To the Hell's Gate: MO journey at the 2nd Merovingian Satellite

The Hell of Paris is the second edition of the French Satellite tournament. The first one took place last year in Lyon as the Infinity community there had a huge experience in organising major events. But due to how transports are organised in France, it was harder for the players from the and the North of the country to come there compared to this year in Paris. But next year will certainly be elsewhere.

We had some players from Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Russia and that's something I find amazing. I hope you had a good time here in Paris and at the tournament, guys.

Missions :
Day 1:
Deadly Dance
Highly Classified
Acquisition

Day 2:
Unmasking
Supplies

Spoiler: Listbuilding

First thing is that the mission roster is really challenging. Deadly Dance isn't like every other quadrant control scenario, it is one that requires you to have firepower to reach the quadrant you were assigned to and being able to stay on it while forbidding to your opponent to reach his own quadrant. Deploying a TAG helps in securing the major victory but since you'll need to probably make it move into your opponent half of the table, it will be tricky to achieve it.

Acquisition is another scenario where you need troops able to survive in the middle of the table during the reactive turn if your opponent forces you to play first.

Highly classified on the contrary asks for toolbox troopers who can make multiple classified alone or a huge order battery.

Unmasking is rather standard so I don't think you need to think a lot about this one but having a rambo specialist or a FT with heavy weapons and multiple specialists help a lot in order to being able to connect the three consoles to find the good Designated target.

Supplies is often seen as "Go first, take one box, go back to your deployment zone as much as you can and make it a hell to your opponent to take the remaining ones and to kill your box carrier." As a PanO player, I'm more saying "Take them if you can, but I won't make it easy. And if you're gonna have some, that's less WIP rolls and more BS rolls to make for me." but this requires a fast unit with huge firepower.

Like a lot of players, I had long thought that it was better to make your lists in order to fit specific scenarios and try to bring all the tools you would need for any table and any faction. But after some chatting with Arkille1 (my brother), I finally followed his way of thinking lists for major events: make your lists for the tables and make them being able to achieve any scenario in the roster rather than having a list for some scenarios and some for other and discovering once the table is assigned that you're screwed because you didn't expected it. And in France, the table diversity is huge. There are some where HMGs suck as hell and other that where not having a HMG will be very tricky to score a victory. And some where you're damning yourself to have thought MSVs are too costly to care taking some in your mission specific list.

All this and the fact that NCA wasn't updated in December made me consider MO as the way to go. Pretty any troopers in MO are Veteran or Elite troops, are good enough in CC to score Predator. You have D-Charges, linkable MSV2 specialist, MSV2 Albedo good all around HIs and a good while affordable TAG. In addition, there are very little difference in price between both of the Seraph's profiles and since I really thought I needed one with Spitfire, it was the final selling point.

In addition, I won't say those lists work for everyone. Remember that we all have our playstyle. Some of us favour defensive, others offensive. Some prefer rambo with one piece etc.
My playstyle asks to my lists to be flexible and versatile. I don't care to be a bit less effective in defense if this is well balanced with offensive and agression. I favour good solo pieces that can happen to be part of a fireteam rather than playing a fireteam to propel one specific model. This is because I have a huge history of seeing my plans destroyed by just bad luck or crap decisions. And I learned from my brother to not be afraid of playing a lieutenant aggressively (you should see him play his Achille to understand what I mean). So I'm not afraid to have some blood on his hands and on his sword. And as a NCA player above all, I'm used to play without infiltrators.

Satellite test 1b (known as: long range friendly tables list)
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
10
BROTHER KONSTANTINOS Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Assault Pistol, CCW. (0 | 29)
BLACK FRIAR (Albedo, Biometric Visor L1) MULTI Rifle, Nanopulser, Drop Bears / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 28)
FATHER-KNIGHT Missile Launcher / Breaker Pistol, DA CCW. (1.5 | 49)
KNIGHT OF SANTIAGO Lieutenant (Specialist Operative) Spitfire, Nanopulser, E/M Grenades, D-Charges / Pistol, DA CCW. (1 | 43)
ORDER SERGEANT Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13)
ORDER SERGEANT Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13)
MACHINIST (Father-Engineer) Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15)
TRAUMA-DOC (Father-Doctor) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14)
SERAPH HMG, 2 Nanopulsers / EXP CCW. (2 | 79)
CRABBOT Flash Pulse / Knife. ()
PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16)
4.5 SWC | 299 Points
Open in Infinity Army

