe I should have used an order to shoot a pitcher on the right flank. The importance of my KHD in this plan still needs to get deeper in my mind. What was a waste of space and points was Arslan. Of course, NWI, hyperdynamics and MSV1 is nice and more useful in N4, but in the end you can take better and more reliable options for whatever Arslan can be useful for in a better position or for less points. If he still would count as Druze for fireteam-composion, he could take the position of the LGL, freeing at least these points...But well, it was a try.

 

The great thing about the aftermath of the ENTE is the opportunity to finally play against those guys, you met during the Team-Event but were not able to play against. So I was really looking forward for my game against @papu , the former spanish captain. Knowing his results from the event, I expected an experienced player, but maybe a bit easier to access than Minass, his team-mate and sparring-partner. But nevertheless, I was aware of the current strength of Hassassin Bahram and how tricky suppremacy can turn out.

Spoiler: List DBS

My general feeling is, that DBS is a solid faction when it comes to controlling and holding certain areas. Once you have deployed your link somewhere, they are hard to remove and the irregular troops available also contribute to this capability. With that in mind, I took my standard-list with a defensive core-team around the MSV 2 Brawler, Wolfgang and a Bulleteer to do stuff and a Hunzakut to have some tools in the midfield. Since this leaves some points, I saw the opportunity to try out a haris with the MSR Druze and a Red Fury ABH as flexible link for the second flank. A Bashi Bazouk then is nearly an auto-include for such missions, especially with the SO-option to click the consoles. To have something already in a zone, I chose to give Swanson a try.

Spoiler: List Hassassin Bahram

If I had to build a HB list for supremacy, I would have ended up with something similar, I guess. A defensive but flexible core-team as a back-up for some camo-troops in the midfield, fueling an Asawira and two Fidays. The Fidays probably interrupt the first turn, while the second turn is done by the Asawira or the camo-markers, leaving nothing behind.

Spoiler: Map

The map is created by @Cabaray fom the White Noise-Podcast, if I remember correctly and features the new District 5 terrain from Micro Art Studios, painted by @Perzan . There were only few long fire lanes on the ground level, but once you manage to put something on the rooftops of the higher buildings, you could overwatch quite a lot. On the other hand, all the trucks obstructed the main-street quuite well. The more residental areas were placed slightly elevated, so that there were different levels to consider everywhere.

I win the Lt-roll and choose to deploy second on the south. Of course, papu goes first, spending one command token for a second reserve.

A lone Asawira is deployed on the left side, while the core-team is spread on the right side. One Muyib takes a centered rooftop, while the other one prepares his action on ground level, possibly overwatching the right edge. The camo markers are scattered equally in front of the DZ.

The core-team is squeezed around the two buildings on the right side with the MSR on the rooftop. I use the building to seperate the rest of the link, preparing for a Fiday. On the left, the haris is deployed with the MSR overwatching and everyone else looking at the back. The support-REMs take the back and the Bulleteer is also deployed there, covered by ABHs. In front of my core-team, Swanson and Wolfgang are deployed, hoping to cross that flank and remove the core-link later.

Two Fidays are deployed in front of my DZ. One is looking for my haris, while the other one is in the center, ready to go after my Brawlers. I choose to deploy my Bashi Bazouk as SMG in the center, overwatching both Fidays, once they are advancing. I thought that I can't block one Fiday with the holos completely, so this was the better option.

HB 1: I remove two orders from group one. The central Fiday sneaks towards my core-team, managing to down both hackers, but getting shot by the Bashi Bazouk on the way. The other one uses several smoke-grenades to kill the Red Fury-ABH, the MSR Druze, the Bulleteer and my EVO in CC. The Asawira advances and shoots down Swanson.

DBS 1: Most things are already lost, but at least my Lt is still alive and Wolfgang is also there. The Hunzakuts takes a shot in the back of the remaining Fiday, dropping it. Then the Bashi Bazouk and the Hunzakut advance into my sectors, securing them.

HB 2: The Asawira takes a run, dropping the Hunzakut, the Bashi and my MSR. This frees the core-team, which advances and activates one console. A second one is activated by a Farzan CoC and a single camo-marker advances.

