[Batreps] How to run a big business

Now while you are saying this in such a context and with thinking about it a bit more, I totally agree with you. With the availability to repeaters and pitchers a reactive spotlight could alter many situations into our favour or at least to decrease odds for enemies attack. And each order spent on resetting the targeted state is an order less to kill your key-pieces. The question here is, how KHDs will change and how widespread anti-hacker programms will be. Nevertheless, Druze plays a strong hacking game and so this change may have a huge and interesting impact. But what doesn't satisfy me here is the fact, that the sector may become a kind of a one-trick-pony.
If the increased coverage of targeted troopers will favor the LGLs and the Clipper can be discussed. Since we don't know anything about speculative fire, we have to assume that things won't change here. Even with this assumption, you give up all existing boeardcontrol and movement for a virtual coverage and an decreased number of dice. I am not a fan of this list-concept in general, as many of you will know, since you rely on one or to dice per attack and have to beat the dodge-roll. This probably won't change in general, so you are left with your weakened board-control in such list-types.

Shortly said: Hacking and spotlight-AROs will be a big deal, but the speculative firing-aspect probably won't benefit much from this.

The LGL is nice and I had quite good results with him so far. Roughly calculated he made 60% of his shots so far and killed valuable targets in each game. But that is nothing to rely on. @AssaultUnicorn said a lot about my biggest impact with him so far:

I was constantly rolling below 10 in that game against quite high dodge-roles, while he grouped his whole core-team around a designated target right in 16". So it was the perfect situation here. Nevertheless, the Hunzakut burned the second order pool full two turns to kill three models, I guess. So we need to discuss the effectivity and the efficiency separated from each other.
He can be damn effective, since you can deploy him in very nice spots if you know the map a bit and can calculate how the enemy will move. A grenade-hit on the right spot then can be devastating and fulfill many objectives with just one shot.
But he is everything but not efficient. You have a 24% chance to knock out a Fusilier, so you can calculate five shots to drop him unconscious in many cases. This changes if you get more models under the template, but how often do you get such a gift and can shoot all of them more than once?
In the end you are paying 18 points for a slightly chance of success in a sector that needs something better than just hope and a chance to do things! You are loosing the FO as a mobile specialist in the midfield in addition to this and I love the FO Hunzakut for the repeaters. The combination of mines without a LSG is the other odd thing here. Of course, mines are better than no mines, but if you want to use them in active turn, you want to build the trap with it, what is quite inhandy with BS 11 and 0 range for your rifle.
Math changes for him, if you get the enemy targeted and his infiltration alters the problem of mobility for this strategy. But to get someone targeted, even in this sector, you have to invest four to six orders in most cases and put a Fugazi into suboptimal spots in the midfield or even more advanced. So you invest 50% to 75% of your turn to get a grenade at something you want to kill. This may be a nice opportunity for turn two or if you manage your Pathfinders in a way that they are usefull and durable in the midfield, because only in this case you may be efficient by having the sensor as a secondary product of your main-target fulfilled with the Pathfinder.
To conclude this: If you want to get things done with a high efficiency, don't use him. The FO-Hunzakut is the better deal here. But even with all these arguments against him, I have no bad feeling about him and still see him as a valuable addition to my lists. I am 100% sure, that I won't hit anything in the next 10 games with him, but I will pick him for the chance to hit and to scratch an itch somewhere hiding on a spot my Peacemaker can't reach. In this case, I plan for failure and expect to burn the whole group he is sitting in, since that is the decision you have to make: Try to kill something juicy at all cost, or do something more reasonable. If Armand can do better in the specific turn, there will be no grenade. But if not, why not raining terror from a hidden spot? This is the value of experience here: Burning orders into speculative firing an essential game-situation or burning it for a random kill? Case one seems justified to me, while the second case is the mistake often made.

 

You are totally right! It is like a leatherman-tool, where you miss half of the options because there are so many available. That makes him nearly as useful as the FO, since they share one more task. Now I am wondering if an AHD can be usefull here, too. You can place a repeater, take a step back and then shoot your spotlighted targets with nice odds. But for this, half of your list is fixed (Hunz LGL, Brawler AHD/Druze AHD, Druze KHD, Pathfinder, 2x Fugazi, EVO Kameel,...). This will take some time to figure and try it out.

 

Watch out for AD-troops and keep an eye on the Daturazis. They can blind your ARO-pieces with smoke or eclipse and get you in close corners, where your troops are on the back-foot. But besides that, Morats are a faction not hitting into weak points of DBS. They are not to fast, the mid-field is not that strong and many things come down to short ranges, if you know how to handle the long-range AROs. For this, the MSV-Brawler in a full link may be nice, the Druze MSR may work well here, too, and the Peacemaker is always a good option. You can leave the EM LGL at home here, since Morats will ignore it.

 

Well, I have most experiences against a quite restricted LI-list, using a Raicho and Kornak in most cases. That reduces the threads to two or three targets, while there is a lot more possible in the sector. So it depends on what you are probably facing.