Satellite test 1 (know as: short range friendly tables list)
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
10 2
SERAPH Spitfire, Nanopulser + AUXBOT_3 / EXP CCW. (2 | 82)
AUXBOT_3 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (- | 4)
AUXBOT_3 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (- | 4)
KNIGHT OF SANTIAGO Lieutenant (Specialist Operative) Spitfire, Nanopulser, E/M Grenades, D-Charges / Pistol, DA CCW. (1 | 43)
KNIGHT OF SANTIAGO Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, D-Charges + 1 TinBot A (Deflector L1) / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 38)
MAGISTER KNIGHT Panzerfaust, Light Shotgun / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 23)
MAGISTER KNIGHT Panzerfaust, Light Shotgun / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 23)
ORDER SERGEANT Heavy Rocket Launcher / Assault Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 15)
TRAUMA-DOC (Father-Doctor) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14)
MACHINIST (Father-Engineer) Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15)
PALBOT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
BLACK FRIAR (Albedo, Biometric Visor L1) MULTI Rifle, Nanopulser, Drop Bears / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 28)
PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16)
4.5 SWC | 300 Points
Open in Infinity Army

First, I'm going to explain the common points of both lists:
- Albedo Black Friar: he was autoinclude. I needed a trooper able to rambo first turn against all those nasty MSV ARO pieces while still able to clean the middle of the table from infiltrators or go directly to the throat of my opponent and kill his cheerleaders and smoke tossers and make some nasty specific classified. The BMV1 was thought to be also helping against Impersonators. In addition, I could link him with the Santiagos and Sergeants for SSL2 and +1 B.

- Pathfinder: I needed a Sensor and a FO for HC and against camo and CC troopers in addition to my Black Friar. It is also a fast specialist and a decent ARO piece.

- Support staff: well autoinclude for obvious reasons (if this not obvious, I'll update. Don't be shy)

- A Seraph: as I said, I wanted every of my lists to be able to behave well on every scenario and so, I needed a TAG. A TAG able to have a good firepower projection with good mobility or HGL because of Supplies. I tried Tikbalang for the long range list but its cost forced me to make kinky decisions in my listbuilding and found out that the Seraph HMG would do the same work cheaper.

Now, specific listbuilding:
Long range specific one :
It is a known fact that any PanO player needs to have a good HMG to go out of the DZ. And since I wanted a TAG in the list anyway, the TAG would be the HMG wielder. The double Nanopulsers add some firepower in short range which is always something nice.
Now, I needed the best long range ARO piece MO could offer and so came the FK and a FT around him. The Santiago Lt was an obvious choice here as well as the two spare sergeants.
I picked Konstantinos as he was a spare MSV2, spare sergeant, spare Specialst and spare D-Charge wielder for my FT able to track down camo and TO camo troopers while leading the FT to its destination. Mimetism is great againts Ariadna and Nomads too as they don't shoot that well outside of their FT.
This way, I had a six members FT with two MSV2 available and a lot of firepower to rambo once the long range firelanes were cleaned by the FK and the Seraph.
I wish I could have a Hacker but no place for him. I had to be cautious with the Seraph but nothing terrible here.

Short range specific one:
Here, we can go all the old way with Santiagos and Magisters. I long playtested this list with 3 Magisters and Seraph HMG. But I found out that Panzerfausts aren't good against Tohaa when you don't have Baggage and I needed a not disposable heavy weapon in my link for long range ARO duty and for when my Seraph was at the other side of my DZ. Replacing the Magister by a HRL Sergeant was nice. Having a template at long range was nice too along with the points freed to take two servants. But, like Arkille said me just before sending our lists, a HMG TAG in a short range focused list is awkward when you have access to the excellent Spitfire profile. I sacrificed a Palbot to switch to the Spitfire Seraph (which I'm more used to play).

Spoiler: Game 1: Deadly Dance vs Korwin (StarCo)

Korwin is a member of my club and we know each other pretty well. We played against each other two weeks before the tournament on this scenario to make our final check of our lists. Though I was remembering he was playing an Anaconda Spitfire and not HMG so this lead me to make two big mistakes early in the game (as I didn't ask him which profile he was playing).