DBS 2: Everything remaining is gathered in group two. The remaining ABH may have an opportunity to shoot the Asawira with his found panzerfaust. For this he needs to cross a small corridor. I misjudge this one with a cautious move and loose him to the Muyib HRL. Now things are done.

We play out the last round roughly, just to talk through actions and plans. Papu manages to secure more quadrants two times, activates three consoles and make his classified, granting him a 8-0 victory.

Even if I had planned a bit for a Fiday, I was not prepared for two of them. Followed by this, I made some mistakes with my placement, having not enough units by hand to discover the Fidays on their way towards my valuable units. The Fugazi in a better position would have been gold and a better placement of the haris would have been good, too. The next thing is the choice of deployment zone. Papu had a great spot for his HRL Muyib on one of the roofs, which would have been better used by my MSR. I really need to improve in reading the map and choosing the better deployment zone, since I made this mistake several times now with huge consequences.
Besides this, I am a bit disappointed by myself and DBS for the moment, since I deployed a good list for most of the tasks, but got no chance against the flexibility and combined strength of HB. At the same time I am bored of picking Wolfgang, a Bulleteer, Scarface or an Anaconda as the only reasonable units and beatsticks. I really don't want to play an army, where I can only play properly by fielding certain units. That is not what I expect from Infinity. So we will see, how things evolve.

But all of my mistakes and arguments shall not and can't overwrite papus disciplined and well planned play, really on the same level as Minass. His general results in this event really show his skill. And as all spanish guys I met via TTS now, he is a really nice opponent, allowing even such a game to be a good experience!

 

Thanks!
You are probably right. In general I am a quite passive player, so going second, eating the alpha-strike and wiping out all the exposed stuff then is my natural approach. Part of this is my difficult relationship with markers in the midfield. I would like to argue, that they will kill my stuff while advancing or take too many orders to be removed safely...But of course, that is the wrong approach. Probably I will include at least one Pathfinder in the future and go a bit more aggressive.

 

Cordelia was still tightening the last screws on the TAG as the two explosions shook the freighter they were using to leave Paradiso. It took only a few seconds until the all alarms went on. Not only a hull breach was alerted, but also an atmospheric contamination of an unknown source. "Even while leaving this hell, the shit sticks to our boots..." Cordelia mumbled, as Arslans gathering call could be heared on the comlogs. The only luck they had this day was the placement of their cabins in the nearer sections to the emergency shuttles. On the hallway towards them, Cordelia and her brother met the survivors of the Shock Team around Arslan. Most of the other passengers and some of their teammates already go killed by the contamination, but for the moment they were a bit ahead. But by crossing the next gate, the shit hit the fan as the silhouette of an Avatar-TAG appeared in the flames...



After the two previous losses in the aftermath, I was paired against Narzil, who also had two rough games and was without any victory. So we should fight over the last place possibly. I already knew that he is a big fan of the Avatar and Nourkias and with Biotechvore as mission on the horizon, my bad mood about DBS was only increased. The Avatar itself is one of the most dangerous units in N4 and my experience with Nourkias, once he reaches his target, isn't any better. Biotechvore then forces you into certain list-types, which limits your potential solutions for this a lot. At least it was the last game for me in the aftermath and I already decided to pause a bit with DBS, so the outcome was not that important.

Spoiler: List Druze

Biotechvore expects you to leave the danger-zone as quickly as possible, so you want fast units and a top-notch order efficiency. This is the only reason behind most choices here: A core-team to move half of the list at once and cause some struggles in reactive, a haris to be a bit more flexible and aggressive on the other side of the map and the duo of Scarface to shoot the breach if necessary. The core-team (MSR Brawler, Doc, Arslan, Lt, HD) is a bit miscomposed, since there is no option to shoot their way, once the MSR is shot. Arslan may be a good late-game piece and a slight protection against smoke-throwing Speculos, but that is it. Since I saw no big opportunities in CA for many visors, I took the MSR Druze as anchor for the small team, also containing the ABH with red fury, as needed mid-range gun. Scarface should simply gun everything down. The big benefit here is, that I have no problem to fulfill most of the classifieds.

Spoiler: List Combined Army

As expected, Narzil focussed on the Avatar and his buddy, Nourkias. As a secondary thread, Messer made an appearance, utilizing the repeater of the M-drone for white noise. Dr. Wurm should be the toolbox for classifieds and keep all the important and expensive units running. The E-drone is arguable, since I see no reason for it here, while everything else grants some cheap orders.