In general I would include Saito or Armand (MSV1) to get some smoke down or to eleminate the mimetism-guys (there are a lot, as I saw now!). One or two Hunzakuts should be good to bait out Ghakis, if they appear or threaten Daturazis in the midfield. This should slow down most of the dangerous units. everything else can be solved with your own mobility in terms of Peacemaker and Pathfinders. Saito could be usefull to get a buffed Pathfinder in good range and then the fun starts, but the Peacemaker is the safer strategy here, since he can attack a core-team quickly and with better odds.
Scarface would be a trap here, since he can be seen everywhere and wants to work on mid- to close ranges, where most of the Morat-gunfighters are in their best shape, too. You also need to consider, that the potential ARO-pieces you are facing are MLs or K1 snipers. So the general circumstances are not that good for Scarface. The points can be invested better.
But for a broader discussion, we should move this into a new topic, I guess!

 

An other Friday went by, so there was time for the round-5 testgame for the TTS-league with @AssaultUnicorn . The mission was "Tempo war", which is a altered version of Supremacy. Instead of scoring after each round, you score after turn 2, 3, 4, and 5 and have some consoles to grab, as well as kill more army points. Area denial and no exclusion zone made my list-decision quite clear: The Hunzakut LGL became an additional run.

Spoiler: List Druze

QTohneEZ
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GROUP 1 7 1
HUNZAKUT (Forward Observer, Deployable Repeater) Rifle + Light Shotgun, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 18)
FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16)
PEACEMAKER Spitfire + AUXBOT_3 / Electric Pulse. (1 | 27)
AUXBOT_3 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (- | 4)
BRAWLER (Multispectral Visor L2) MULTI Sniper / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 28)
DRUZE Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle + Pitcher, D-Charges / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25)
DRUZE Lieutenant (X Visor) Combi Rifle, Chain-colt / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 23)

GROUP 2 5 2
BASHI BAZOUK Submachine Gun, Chain-colt / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 12)
HUNZAKUT (Deployable Repeater) Rifle + Light Grenade Launcher, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 18)
ARMAND Minelayer MULTI Sniper Rifle, Nanopulser, Antipersonel Mines / 2 Breaker Pistols, Shock CCW, Knife. (1.5 | 42)
KAMEEL Hacker (EVO Hacking Device) Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 25)
SIERRA DRONBOT HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 25)
BOUNTY HUNTER Submachine Gun, Akrylat-Kanone / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12)
BOUNTY HUNTER Submachine Gun, Akrylat-Kanone / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12)

6 SWC | 299 Points

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While reading the mission, it became quite clear to me, that I will lose automatically, if I go first, since AssaultUnicorn would be able to either control most of the quadrants and take good positions, if I stay in my DZ to defend the Yuan Yuans, or he could easily clear out my units in the quadrants with the Yuan Yuans, which would put me on the backfoot in both cases for the whole game. So the plan evolved mostly around Armand as first turn attacker, since he can take a position where he shines in both cases and can clear out targets on long ranges with only Djanbazans are difficult targets.. The Peacemaker should stay back this time, since he has a good potential to guard my DZ against the Yuan Yuans and then can roll turn two. With Armand, two Hunzakuts and my remotes, I was confident enough to control the quadrants long enough and stay flexible. The LGL should seek a nice and safe spot, from where he can shoot grenades at many things in good range.

Spoiler: List QK

Ulusun Dislileri 2
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GROUP 1 9 1 1
ROUHANI Submachine Gun, Flash Pulse / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 18)
NASMAT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
ODALISQUE Spitfire, Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 30)
GHULAM Missile Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 17)
GHULAM (Deployable Repeater) Rifle + Light Shotgun, E/Mauler / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14)
GHULAM Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12)
HAFZA Heavy Rocket Launcher / Assault Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 18)
HAFZA Lieutenant Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 16)
KAMEEL (Minesweeper, Repeater) Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
YUAN YUAN Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 8)
DJANBAZAN HMG / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 35)

GROUP 2 7 1 1
FANOUS REMOTE Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
FANOUS REMOTE Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
FANOUS REMOTE Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
HAWWA' (Forward Observer) Boarding Shotgun, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 21)
HAWWA' (Forward Observer) Boarding Shotgun, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 21)
LEILA SHARIF Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Shock Marksman Rifle, D-Charges / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 20)
DRUZE (X Visor) Shock Marksman Rifle, Chain-colt / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 27)
YUAN YUAN Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 8)

5.5 SWC | 300 Points

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This list was a variant of the previous one with a flexible Ghulam-core with Odalisque spitfire and a decent flashpulse-defense to secure a bunch of orders. The Kaplan-haris is gone to include a second Hawwa and to give Leila a second gun by hand in form of the Druze SMR. The Hawwas were supposed to grab the consoles and threat my quadrants, while Leila and the core-link were able to shoot their way towards usefull positions.

Spoiler: Table

This was not the official map for this mission and AssaultUnicorn dug it out somewhere. In fact, it appears difficult, since the big buildings dictate movement and AROs a lot and the two corridors in the center added no flexibility to this. I was first concerned that my remots were not able to leave my DZ. But in the end, they fitted through the cars, luckily.

I win the Lt roll and deploy second in the south DZ. AssaultUnicorn decides to go first.

The Ghulam-core with one reserve-Ghulam was deployed on the left, ready to take the corridor and threaten my deployment. Rouhani hid on the central building with a Nasmat on the right side. The right also saw Leila and the Druze SMR in a duo link and a Kameel. One camo-troop deployed on the building touching the right flank, while a second one started behind the central building. The Fanous-remotes were distributed over the whole DZ.