The table:


I drew In Extremis Recovery and Predator as my classified and chose Predator as the extra Objective point could help me to ensure a victory or a major.
I took the long range list.
I won the Lt roll and chose the side and asked him to deploy first on the side were there was the less buildings in order to force him to make more choices regarding deployment. He chose to play second.

His list:
Starco. Free Company of the Star
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GROUP 1 10
ALGUACIL Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10)
ALGUACIL Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10)
ALGUACIL (Forward Observer, Deployable Repeater) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12)
ALGUACIL Hacker (Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 18)
EMILY (Chain of Command) Combi Rifle + Light Grenade Launcher (Normal and E/M), Nanopulser / Assault Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 35)
DAKTARI Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14)
ZONDBOT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
ANACONDA (Fireteam: Duo) HMG + Chain-colt, Panzerfaust / CCW. (2 | 64)
OPERATOR Spitfire / Pistol, Knife. (- | 0)
HAWWA' Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) Boarding Shotgun, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 26)
UHAHU Hacker (Hacking Device Plus. UPGRADE: Icebreaker) Pitcher, D-Charges / Assault Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 25)
JAGUAR Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 10)
GROUP 2 3 2 1
IRMANDINHO Chain Rifle, D-Charges, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 8)
WARCOR (360º Visor) Flash Pulse / Stun Pistol, Knife. (0 | 3)
BRAWLER Lieutenant Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 16)
BRAWLER (Fireteam: Haris) Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 17)
BRAWLER (Multispectral Visor L2) MULTI Sniper / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 28)
6 SWC | 299 Points
Open in Infinity Army

Deployment:
He postionned his Alguacile core team behind the walls on the far right of his DZ, next to the building in the center. The Haris is around the building with the sniper behind the publicity panel, the Lt inside the building and the Haris profile behind the dustbin. The Daktari is inside the building in the center, her Zondbot under the stairs outside. Uhahu is inside the other building on the first floor, the Warcor prone on the roof of the building. Irmandinho (with +4 ARM) behind the building. The Anaconda is on the left of the building and the Jaguar is in front of it, behind the wall. He kept the Al Hawwa in reserve.

I made some sort of a flank refusal and deployed my future FT agressively outside of the LoF of the Warcor. My FK up on the roof of the building of the far left of my DZ. The Trauma Doc is hidden behind this building. You can see my Machinist deployed in the center (the red guy in my DZ) and the Pathfinder on my right. I keep my Seraph in reserve.

The Al Hawwa was deployed at the entrance of the blue building in the center of the table. I deployed my Seraph at the center of my DZ, using FD L1 to steal some inches.

I chose my Santiago as my DT and he chose his Daktari.

First turn:
My Assigned quadrant is the one on my left half of table. His quadrant his the one on the other side of the middle of the table.
I moved my FT forward, BF at the front along the left side of the table. At the corner of the wall, I had a LoF on his Alguacile FO and killed him. Then I broke my link by using my DT order to shoot the Brawler sniper. He saved and fell back in total cover, prone. I reformed the link, pushed forward, killing the Warcor on the way. Arriving near the Alguacile core, the BF throwed two Drop Bears, missed one. I didn't wanted to risk my BF against Emily in a core team so the Santiago moved against the closest Alguacile to him but outside of their ZoC. They score a tie between Sptifire burst and Dodge. Emily survived but the Dodge rolls of the Hacker and the shooted Alguacile are failed against the Drop Bear. They died, breaking the link. The BF goes facing both Emily and the remaining Alguacile. Emily died but the Alguacile put the BF unconscious. I used an order to replace my Sergeants and Koni in order to hold his quadrant to prevent the Al Hawwa to sneak there and hold it. I used my last regular order to coordinate my Santiago and my Seraph to make a move+shoot against the last Alguacile. The bastard suvived and I'm disappointed as I though the Alguacile was the Lt and planned to kill him. Now my Seraph was in the open with a cover reachable with the building touching its base but there was an Anaconda (that I thought equiped with a Spitfire) ready to fight. I used my Lt order to put my Santiago in suppressive.