Spoiler: Map

The map I chose for this last round is made by Badlazzor and fits the theme of this mission perfectly. Even if it looks quite open, the walls block a lot of long fire lanes and also the containers and other scatter pieces are placed carefully to tune things down to closer ranges and enable moving.


I win the Lt-roll and decide to deploy second in the south, since I don't want to expose myself in the center towards the Avatar. Nazril decides to go first.

Messer and a Slave drone take the rooms on the left side, while two Nox-troops take the center. Everything else is grouped around the containers on the right side, with the Imetron thrown in front of the DZ.

My core-team, without the Brawler MSR for the moment, hides behind the containers on the right, Scarface and Cordelia take the center and the haris should go for the left to attack the center from the flank.

Nourkias accompanies Messer on the left and the Avatar is deployed in the center. I find a place for my MSR Brawler, filling the core-team, overwatching the path of the Avatar without being seen directly.

CA 1: Nourkias crosses the corridors on the left, tanking a hit from the ABH and then killing the whole haris-team. This scores Predator. Even several hits from the viral pistols could not stop him and his regeneration-abilities. But in the end this has consumed way too many orders, so that only two coordinated orders could be used to advance some stuff and retreat Nourkias out of my danger-zone. The Avatar and the M-drone end up in the center, while Messer also manages to leave the contaminated area. My Brawler manages to wound the Avatar, before he is dropped by a burst from the HRMC. The E-drone and one Nox survive the contamination, while everything else fails their saves.

DBS 1: Luckily, the Doc is lying next to the wounded sniper, which is revived and shoots down the Avatar in one order then. The Doc scores me Experimental Drug here. Now Scarface tries to wreck Nourkias without success and I have to advance the core-team into the open. Cordelia, Arslan, the Doc and my Lt are not able to leave the danger-zone, but only the Doc is killed here and Arslan recieves a wound.

CA 2: With only a few orders left, Nourkias continues with what he is known for: Murdering famous TAG-pilots. First Cordelia is consumed, then Scarface is cut in pieces. The left-over Nox fails to leave the zone and dies together with the E-drone.

DBS 2: Since Nourkias is out of range, I take care of the the M-drone in the center, shooting it with my Lt and coup-de-gracing him with the MSR, scoring Extreme Prejudice. With my Lt in suppressive fire and everything else scattered a bit, I pass turn.

CA 3: The two CA agents shuffle their positions a bit, failing to kill my MSR.

DBS 3: My Brawler has a free walk towards the enemy HVT, scoring Follow-up in one try. I skip the shot at Messer, since loosing my Brawler would probably switch the killed army points into Narzils favour.

With this, the game ands in an 8 - 3 for me, since I have killed 20 army points more and have fulfilled each classified. It was a really close thing for the whole game. After he messed up half of his list in his first turn, I thought it would be an easy one for me, but I fucked up my turn equally, even things then. Nourkias was a problem I can't solve properly and I got lucky, that Narzils love for him let him focus on him and not advancing Messer to erase my core-team. This allowed me to clear the last resources, saving my units from further attacks. My luck with the classifieds in this round did the rest. But yeah, only with my own resources, I would have had no chance here.

Sweating and bleeding the remaining four members of the team were sitting in the emergency-shuttle. Only seconds after leaving the freighter, it collapsed completely.
Saladin was not proud of himself for the moment, but he could not argue the shiver of joy crossing his gut while watching the final explosion of the freighter from a covered shuttle. Revenge always is a thing, and Arslan needed to learn a lesson here.

 

During the individual aftermath of the ENTE, Al'Espagnol and I played against each other with the conclusion that both of us said that our factions suck. Since I play Starmada a bit and he loved the challenge, the next game was scheduled easily to proof that DBS can be beaten easily with Starmada (my opinion) or that Starmada would not be able to score something even against DBS (his opinion). The mission for this was Supplies from ITS 11.