My core-link deployed around the left building right in the corner with the MSR overwatching the corridor and everyone else looking their backs for pirates. A Fugazi overwatched the corridor on ground level. The central building was the place to hide for my EVO, guarded by the ABHs. The Pathfinder overlooked the street in front of that building, the second Fugazi together with my Sierra the right corridor. The FO Hunzakut started behind the central building on the right, while the LGL went on that building, dedicated a bit more to the left. Instead of putting my Peacemaker as a reserve, I deployed him on the left, behind the Fugazi.

A Djanbazan HMG was deployed on the right side of the central building, but prone. Armand showed up on the roof of the right building to access all the firelanes available. The mine should scare the Yuan Yuans away by going on ground level.

QK 1: My REMs get overclocked. One Yuan Yuan enters the field behind the right building, while the other one uses an accessable spot to enter the building on the third level. On the ground level smoke is set up and the Djanbazan fails several times to shoot my Sierra in bad ranges. The second Yuan Yuan starts his way into Armands back, which fails to change facing all along. While Leila activates the right console and takes a safe position, the core-team starts his way on the left side. They finally arrive unharassed on the building right in front of my DZ, leaving two E/Maulers on their way. The ML eats a crit from the Sierra here, while the Odalisque takes out my MSR Brawler but fails to wound the Peacemaker.

Druze 1: The link is that much grouped on the building, that the only decision to make is wether to use the Auxbot or to shoot grenades to them. To secure the Peacemaker, I go with the Hunzakut. The Fugazi plants a sniffer next to the building and tanks the E/Mauler, followed by a sat-lock of my Pathfinder on the central Ghulam. Three grenades later the Ghulams are no more and the Odalisque is in NWI. The Peacemaker gets assisted fire and drops her on his way to deal with the camo marker on my left side. I forget about a Fanous and get my Auxbot stunned in the open, so the intuitive flamethrower is done here. My Hunzakut FO grabs my right console and the REMs get overclocked.

We tie on quadrants, so it is a 2-2 for the moment, including the consoles.

QK 2: On Yuan Yuan now takes care of Armand, covered in smoke. Armand fails to shoot him while taking one wound to the light flamethrower he brought with him. The CC-attack ends my sniper-plan. The Druze SMR kills the Hunzakut FO, while the Djanbazan finally drops the Sierra and my Auxbot. The left camo-marker appears to be a Hawwa FO (I planned for an AHD) and drops the Peacemaker. This left me with only one quadrant, while he has three, so it gets a 4-2 for him now.

Druze 2: Since this will be my last turn with greater potential to score, I need to get more quadrants than AssaultUnicorn, which becomes quite difficult with all the losses of the previous turn and the whole ARO-set up still alive. My left Fugazi approaches the recamoed Hawwa FO on the left and survives his BS. The Bashi Bazouk enters the field on the far left, but due to several flashpulses it ends up stunned with the Hawwa surviving a SMG-hit. I buff my Pathfinder with assisted fire and take the run on the right, first killing the Druze in one shot, then critting the Djanbazan. With that movement I get the camo marker on the right into ZoC and succeed at sat-locking him. This openes the way for two speculative grenades, which miss both. So wie tie on quadrants: 5-3

QK 3: The Yuan Yuan on the roof on the right trades himself for my Pathfinder, while the second one climbs up towards the LGL and survives the rifle-ARO. The Nasmat revives the Djanbazan and the Hafza Lt finishs off the Bash iBazouk. Leila and some Fanous-remotes advance a bit. With more quadrants, AssaultUncorn scores again: 7-3

Druze 3: Now it is all down the more army points. One of my ABHs advance and discover-shoots Leila successfully with his SMG, while the Hunzakut LGL fails to deal with the Yuan Yuan, the Hawwa and the Hafza at the same time.

In the end, I lost more army points (170 to 140) and the Liason Officer scored one additional point, making it a 9-3 major for AssaultUnicorn.

I had a lot of crits on my side, even some in important and odd situations (dodging Sierra, shooting the Djanbazan with my Pathfinder and so on), but that was equaled to some extend during the game. Not only due starting dice-cancer, but also due to a pretty good game of AssaultUnicorn. I expected things to be nearly done after the whole core-team was blewn up so easily, but the amount of orders available and proper replacement-hitters equaled this bad situation to an extend, I could not compete with in terms of guns and mobility. Maybe I should have skipped the try with the Peacemaker to deal with the left camo-trooper and my Bashi Bazouk game is still really bad. Those mistakes paired with an excellent placement of AssaultUnicorn and a really clever way to solve most of the actual problems can only break your neck.

What I want to point out here is the impact the LGL made, despite my rant in the previous posts. Of course, I wanted to test him more, but I had not intended to do it this way. If you are able to combine him with a proper use of Fugazis and the Pathfinder, many things change. 24" range, hitting everything on 11 is really great and with several targets under the template a real consideration. So I really like how this turned out (and how the Pathfinder performed in addition to this). Only Armand needs to be used better in the future. I see his potential and love the minelayer-ability here, but for the moment there are only two kills on his list, what needs to be improved.

 

Still a mayor victory for you, so no problem at all!

Thanks for the flowers! I have to admit that it turned out really good in that game and everything fit into another. Now the following games need to prove this!
The Clipper may be a good option here, yes. I am not the big fan of him, but as things developed, I may give him a try in a similar list to what you suggested.