His turn:
He used first all his command tokens to bring his Haris in the first group with the Irmandinho. The Irmandinho ran toward my Santiago with his Impetuous.
Then the Anaconda came to life and aimed my FK. Here I discovered that I messed up his deployment a lot. The Anaconda had a HMG and I'm at 110 cm from it so -3 for everyone plus -3 for cover for my FK. He fell unconscious instantly. A new burst to my Seraph inflicted a wound, the Seraph ducked in partial Cover. The second volley put it unconsious. Two more orders and the TAG was dead. My opponent tried to kill my nearest Sergeant with his Brawler Sniper. He was in 0 range, outside of cover against a Sergeant in a 3 members team = unconscious and no more Haris. The remaining orders were used to bring the Irmandinho forward to my Santiago and then put the Alguacile in suppressive fire.

0-0

Second turn:
I start by activating my sergeant core to kill with Konstantinos the Alguacile in supressive. I then conducted the sergeants in the building in the center of the table to control my quadrant. Then I used my DT order to put the Irmandinho unconscious, the Lt order to move forward and then three orders to kill the Lt, the Daktari DT and put unconscious the last Brawler. I use the two last orders to bring back my Santiago in the stairs and put him in suppressive.

His turn:
Loss of Lieutenant, no CT. The Jaguar was brought back to welcome the Santiago if he wanted to see the Anaconda, the Anaconda was set in suppressive, Uhahu fired a Pitcher and missed and the Al Hawwa moved outside of his building toward my Pathfinder.

3-0

Third turn:
Impetuous order, the Santiago ran toward Uhahu, shot and put her in NWI state. She fell prone. Two orders to bring the Pathfinder in sensor range and discovering the Al Hawwa. But it is put unconscious while trying to deal with him. DT order and the Santiago killed the Al Hawwa. Lt order to kill in CC the Brawler sniper. 3 orders to kill the last Brawler and my last order killed the Irmandinho. I scored the extra Objective point for Predator.

His turn:
Lt order on the Anaconda to shoot my Santiago: crit Dodge. First regular order: crit Dodge. Second order: two hits, two saves made. Last order: one hit and one save made.

7-0

Major victory

I made two huge mistakes with my coordinated order and the deployment of my FK. But overall, the list behaved as planned. The fact that the Santiago was able to deal with the backlane alone gave me the liberty to detach my Sergeant link to control my quadrant because the Anaconda was locking my DZ for my remaining troopers to go out of it. The Santiago show was pretty impressive to watch but losing him on the last turn of my opponent wouldn't had changed the outcome of the game. 7-2 would still had been a major victory for me. I was greedy during my first turn and I payed for that but I could have paid more as the Anaconda could have get a LoF to my Sergeants if it was moved a bit outside of the DZ. But if my FK better placed and my Seraph in partial cover from the beginning, i would probably had been able to lock down my opponent more and have back up for my Santiago with my Sergeant FT.

The ability for the list to jump to the throat of my opponent effectively saved me from Emily and could have been worst if the second Drop Bear had landed too (I could this way clip the last Alguacile too by aiming Emily).

Spoiler: Game 2: Highly Classified vs Minos (ASS)

The table:

The containers' setup was like this picture though:

Water was very difficult aquatic terrain. The roof of the bridge was impassable terrain and its windows only allowed Discover, Alert and Dodge. You could use the hoist to reach the cargo or leave it.

Minos' list:
Steel Phalanx
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
10 1
TEUCER (Multispectral Visor L2) Feuerbach, Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife. (2 | 48)
EKDROMOS Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) Chain Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, DA CCW. (0.5 | 26)
AJAX 2 Combi Rifles, Nanopulser / AP Heavy Pistol, EXP CCW. (0 | 39)
MYRMIDON OFFICER (Chain of Command) Boarding Shotgun, Nanopulser, Eclipse Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (1 | 35)
MYRMIDON Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 26)
MYRMIDON Chain Rifle, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 16)
MYRMIDON Chain Rifle, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 16)
MYRMIDON Chain Rifle, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 16)
PHOENIX Heavy Rocket Launcher, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades / Heavy Pistol, DA CCW. (2 | 40)
MACHAON Lieutenant Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Eclipse Grenades / Pistol, DA CCW. (0.5 | 38)
6 SWC | 300 Points
Open in Infinity Army

Minos is a well known PanO and Aleph player from the South West of France, making the community active there. Last year, we faced in our last game with my MO and his ASA on Supplies and I scored a major victory. This time, Minos came to Paris with ASS and was ready to take his revenge.