Spoiler: List Starmada

There would have been the option to set up a full anti-DBS list, utilizing on all the tools to punch their weak points, but this was not my intention. The only thing I took here concerning DBS-weanknesses was the Beta-haris with two Psi COps. Everything there has mimetism and is a good gunfighter on his own, granting great odds in FtF-rolls. Two additional flxible and fast spitfires should manage to close the gaps quickly and then simply gun down whatever there is. Especially the Raptor should do the Peacemaker-trick here with better stats.My defense should be build by Andromeda, consuming many ressources in the first turn and the Peeler, protecting my DZ in the progress. The left over points screamed for Parvati, since she was the optimal unit to keep everything else running smoothely. For the mission the Psi COps and the Santiago should be the main units, shooting their way towards the boxes and hold them in their hands until the end. Parvati may be a a last back-up for this.

Spoiler: List DBS

Al'Espagnol build a typical list around Scarface and a flexible core-team. Both should do most of the shooting-stuff, while the Hunzakuts can grab the supply-boxes and hide somewhere. With Gromoz and an additional Brawler, the core-team can be filled up easily. The Peacemaker is mainly taken with Adnromeda in mind, to counter-deploy her directly with the Auxbot.

Spoiler: Map

One of the most interesting maps for Supplies may be this ALEPH-base, even if both of us may have played on it several times now. You can cross most of the buildings on the ground level, but also have some nice elevated positions to utilize. The new N4-cover rules completely alter the former problem of being shot by crossing the rooftops, adding some new thoughts to this map.

I win the Lt roll and take the first turn. Al'Espagnol gives me my favourite side in the south.

My Peeler and a Yudbot are deployed on the far left, next to my haris-team, ready to engage whatever there is on the left. Parvati hides in the center, together with the Raptor in the right building. The Santiago is set to take the first run on the right, backed up by Cho as Beta KHD and a Yudbot.This side is completed by a Kytta to overwatch the central console.

Scarface and Cordelia take the right, where Scarface is difficult to hide but in good cover. Everything else is deployed on the left, with the MSV out to ARO. One ABH grabs an ODD. Gromoz and the Kameel have a centered forwarded position. Two Fugazis are placed on some crates in the center and each side sees a camo-marker.

Andromeda infiltrates in a lovely spot on the far right, only to get an Auxbot deployed in her back, while the Peacemaker takes the room a bit up.

Starmada 1: I have nothing to engage the core-team here, so I need to get my teeth on Scarface. Andromeda is in a bad space, but the Santiago could accomplish something and also be close to the right console. So I push him forward, shooting down both Fugazis on long ranges while climbing the first roof. The Hunzakut there gabs the wrong deployable while getting killed. The mine bounces off my armor, as well as some bullets from mine on Scarface. I manage to do one wound, then skip that after recieving one in return. Before dropping the Peacemaker, I fail to extract the cube of the Hunzakut. Now the Auxbot is disconnected but Andromeda fails to get Scarface in range and Cordelia in LoF, so she sets up an ARO-trap.

DBS 1: Scarface crits Andromeda out of the game without any problems, while the core-team advances on the left. The MSR does a great job, killing the MSV1 Psi COp, the Peeler and taking one wound of the Beta, then climbing up the small building on the left, overwatching everything.

Starmada 2: The link needs to go and the only option is my Psi COp KHD. After cybermasking her, she is able to get in the back of the link undiscovered, but only gets the Doc down with her nanopulsar. This is used by the link to dodge in different directions. The Lt is so focussed on the Psi COp, that he forgets about the Beta, now in his back. This is payed with his life. Since the MSR is dodged into full cover, I take the chance and advance the Raptor a bit towards the right, helping the Santiago with Scarface.

DBS 2: Utilizing some crates next to the building in the center, Scarface climbs it. My KHD is shot on the way. From the highest point on the field, Scarface failed for several orders to wound my Santiago, so Gromoz shoots a pitcher next to him. We forgot about the frenzy here, what would have definitely ended the Knights life here.

Starmada 3: Since the link is broken, the Beta takes care of the HMG and the sniper but can't do anything on the prone Hunzakut. Now the Raptor gets to the far right roof and together with the Santiago fail to do anything against Scarface. So the Santiago grabs the box and gets immobilized.

DBS 3: The left Hunzakut grabs the box, then Scarface kills the Raptor and the the Santiago. Cordelia is one order short to reacht the Santiago and grab the box.