That is his real strength: come back after whatever happened to his plan a. That plays quite good with weaker plan b and plan c for Druze, since the strong gunfighters often die in progress and in turn three the ABH smg is the best gun you may have in most cases.

 

I have always expressed the fear of overinvesting into Fugazis, sniffers and Pathfinders, including all the spec. fire-stuff, besides doing it quite successful. My last game brought it down to what it normally is: difficult. So enjoy the report of a really big loss:

Round two of our current TTS-Tournament was Supremacy and I got paired against Perzan (I don't know if he is in this forum, but maybe some of you will know him), a quite experienced player from Poland. He was playing vanilla Haqqislam, giving a real sharp sword into trained hands.

Spoiler: List Druze

QTohneEZ
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GROUP 1 7 1
HUNZAKUT (Forward Observer, Deployable Repeater) Rifle + Light Shotgun, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 18)
FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16)
PEACEMAKER Spitfire + AUXBOT_3 / Electric Pulse. (1 | 27)
AUXBOT_3 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (- | 4)
BRAWLER (Multispectral Visor L2) MULTI Sniper / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 28)
DRUZE Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle + Pitcher, D-Charges / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25)
DRUZE Lieutenant (X Visor) Combi Rifle, Chain-colt / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 23)

GROUP 2 5 2
BASHI BAZOUK Submachine Gun, Chain-colt / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 12)
HUNZAKUT (Deployable Repeater) Rifle + Light Grenade Launcher, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 18)
ARMAND Minelayer MULTI Sniper Rifle, Nanopulser, Antipersonel Mines / 2 Breaker Pistols, Shock CCW, Knife. (1.5 | 42)
KAMEEL Hacker (EVO Hacking Device) Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 25)
SIERRA DRONBOT HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 25)
BOUNTY HUNTER Submachine Gun, Akrylat-Kanone / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12)
BOUNTY HUNTER Submachine Gun, Akrylat-Kanone / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12)

6 SWC | 299 Points

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Since there was no excklusion zone in this mission, the plan was the same as in Tempo War, so the decision was clear to grab the LGL-list again. Maybe that was the wrong decision in retrospective, but in general four strong 'infiltrators' and a lot of tools to deal with threads rolling into your sectors is no bad idea here.

Spoiler: List Perzan

WN ETTST List 2
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GROUP 1 8 2
FIDAY Rifle + Light Shotgun, Antipersonnel Mines, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW, Knife. (0 | 31)
HAFZA Heavy Rocket Launcher / Assault Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 18)
SALADIN Lieutenant Combi Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, CCW. (0 | 36)
MUKHTAR (Multispectral Visor L2) Red Fury, 2 Nanopulsers / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 37)
ARMAND (Multispectral Visor L1) MULTI Sniper, Nanopulser / 2 Breaker Pistols, Shock CC Weapon, Knife. (1.5 | 45)
LIBERTO (Minelayer) Light Shotgun, Chain-colt, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 10)
NAHAB Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Submachine Gun + E/Mitter, Nanopulser / Pistol, Viral CC Weapon, Knife. (0 | 30)
BASHI BAZOUK Submachine Gun, Chain-colt / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 12)
HAWWA' (Forward Observer) Boarding Shotgun, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 21)
FARZAN (Minelayer) Boarding Shotgun, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 23)

GROUP 2 2 3 3
MUTTAWI'AH Chain Rifle, E/Marat, Jammer, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)
MUTTAWI'AH Chain Rifle, E/Marat, Jammer, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)
MUTTAWI'AH Chain Rifle, E/Marat, Jammer, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)
NAFFATÛN Rifle + Heavy Flamethrower / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13)
FANOUS REMOTE Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)

5 SWC | 299 Points

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The list, or what I saw, triggered two thoughts. On the one hand, there was only the Mukhtar as potent gun-fighter, so once he is gone, I may have the power of the biggest gun on the field. But on the other hand, there was so much stuff to disguise me, to drain my orders and to kill my stuff softly. Saladin combined with a Fiday and a Mukhtar force a quite conservative deployment and the Hafza together with all the camo-markers made it hard to guess if there is something missing and where to expect what unit. The Nahab is then only the cherry on the cake.

Spoiler: Table

I was curious about the chance to heal the wound @Bobman did to Druze on this table. It appeared quite useful for my short-range weapons and had some nice places to utilize Armand and the LGL Hunzakut.

I lost the Lt-roll and let Perzan deploy first in the north (the first bad decision, since I gave him good positions to hide his valuable stuff). He played second.

Two Saladins were deployed, one behind the containers on the left, one on the rooftop on the right. The right one was guarded by a Naffatun and the Fanous, as well as two camo-markers next to the console. Four Armands scattered around the central building, overwatching many different firelanes and only one with high probability to be not Armand.Three Ghazis were scattered across the DZ and three additional camo-markers were in the midfield and on the left behind the building.