Main Classified Objectives:
Extreme Prejudice
Nanoespionnage
HVT: Identity Check
Sabotage

I had the choice between Inoculation and Retroingineering and I took Inoculation but it would be easier to secure the HVT.

I took the long range list again.

I lost the toss and Minos decided to begin. I made him deploy first.
He deploy his first Enomotarchos on the low deck inside the cargo and Phoenix's one on the upper deck at the stern, behind the crates. Teucer was kept in reserve.

My deployment was a headache as I suspected to see Teucer and I really didn't wanted to give him free MMLX shots to my FK and Seraph at long range and inside Phoenix's smoke. I decided to deploy on the opposite, at the bow on the upper deck but in a way that he couldn't see my FK only if he was at the center of the boat. My Pathfinder covering the dock from the crates near the footbridge. Machinist on the dock, Trauma Doc next to my FT and the BF on low deck near my HVT.

Teucer deployed on the other dock. My Seraph on my dock, behind the Nomad crate.

First turn:
Teucer moved and tried to get Identity Check. 3 attempts later, the objective was done. Minos tried to find a spot to make his Ekdromoi walk on my dock but couldn't find one between LoF of my Seraph and my Pathfinder. He finally decided to land him on the other side of the Nomad crate and succeeded. He made is classified (Mapping) and then tried two times to take control of Seraph but failed. He succeeded though to Carbonite it.

My turn:
BF activated, moved, killed Teucer in one volley and made his way to the upper deck, found a LoF to the Ekdromoi out of cover and was too effective as the Ekdromoi died despite me shooting AP ammos (I should have only shot Stun ammo). On his way to say hello to Phoenix, the Myrmidon Combi had a LoF and won the FtF. My BF fell unconscious and I still had 3 orders but not much to do with them. I moved my Seraph up in order to force him to lose orders to shoot it and this was the end of my turn.

3-0

Second turn:
Phoenix's FT activated. He used orders to shoot my Seraph. It lost two STR but this costs precious orders to Minos. He finally decided to smoke the way to my BF. Machaon moved toward the BF and reached him.
*Here began to show a bit of fatigue from our part as we validate at this time Nanoespionnage on my BF. We found out that he couldn't and changed the score afterward. Since Machon succeeded at the first try, this hadn't been a huge change in the game.*
Machaon secured Extreme prejudice but was two Move short skill away to hide behind the crates. He could only count on his Eclipse to survive.

My turn:
The path was free for my FT. Everyone moved toward the bridge, securing Sabotage on the way. Konstantinos leading the way, he tried to kill a Mymidon and the Officer on the low deck but failed, beated by Dodge rolls and Eclipse. Last try on Machaon and it is a fail again. I set up my FK in order to have two AROs on everyone in sight. Last order, my Seraph tried to hit Phoenix but failed.

4-1

Third turn:
Lt order on Machaon to Eclipse his location and succeeded. Machaon retreated and the link is reformed again.
Minos broke his second Enomotarchos to Eclipse Ajax (who was in LoF of my FK) unopposed. The Officer disappeared but succeeded her manoeuver. Ajax ran toward my Seraph after the link was made again. Minos covered the way to the Seraph with smoke templates and unleashed Ajax on my Seraph. One Berserk later, my Seraph is unconscious and Ajax received a wound. Ajax executed the Seraph and it is now my turn.

My turn:
I activated the link, with Konstantios as the leader. Phoenix shot at him, Konstantinos shot back but I'm at -3 for range and -3 for cover. I lost the FtF, failed to fail my Guts roll and Konstantinos was forced to take a second try to move. This didn't go well as Konstantinos died. I tried with my Lt order, scored a hit but it is saved. I needed to move so I moved the link out of cover, received a hit on my Santiago who lost 1W. My FK and my Santiago were away of LoF from Phoenix but no more in link with the Sergeants. The duo continued to move, the FK reaching the low deck while the Santiago found a LoF against a Myrmidon and put him unconscious. The FK ran, secured Extreme prejudice and with no concern about the attempts from the other Myrmidon to wound him, secured the HVT.

6-6.