The game ends 7-0 for DBS here. The high flexibility of the alpha-loadout on Scarface is a real terror, if he is utilized as the gun-platform he is. Getting him up in an elevated position, where he can hardly be reached by mid-range guns without getting shot before by the HRL, won the game here, I guess. At least after the Peacemaker shut down Andromeda in turn one, so that she had no chance to kill the TAG with her guard. That would have been the best chance for me, since then I had nothing to deal properly with the high armour, if Scarface was in cover. Pushing the full core team forward was also a great move, since the sniper then was able to cut all my visual mods. Maybe I should have ignored the left completely and saved the haris in the center, covered by all the buildings.

So in the end, Al'Espagnol could proof his point. I would say that the missing midfield presence cut my potential a lot, since there was nothing to harass the link on his way and I had no good options to set up a hacking-game for Scarface. What made Al'Espagnol successful here was the moving full core with the focus on refilling him, if needed and a focussed use of Scarface as the most dangerous shooter next to the Brawler MSR now. Since I often build on the flexibility of units, I may spend points for inefficient things. He did differently here.

 

Some of my current fails with DBS, especially the loss against papu, inspired Minass, a good buddy of papu, a srong player on his own and a former opponent of mine in the ENTE, to try out DBS by himself. So I was really interested in his approach, hoping to learn something new. Additional motivation came from the release of the missing sectorials, bringing back Qapu Khalqi to the game, my first love and the stepping stone towards the DBS-challenge. Due to a busy week and a spontaneous scheduling of the game, we went with 300 points Decapitation, ITS 12.

Spoiler: List QK

Since QK did not change a lot from N3.5, I could more or less take some old list and fill the gained points. Of course, some of the new stuff should be tested. First, this should be the Azrail AP HMG as hellbringer for everything in his way, paired with Rahman to keep him running. Second, the new flexibility in link-teams. A cheap Djanbazan-core around the MSV2 sniper and a Sekban-haris, also as cheap as possible. So where the Azrail can't shoot through, the Sekban should do the job. With the 15-trooper cap, Yuan Yuans are in a weird place. You want to take at least two, even since they gained an unknown flexibility, but you need to fill your points with reasonable troops...Since I have no MSV2 HMG here, I don't really need one in turn one, but if, he could be there. The second one should land when there is a hole to utilize.

Spoiler: List DBS

Minass took a similar approach to Al'Espagnol, building around a core-link with MSV2 Brawler and Scarface in the other group. But he added the Clipper here, together with Saito Togan. The core-link was streamlined around the task of setting up pitchers (the only tasks Druze actually perform better than everyone else thanks to their X-visors) and spotlighting targets. Scarface, guarded by a ton of flash pulses and the Sierra, should shoot whatever there is left then. Saito adds smoke as an additional tool and can eleminate units walking by.

Spoiler: Map

What map could have been better than this cursed one, where I got some serious defeats, but also some victories? The south side gives better positions to deploy your link-teams and has good spots to overwatch the exits of the other DZ.

Minass critted on the Lt-roll and chose to go first. I took the south DZ.

His core-team is deployed behind the central building with the MSR slightly orientated towards the left corridor. This one is also watched by Scarface, both Fugazis and the Warcor. They are also protecting one designated target behind the wall there. Cordelia is hidden behind the crate on that side, with one Nasmat nearby and one on the central crate, next to the Sierra. The Kameels hide behind those crates.

My haris is deployed as a back-up on the left. The core goes in the small central building with the sniper overwatching Scarface. Both remotes cover the right corridor, where Rahman is deployed, too.

The Clipper is set behind the core-team in the center, the Azrail closes up to Rahman, building a duo-team.

DBS 1: With one command point, I reduce group one by two orders. The KHD climbs up the building, shooting a pitcher in front of my core-team. My Lt then keeps resetting against the spotlights, after the Druze has fried Leila. Scarface takes a run towards the right, shooting down the Djanbazan sniper completely. He advances further, killing both designated targets.

QK 1: The Azrail and Rahman are taken into group two and advance through the right building. The Sierra burns to the second level of unconsciousness, then Scarface takes two wounds. He guts into cover and crits Azzie with his panzerfaust in the next order. Rahman is able to get him back to his feet with the last order and the last CP.

DBS 2: Now Scarface finishs off Azzie again, together with Rahman. While Cordelia repairs the Sierra, a new pitcher is shot between both links. This time all resets fail and every missile lands, killing nearly everything.