It was clear that there will be at least one Fiday and the Mukhtar also fitted into the points on the table. With Cpt. Obvious as my Lt, i expected him as a primary target for a Fiday, so I deployed him guarded by the KHD on the left with the MSR overwatching the center. One ABH also took care of my Lt. A Fugazi should give one more ARO on that side. The right was guarded by the Sierra and the second Fugazi, while the Pathfinder and the EVO hid in the mid of my DZ. The second ABH was ready to enter the central building. With no reserve, Armand had to go on the left building, right on the top, the Hunzakut FO infiltrating on the ground floor and the LGL infiltrating on the building on my right, as far as possible. To deal with the camo-thread on my left, the Peacemaker made his appearence there. My plan for the moment was to rush a Fugazi up the right side, first clearing the Liberto (it needed to be a Liberto with his mine), than targeting Saladin and grenading him to death. He seemed to be the real one with all the guard set up there, but on the other hand, it was a bit too obvious. One of the camo-markers also could have been a Farzan CoC...

A Mukhtar appeared on the right, next to a Ghazi and the Fiday showed up on my right side behind a wall, just to overwatch my approach and get points into the sector. So he had fulfilled two tasks immideatly: Locking my Lt down somewhere, just by my own fear and capturing one of my quadrants with ease.

Druze 1: I loose two orders from group one and change my plan, hoping for a trap with the Saladin on the roof. The Bashi Bazouk should try to reach the Saladin behind the container and maybe clearing a Ghazi, as well as baiting out some camo-markers. To make it a bit safer, I place a sniffer next to a mine on my left side and sucessfully discovering a mine. The Peacemaker sacrifices the Auxbot by burning the mine and the camo-marker next to it, revealing a Farzan minelayer. The mine burns and kills my Auxbot and the Farzan dodges successfully. This makes it clear that there is no CoC, since I see no Hortlak and Farzans are AVA 1 in vanilla. The Bashi enters and Perzan guesses wrong a few times, but just before he reaches the Saladin, a chain rifle and a hit of Armand drops him unconscious. At least I know the real Armand now. The Hunzakut FO advances in the building, the ABH on the right enters the building also and I overclock my remotes. Two grenades are shot at the Farzan without a result.

Haqq 1: The Ghazis advance and smoke is set up on both flanks. The left Ghazi intuitivly jamms my Hunzakut FO and on the right the Mukhtar crits down my Sierra and advances further. He drops my Fugazi, fails to drop the Kameel but manages to drop my ABH in the building. He enters suppressive fire next to the console in my near right sector.

I control only one quadrant, Perzan three. 0 - 2.

Druze 2: My MSR needs to free up my movement, since the right flank is locked down completely by the Mukhtar (my Pathfinder would need to shoot without cover, since the damaged Fugazi denied the only spot in cover for him - no option here, since everything is inside 24" then). The deployment of my core-team makes it impossible to activate the MSR as leader, so my Lt advances a bit and I reform the link. One shot of my MSR is enough to kill Armand. The Fugazi places a sniffer next to the recamoed Farzan and I fail the sat-lock two times. So I need to shoot grenades behind the Mukhtar without success. He stays in suppressive fire.

Haqq 2: The camo-marker on the left reveals to be a Hawwa FO and activates the far left console. Together with the Farzan, both sniffers are wrecked, including the Fugazi. The right Ghazi approaches my Hunzakut LGL but fails to chainrifle him on the roof.

Nothing has changed in quadrants: 0 - 4

Druze 3: I drag Armand in group one and let him advance on the roof by simultanously trying to shoot what I see. The Fanous goes down, while the Ghazi next to my Hunzakut LGL is missed two times and smokedodges in the third try. The Ghazi on the left also survivies one shot. Armand enters an ARO-position in the far right sector. I advance the Pathfinder, Peacemaker and the remaining ABH a bit.

Haqq 3: The left Ghazi chainrifles Armand and dies. I make my safe but fail guts and go prone, leaving the center uncovered. A Nahab KHD enters the field on my far right, activates the two consoles on the right, while the left Saladin advances a bit.

Since no one scored a classified, I loose 0 - 9 with 238 to 241 VP.

It was a great game, even with the result that bad and never dangerous for Perza. But it was a pleasure to see, how you can deploy a full defense in Infinity and to experience its strength. I would have needed to shoot the real Armand to access the camo-markers, expecting one mine to trigger. If I had managed to do this and survive the mine, also killing the camos, I would have been so order-starved that the next Ghazi could simply wreck whatever I had chosen for this. And besides this, the Mukhtar was there, the FIday could have started, too and if everything went south, there would have been the Nahab to secure the points. So the list and the game-plan were really on point and the only factor for failure, the actual play, was absolutly excellent, leaving no space for a chance. If I substract the amount of bad dice I had, nothing would have changed, since the second option would have done the job in most cases.
The game felt a bit like bringing a knife to a gunfight in general. I brought many tools needed for this task, but they had no back-up to have a significant impact or deploy a thread. Maybe I could have attacked better, if I wasn't forced into a conservative deployment, but the defense was layered that good, that a push on my side would have risked more than I could have gained.I would assume that I would have done better, if I had tried to force my way through the center in turn one. Guessing the right Armand with my Brawler and then doing the sniffer-sat-lock thing on the centered camo-marker, what appeared to be the Farzan. This at least would have opened an additional vector for me to engage things with my Peacemaker.
To conclude: A fun game, but nothing to be repeated often, at least with Druze. And we may assume, that the table seemed to be cursed for Druze!

 

If anyone counted all the reports (and if my statistic is right), the game against Perzan was #49, so I am proud to present you the report of my 50th game with Druze since Christmas 2019! It was a try-out of the custom-mission in the current TTS-tournament against @Commoner1 with O-12!

Spoiler: Game 50 vs. O-12

The mission here is a mix of "The Grid" and "Highly Classified", where there are 9 consoles in the midfield (3x3) and by activating a console, a classified objective is revealed. If you are owning the console, you may accomplish the classified and get points for it. The other player may also score the classfied, but needs to flip the console to get the point.

Spoiler: List Druze

REMtasy
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

GROUP 1 8
PEACEMAKER Spitfire + AUXBOT_3 / Electric Pulse. (1 | 27)
AUXBOT_3 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (- | 4)
PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16)
PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16)
VALERYA GROMOZ Hacker (Hacking Device UPGRADE: Expel) Combi Rifle + Pitcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 21)
SCARFACE & CORDELIA TURNER . (1.5 | 78)
SCARFACE 2 Mk12, Heavy Rocket Launcher / AP CCW. (1.5 | 61)
SCARFACE Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, CCW. ()
CORDELIA TURNER Combi Rifle, Chain-colt, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 17)
NASMAT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
NASMAT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
DRUZE Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle + Pitcher, D-Charges / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25)

GROUP 2 6
SIERRA DRONBOT HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 25)
PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16)
FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
BRAWLER Lieutenant Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 16)
BOUNTY HUNTER Submachine Gun, Akrylat-Kanone / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12)
KAMEEL Hacker (EVO Hacking Device) Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 25)

4.5 SWC | 299 Points

Open in Infinity Army

I picked my REMtasy-list for this mission, since it has an exclusion zone, which limits the potential of my Hunzakuts and I felt quite confident about the potential of Scarface & Gromoz to score classifieds. The Peacemaker should clear things in turn one, while Scarface should advance in turn two, shooting the rest and letting Gromoz score some points. This should secure enough flexibility to make a final push in turn three with a Pathfinder. The defense here is a bit weak at the point where the Sierra is shot early, but since I am used to defend only my half of the table, the flash pulses should be enough to keep at least Scarface alive.

Spoiler: List O-12

O-12
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

GROUP 1 10
ALPHA Lieutenant (Strategos L2) 2 Light Shotguns, 2 Nanopulsers / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 26)
CHO (Chain of Command) Combi Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 20)
LYNX (Specialist Operative) Plasma Carbine, D-Charges / Assault Pistol, Knife. (0 | 30)
LYNX MULTI Sniper, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 34)
LAMBDA Doctor (MediKit) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 16)
SIRIUS (Forward Observer) Boarding Shotgun, D-Charges + 1 SiriusBot / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 24)
SIRIUSBOT Heavy Riotstopper / Electric Pulse. (0 | 5)
DELTA (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle + Light Riotstopper, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 23)
EPSILON HMG, Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 30)
KYTTÄ Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
KYTTÄ Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
YUDBOT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
YUDBOT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)

GROUP 2 5 3
OKO Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 17)
VARANGIAN Light Shotgun, Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CC Weapon. (0 | 12)
VARANGIAN Light Shotgun, Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CC Weapon. (0 | 12)
VARANGIAN Light Shotgun, Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CC Weapon. (0 | 12)
GANGBUSTER Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Submachine Gun, MadTrap / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 21)

3 SWC | 299 Points

Open in Infinity Army

This is created by my memory and I have no clue about the distribution between the groups. But the main-problems are mentioned: Epsilon HMG, two Lynx, a Delta and three Varangians. If the Epsilon should fail his smoke-covered task, there is enough scoring-potential available and the Lynx SO can start his work.

Spoiler: Table

The salt-mine makes a new appearance here, which is quite nice. I like this table, since it is dense but interesting to play on and both DZs offer a mixed situation.

I loose the Lt-roll and O-12 takes the first turn. I choose the south DZ to deny the sniper-position on the left stone-formation.

The left is covered with a Beta KHD and a Lambda in the back, a FP-bot and a Varangian in front of them, supported by a Yudbot. Sirius and his bot were deployed in the center, while two Varangians, the Gangbuster and the two other REMs took the right side. The Alpha is parked in the back there.

I guessed there were many points on the field, so only one hidden deployment trooper and an Epsilon may be the reserve. Scarface, Gromoz and my Lt took the left side to use the weak defense there later, two Pathfinders and a Fugazi together with Cordelia in the center and everything else on the right side with the Peacemaker deployed conservatively.

An Epsilon was deployed on the right, in front of the two Varangians and a note-card was written. My Sierra overwatches the mid and the right corridors.

O-12 1: The REMs get overclocked and I reduce group one by one order. The Varangians set up smoke, which uses the Epsilon to kill one Fugazi on the right and getting critically flash pulsed by the Pathfinder then. The Sirius advances in the center, activating the mid two consoles. The Gangbuster then advances a bit but fails horribly to score Espionage on my HVT. A Lynx MSR appears and shoots down my Sierra, then recamoes.

Druze 1: If the Epsilon is down, things are getting a bit easier. The Auxbot is deployed bad and needs to cross LoF to the Epsilon out of flamer-range, so I roll out the Peacemaker there, too, and shoot the Epsilon. The peacemaker goes down and is repaired by Cordelias Nasmat, which is shot in the progress. Next shoot sees the Peacemaker shot again and the Epsilon tanking the flamer. I rearange my defense by shuffling the Pathfinders and let one advance and activate the near left console, missing the Sirius-bot and the Varangian.