QK 2: One Yuan Yuan lands behind Scarface, while the second one scatters. Through smoke the landed one engages Scarface, but is cut in halfes directly. Now there is nothing more to do, so we end the game.

A major victory for Minass with DBS here. He played this list at least two times against papu with Kosmoflot before, winning both games in the same way as this. If you go first, you will land a pitcher and then land some missiles easily. This should win the game, if you guess the Lt right. If not, Scarface is there, always covered by the Sierra or the Fugazi. Or Saito, just in case.
Minass simply is a good player. He does not joke around with his game, since every unit is there for a reason, but mostly just for this reason. Scarface does the heavy shooting, the KHD does the pitcher-job, Gromoz does the spotlight. Thats it. With this, the plan is always clear and the risk is minimized, since the right guys are there for the job. If you have no good guys available, the job should not be done.
Besides the personal skills, his list may be one of the best DBS-lists actually. DBS may be one of the best factions to set up the smart-missile-strategy or any other pitcher-oriented approach. Not only that this approach is quite strong in N4, it is also very hard to counterplay for most factions, if you go first. And it is not that complex and difficult to set up. But you need to want such a game. For me, this one is totally boring and I am quite salty, that success seems to be bound to such list-type for DBS. I wished for more flexibility and variation here, since there are the units for this. But they are not good enough in combination, compared to the winning things at the moment.

Some words to QK: The link options are great but various. You really need to think about the different compositions to choose the right one for your plan. Here I holoed all Hafzas as Odalisques, since they have good ARO-profiles, being unattrative to attack. But the Hafzas themselves are not that strong, so I will think about including real Odalisques more often. The Azrail in combination with Rahman is great, at least when it goes against targets without visual modifiers. The continous damage here is just a little add-on, while the AP on the HMG delivers the main benefit. And of course, the rule of cool. The Yuan Yuans could have changed the game after the Sierra was down. But then there were the Fugazis and the Warcor. You need to land somewhere and while you try to avoid spots where you get shot, getting flashed there is even worse. This is something I need to elaborate more in the future.

 

His first turn showed that problem quite clear, I would say. The pitcher isn't the problem, but the spotlight then. There are turns, where you waste a whole group of orders into resets on the other side. And with something below 50% for your success, that may appear quite often, or at least you will only succeed once or twice, most of the time. So here I am with AssaultUnicorn.

But: if you land one success on a key-piece, you may interrupt at least the whole coming turn, most of the time the whole game. And that is the big benefit of this strategy. You can't really hide from this tactic and have to deploy really carefully to get not everyone killed by one missile. Once the right target is chosen, it is not that cruicial, if you need three orders to target it. You should not plan for killing everything with full five missiles. This is about key-targets.

What Minass made very well here is the whole list-plan. Even if no spotlight lands, he has a full second group to push up Scarface and kill things the old way. So there is no real trade-off. That would be different, if you take orders for spotlighting away from an attack-piece in the samw group.

Nevertheless, it is a bit like playing combo-decks in MTG. You play your game and hope that your opponent won't win until you finish it. For Infinity it may be a bit different and the buff of this strategy may be okay. As Triumph highlighted, not all armies have proper tools to deal with the fancy stuff of other sectorials. So some of them at least can come back to the smart missiles. My problem here is, that it forces into a boring game and for some sectorials there is not much competitive variety besides this kind of list.

 

So guys, one year ago, this thread was started. So I want to take this opportunity for a 'short' and spontaneous recap of this year and DBS in N4.
First I need to thank everyone here for the support and comments all over the thread. In total there are somewhat like 13.300 views in this thread at the moment, what is kind of stunning. If there wouldn't have been your support, I probably would have stopped somewhere. I don't have the exact number of games I played with DBS this year, but it should be at least 60 with a win-ratio of about 35%. There were some promising streeks over the course, but a lot of heavy defeats. But also some crazy lists, which were fun to play, but maybe not the most promising. And if you may have recognized, I am not the best player, too.
Even if the mood and motivation was down sometime and many other interesting lists and models waited on the shelf to be played (I repainted my whole PanO-collection and build up some SWF over the year, followed by O-12 and Starmada in the autumn), there were many occasions, where I built a new list and thought 'come on, that will be more fun with DBS!'. Even today, where I am a bit sold to QK and Starmada for some new experiences, I often take a look at my collection and lists.
The year was characterized by only one physical tournament, which went pretty well for the early experience-stage, and maaany TTS-games and tournaments besides the weekly ones in my local group. While the results with my locals were okay, in TTS it went very swingy. There were of course some good games, but even more solid losses. The reason behind, at least from my point of view is not only the lack of options in N3 DBS, but also the mix of metas and my impression, that you find experienced players more often on TTS than the casual players you have in your local metas. That results in stronger lists and stronger plays, where you have to grow or to die. And I died most of the time.

The last quarter of the year started with some new hope. N4 'optimized' the game and DBS got some new toys. Even without the Al Fasid, Wolfgang, Bulleteers and the new Scarface-profiles gave the sectorial a severe boost. The last reports here show, in which direction the new 'meta'-lists go with all the pros and cons. Yes, DBS is better now, compared to N3, but it staied on the same level in the inter-sectorial ranking than in N3, since other sectorials got improved at least on the same level, sometimes more. Some of our improvements even got outplayed by the overall rule-changes. The Bulleteers for example could have solved the problem of reliable FtF-rolls with its ODD, but the improved hacking-game shut the REMs down easily. On the other hand there is a massive list-build around a pitcher-throwing core-link and the clipper, which puts the guided-game on a new level and is done the best with DBS. Since I am a fan of diversity and the rule of cool, I don't want to be restricted to one or two list-builds to be successful in tournaments, so for the moment, I take a break. But if you are here more for the fun and the fluff, DBS now is a great sectorial and offers many unique solutions for your game!

A short look at each unit and my experiences may round things up:
Arslan: Oh man...Even with the cap on 15 troopers, he is to expensive. The Multirifle lost the stun-mode, which made him useful as a last defense against TAGs in N3, but he got a DTW now. But no shock-immunity for him. For 36 points, even the improved MSV1 doesn't do the trick for me, so he is to expensive to be played most of the time.
Saito Togan: Still our best TO-infiltrator, which can win games on his own. He got slightly cheaper, what is great and made it easier to include him in general. MA4 got a bit weakened, but nevertheless, he is scary in CC and a good solution for some scenarios. Also he still delivers smoke, what may help to get other units into position. Still great!
Hunzakuts: We got some new profiles here, but the multi-tool with mines and dep. repeaters is still the best one. DBS has a solid hacking game, so the additional repeaters are really welcomed in your lists. They are still flexible specialists, what makes them an auto-include together with the great tools they have. The LGL was cool in N3 for some surprising spec. fire, but the nerf in rangebands here lowered the odds for a hit to much, so I would dismiss this profile now.
Druze Shockteams: Our meant-to-be core-unit. The profiles were smoothed in regard of chain-colts and X-visors, what is a good improvement. My recent games were centered on the hacking-profiles, since the KHD delivers cheap pitchers and the normal HD can add a few to that, too. But also the HMG with X-visor can be a thing to outrange other units and wreck them on long distances. The biggest change is on the link-options. Now you can put Brawlers into the links and don't have to take an expensive haris-profile for a second team. That makes links more flexible and cheap, what is great!
Scarface & Cordelia: Scarface got changed sooo much! Now more frenzy, decent weapon-loadouts, berserk and good CC-stats. Before he was a throw-away distraction in many lists, but now he is a solid TAG-choice. All weapon-loadouts are worth their points, even the alpha.one which is very difficult to remove, once it has reached a good place. Scarface really benefits from the new worth of armour here.
Brawlers: Not much changed here. They were good, they are good and the MSV2 still is an anchor for many lists.
Anaconda: Do you remember my posts and tries with this unit? I can't believe how it changed! It is so cheap now and got a proper MOV, so that you always can take it. The only downside is its height, since it is difficult to hide and so easy to wreck. But besides that, it is a solid unit to deal some damage!
Pathfinder: They were cheap utility-pieces in N3 and lost their position to ABHs and Brawlers in links. We don't need them anymore as specialists and since there are no more sniffers in the game, their utility against camos and their support for guided attacks is really limited. They are threatened by the improved hacking, what reduces their usefulness, too.
Sierra: A TR-bot is a TR-bot. Nothing changed here.
Armand Le Muet: He got a bit cheaper, too. So he is easier to include in your lists, what is very nice, since he adds the same utility to your lists than in N3. He also got some CC-improvements, helping him to defend against AD-intuders on his roofs. It seems like someone had read my report, where @AssaultUnicorn had killed him with a Yuan Yuan in CC.