O-12 2: The left Varangian shoots down the Pathfinder and goes dogged in return. Smoke is set up on the right and the Epsilon shoots down the Fugazi and the Pathfinder in the center one by one (I forgot about this by setting them up). A Delta FO enters the field on my right side, critting down my KHD and gluing my EVO and the left Pathfinder. Epsilon continues shooting by killing Gromoz and the last Nasmat and retreats a bit. The Gangbuster takes some more tries to score Espionage and a Lynx SO appears on the right, but fails to activate the far right console.

Druze 2: I need to score without exposing Scarface too much, since the Epsilon will shoot him down without problems then. Cordelia and Scarface are dragged into group two. The ABH tries to shoot the Delta and eats a crit from the combirifle. Cordelia advances a bit but fails to activate the near centered console. Scarface and my Lt enter suppressive fire.

O-12 3: The Sirius activates the last console in the center and the Delta scores In Extremis Recovery on my ABH. To glue Scarface, the Sirius-bot is sacrificed., while the Delta captures the Pathfinder nearby.

@Commoner1 has scored more classfied and controls more consoles, getting something like a 10-0 major victory.
I wished for a better performance for the 50th game and not showing the toothlesness of Druze against a new faction, but as the Peacekeeper fails to handle the Epsilon, things were decided. I could have tried to push Scarface along the left with Cordelia, somehow, but the Epsilon in the back and the Lynx MSR in front would have made it only an additional gift, reducing my ressources to score. It was a bit of bad luck that the Delta succeeded on everything so easy, since maybe a Pathfinder or my KHD could have made a small impact on the Epsilon and for the mission.
This time, it was not the indifference in tools, costing the game, but the indifference in point-values. I expected at least 30 points less in the list, judging from what was already there. So the Delta got me unprepared. A quite cheap strategos-lt added even more flexibility to the force, what is nothing Druze really likes. The Varangians as ultra-flexible warbands then did their part to prevent me from doing things. Even if I could have entered the mid-field, my resources were so limited, that the Varangians simply could have traded themself for whatever I had brought there. I really would wish for a warband here to deal with such template-fighters by my own, since I don't want to trade a Hunzakut or a Druze for such tasks.

Initially I wanted to take a small rest from Druze for at least one week or two and write some analysis of all this games and experiences, but while thinking about other lists and factions for the scheduled test-game for the Team-TTS-Event, nothing appeared to be joyfull compared to Druze. Listening to the lates Totally Crit-podcast, where they discussed some ARO-deployments, I was curious to change my approach here a bit and threw together a "new" Druze-list.

Spoiler: Decapitation vs. Shasvasti

The mission here was Decapitation and my opponent was a new player with not so much experience, curious to try out some Shasvasti-stuff. I prepared for some camos and Sheskin, but tried not that hard to have a solution for everything. It was more the oportunity to try out this new list and bring back some old friends.

Spoiler: List Druze

Fulllink
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

GROUP 1 8 1
BRAWLER (Multispectral Visor L2) MULTI Sniper / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 28)
DRUZE (CH: Mimetism) MULTI Sniper / Viral Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 32)
DRUZE Lieutenant (X Visor) Combi Rifle, Chain-colt / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 23)
DRUZE Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle + Pitcher, D-Charges / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25)
BRAWLER Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 16)
PEACEMAKER Spitfire + AUXBOT_3 / Electric Pulse. (1 | 27)
AUXBOT_3 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (- | 4)
PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16)
FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
HUNZAKUT (Forward Observer, Deployable Repeater) Rifle + Light Shotgun, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 18)

GROUP 2 5 1
HUNZAKUT (Deployable Repeater) Rifle + Light Grenade Launcher, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 18)
SIERRA DRONBOT HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 25)
FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
KAMEEL Hacker (EVO Hacking Device) Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 25)
PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16)
BOUNTY HUNTER Submachine Gun, Akrylat-Kanone / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12)

6 SWC | 297 Points

Open in Infinity Army

The major change to the current list with Armand and the LGL-Hunzakut was to skip Armand and include the Druze MSR to utilize the link-benefits in reactive turn to full extend. This made it necessary to take some more guys in the link. I wanted to stick with the Druze Lt to have the Brawler as bait, which prevented me from using the last three points. Since I like to utilize Pathfinders and Fugazis, I spread them across the groups equally to have one by hand with enough orders when needed.

Spoiler: List Shasvasti

Shasvastii Expeditionary Force
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

GROUP 1 10
SHESKIIN Lieutenant Red Fury, Pulzar, D-Charges / Pistol, DA CCW. (1 | 54)
NOX HMG / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 21)
NOX Combi Rifle + Light Grenade Launcher (Normal and Nimbus plus) / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 17)
NOX Hacker (EI Hacking Device) Submachine Gun, Zapper / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 17)
NOX Paramedic (MediKit) Combi Rifle, Zapper / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 16)
NOX (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, Zapper / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15)
R-DRONE Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
MALIGNOS Hacker (EI Assault Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 41)
SPECULO KILLER Boarding Shotgun, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, Monofilament CCW, Knife. (1 | 34)
SHROUDED (Minelayer) Boarding Shotgun, Dazer / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 24)