Clipper: The new must-have. Shoot some pitchers with your core. spotlight your targets with Gromoz and let the Clipper do the stuff. Don't put him in your core-team, since he slows it down and makes the whole strategy more vulnerable.
Fugazi: A point cheaper, but not that reliable than before, since Overclock is gone. Now it is more a cheerleader and a bit of DZ-defense with its flashpulse, while it lost the support-taks with its sniffers.
Bashi Bazouks: Now they can freely choose their side they want to deploy, what makes them way more flexible. They are still one of the best options to clear mines, madtraps and such things and have very cheap and flexible loadouts. The only problem is, that you will have two Hunzakuts in your lists and will add an additional irregular order to your 15-order cap.
Valerya Gromoz: While StarCo is the sectorial of Emily Handleman, DBS seems to be the one of Gromoz with the same playstile. She is the best option to spotlight things and also has the potential to stop some TAGs. If you want to play hacking-heavy, take her!
Nasmat: Servants are always good, but need reliable specialists. Brawlers are still WIP 12, so I only use them with Cordelia.
Kameel: The only important changes were on the EVO-profile. It got cheaper, which is great, but it lost many support-options. No more supporware before turn one, no more general overclock. This had a heavy impact on my REM-heavy game. Now its only use is the assisted fire for Peacemakers or Bulleteers, so its overall use is questionable.
Aida Swanson: A marker-state would have been nice, but she is not that pricey. But I have only played here once and not very successful, so no good base to recommend anything.
Bulleteers: On the first look, they are a very good and important addition to the sectorial. ODD and a spitfire for only a few points and the option to get assisted fire all over the map is great. You can force many non-MSV-units into bad trades with them. But they are vulnerable to hacking and can be shut down easily, what limits their potential. I really like them, but in the end, you take them with a risk.
Peacemakers: They were a must-have in N3 and built the spearhead of many of my lists. The buffed spitfire with the Auxbot to solve difficult situations was to handy, compared to other options. With the availability of Bulleteers, the Peacemaker was dismissed most of the time, since I opt the ODD more valuable than the FD and the Auxbot. Maybe this is not that true, but who knows. At the moment, I see him as an added defense layer.
Authorized Bounty Hunters: Maybe one of the most important changes in N4 for DBS is the wildcard-option of ABHs. That allows you to build a core-link of two Brawlers, two ABHs and one Druze and safe many points for Scarface or Saito and Armand. Most of the time I picked the SMG-profile to cut some costs and have some short-range options, but including the redfury into a haris also seems like a good idea. The booty-re-roll also adds a nice flavour.
Warcor: With the 15 order cap, I barely use him. Most of the time there is a better way to spend three points, but if not and you want to include more expensive units, a Warcor is alsways a good option.
Kunai Solutions Ninja: At least we have a second TO-unit. But that is everything positive and interesting I can find on this unit for the moment.
Tao Wu: A quite interesting addition, especially since he can be a source for counterintelligence. On paper both of his profiles read quite good. First, counterintelligence opens many options now, second he is the perfect defense for yourdeployment zone. If you mask him as an obvious Lt and your opponent takes the bait, you will have a great game. But on the other hand I have barely used him, since he can't be included in fireteams and takes a slot in your roster, which is challenged by many other cool units. Especially the fact that he can't be linked minimizes the use as a Lt-disguise. Who plays a lonely Bralwer-Lt next to a full link?
Wolfgang Amadeus Wolff: Finally we got some kind of HI, even if it is a 2W warband. He can be included in every link-team, but I came to the point that he wants to go on his own. With his B4 multirifle, he doesn't need the added burst from a haris and generally wants to work on close ranges and use his CC skills. For me, he makes up for a great pick for many lists, if you don't want to play the hacking-game. Maybe it is wise to pair him with Saito for smoke and Armand to clear his path.

So, that is it for now. I wish everyone safe and nice holidays and a good transition into the next year! Hopefully everyone will be able to play more physical games next year and maybe even I will figure out how to play DBS in 2021. I keep trying!