GROUP 2 2 3 3
Q-DRONE HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 26)
IKADRON (Baggage, Repeater) 2 Light Flamethrowers, Flash Pulse / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 9)
TAIGHA Chain-colt / DA CC Weapon. (0 | 6)
TAIGHA Chain-colt / DA CC Weapon. (0 | 6)
TAIGHA Chain-colt / DA CC Weapon. (0 | 6)

6 SWC | 300 Points

Open in Infinity Army

Sheskin was embedded in a bit overpriced and overequipped Nox-core here, supported by an Q-drone and three Taighas. Of course, a Speculo must appear here, while Malignos should be a back-up problem solver and the Shrouded should slow things down a bit. He normally plays agains Bakunin a lot, so the main fear of the list was a moving HI-core team.

Spoiler: Table

This one was simply to proof the Druze-curse here or to break it!

I loose the Lt-roll, but my opponent wants to go second. So I deploy first in the south.

My core-team guards the left corridor, supported by a Fugazi, while my Pathfinders and the second Fugazi took the center of my DZ. ABH and one path were deployed as back-up. The Sierra took the right corridor and the EVO hoped for a distracted Speculo or no AD-troops on the far right. Hunzakut LGL again in the center on the highest rooftop, while the FO should take the left corridor and wreck havoc if needed.

Sheskin and her link deployed on the right with the HMG prone on the rooftop. Some Taighas scattered everywhere and a camo-marker on the small building on the left. The corridor there was overwatched by the Q-drone, while a Taigha and the R-drone took care of the building on the flank. A Nox FO was placed in the center behind the building.

My Peacemaker is deployed in the center to choose the preferred route, as I decided not to use him turn one. A Speculo failed the infiltration roll and is deployed on the right. My datatracker is the ABH, Shasvasti-datatracker is the Nox HMG.

Druze 1: Group one is reduced by two orders. The Pathfinder from group two andvances, sat-locking the Shrouded on the left in the second try. The Hunzakut is beaten by a crit-dodge, so I am one order short to shoot him and retreat the Pathfinder. I retreat the Pathfinder with the Shrouded in ZoC and overclock the remotes. The Hunzakut FO starts on the left, failing to shoot the Nox FO, placing a mine next to the Q-drone and failing to shoot the drone without reaction.

Shasvasti 1: The Taighas advance and the Sierra misses every shot. The left one climbs the wall, tanks the mine and eats the Hunzakut FO but is shot in return. The Speculo advances into the midfield, while a Malignos appeares and shoots the Pathfinder of group two. A dazer is placed by the Shrouded and the core-team starts moving right through my LoF. The HMG gets stunned, while two other Nox are shot by my Sierra. Sheskin manages to wreck the right Fugazi with a crit.

Druze 2: I need to get rid of Sheskin to make things safe, but the wrecked Fugazi is blocking the safe spot to shoot her for the Peacemaker. My Hunzakut LGL grenades down the third Nox, while the Peacemaker fails to shoot them on his way to a better position. The Auxbot tanks everything in the first try but fails to burn something, while the Peacemaker shoots Sheskin without effect. The next order sees the last Nox burning down, Sheskin dying and my Auxbot surviving a second time, They retreat a bit. Overclock on and LGL recamoed.

Shasvasti 2: Many orders are wasted to kill my designated target and both remaining Taighas are shot in the progress. The Malignos tries to engage my link but is fried by my KHD, while the Speculo advances into the building in front of my DZ and a second Dazer is placed.

Druze 3: The ABH goes into group one and shoots the designated target. He opposed himself to bait out the Speculo after that, what works out. Now the Sierra shoots it in the back.

Shasvasti 3: The Shrouded tries to engage my link but is discovered and shot without problems.

A quite clear 10-2 victory here with 268 points remaining. The first turn was horrifying weak with no results at all and only orders spent. Normally, this should have broken my neck, but missing order-efficiency due to a lack of experience and a not well planned approach with the core-team turned it back into my favoour. A dazer in front of the link or at least a nimbus+-grenade had secured the Nox a bit more, while the path through the center, avoiding my Sierra would have been the better choice in general. My opponent was to afraid to loose Sheskin, letting her dodge several times isntead of shooting. This was totally wrong, since even outside of 24", she had a 68% chance to drop my Sierra.

It was a nice win and a good performance of my list, especially in terms of pacing and ending grenading things early, but I really need to think about my first-turn plans. Often there is not much to gain, since the resources are not available to kill many things and I trade my few big guns in return. So a strong ARO-defense is needed to back this up and maybe kill some stuff. For the moment, I am tending more to use a Hunzakut or a Pathfinder in turn one, having the Peacemaker to clear the midfield in turn two. At least if I am going second and there is no clear target to be eleminated, like a linked MSR for example.
But what I noticed in addition, that I am staying in my DZ the whole time and only acting with a few pieces, limiting my potential for turn three. I assume that advancing more stuff a bit will expose them more often then securing me anything, but maybe that is a false thought, so I will try this out one or two times, I guess.

Nevertheless, I try to focus more on the analysis of all the games I made for the next weeks, isntead of forcing in more games. So stay tuned for some more reports and a bunch of thoughts! Maybe @Bobman will add some of his experience of the TTS-league, already discussed briefly on Facebook?