We finished by a tie. This was a tough game. Phoenix was in a position where I could'nt shoot at him from the upper deck inside Combi range. I made several little mistakes that piled up to a point that they put me in great difficulty against a methodic and rather passive opponent. I should have been more patient with my BF and shoot Stun ammo before retreating him, giving me two free objectives by punching the Ekdromoi in the face with my Seraph fist to put him unconcsious for the Machinist to do Nanoespionnage and Extreme prejudice in two orders.
I'm wondering if I'll face Minos again next year to give him a chance to finally take his revenge.

Spoiler: Game 3: Acquisition vs Anaris (CJC)

The table:

(keep in mind that the objectives were set up for Deadly Dance).
No AD except for the ocre and yellow parts of the ground. Infinity high walls for the rooms without rooftop. Activating doors takes effect immediately.

Anaris' list:
Jurisdictional Command of Corregidor
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
9 1 1
CLOCKMAKER Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 18)
DAKTARI Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14)
LUPE BALBOA Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Panzerfaust, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, CCW. (0 | 23)
INTRUDER Combi Rifle + Light Flamethrower, Adhesive Launcher / Pistol, CCW. (1 | 36)
MOBILE BRIGADA Lieutenant Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 33)
MOBILE BRIGADA Hacker (Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 43)
MOBILE BRIGADA HMG / Pistol, Knife. (2 | 42)
TSYKLON Feuerbach, Pitcher / Electric Pulse. (1 | 34)
ZONDBOT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
MORAN (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, CrazyKoalas (2) / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 22)
McMURROUGH 2 Chain Rifles, Grenades, Smoke Grenades / Templar CCW (AP + DA). (0 | 32)
5 SWC | 300 Points
Open in Infinity Army
Anaris is the main Warcor of the far West of France, making the Brittany community very active recently. It was the first time I met him and it was an treat as he was very kind and cool.

I picked Experimental drug as my classified.

I won the toss and decided to try to choose deployment. Anaris deployed first and chose to go first.

Deployment:
The MB BSG deployed behind the little building on his right side with the bridge with Clockmaker next to him. Tsyklon behind the crate on his far right, Lupe and the Zondbot in base contact with him. The two remaining MB were deployed with the Daktari and McMurrough behind the crate in the middle. The Moran is deployed in contact with the objective room. The Xenotech is synchronised with the Moran. Intruder in reserve.

I deployed in order to punish this deployment. HRL OS on the rooftop of the building in my DZ, Magisters near him on the ground in order to have a Panzerfaust ARO at any time the Tsyklon would be activated. Santiago KHD behind the building and Lt in it. Trauma Doc and Machinist in the room in back left in my DZ. The Trauma Doc's Palbot was near my Santiago KHD. Pathfinder in the middle, looking to my right half of the table and BF behind the crate. Xenotech was synchronised with my Trauma Doc.

Intruder was placed against the left of the wall of the Objective Room.
The Seraph in the middle back with the Auxbot at the other side of the Pathfinder's room.
Moran and Santiago Lt were DT.

First turn:
I used a CT to prevent the use of more than one CT for Anaris. He made huge mistakes with his deployment and I wanted him to pay for it.
He activated Lupe to move away from the Tsyklon outside of template reach and LoF. MB Hacker gave MML2 to Tsyklon. My opponent formed his FT with Lupe, Daktari, Tsyklon and MB Hacker and HMG in it. Tsyklon activated, received AROs from my Magister on my right and HRL OS. OS died to two hits of AP+DA+Shock missiles while it received a panzerfaust. Didn't save two: second unconscious state.
*Here is one of the mistakes I made: didn't check all my LoF. My second Magister had one to his MB HMG and this should have changed the game a lot. But I was getting tired and began to be more and more tunnel focused.*
The Zondbot died due to the HRL getting successes despite being beated by the Tsyklon.
Clockmaker moved in LoF with the emptied Magister. Magister dodged away, Clockmaker reached Tsyklon and succeeded to repair it (would he failed, the Tsyklon would have died because no reroll available). Moran activated, opened the door of the OR, made the Xenotech and the CKs enter in it. The Xenotech put down his Multiscanner and go touch the Tech-Coffin. McMurrough made a cautious movement. At this moment, I realised the Magister LoF to the MB HMG and I made the mistake to say it to my opponent. He used his last order to shoot my Magister and wounded him while the Panzerfaust was now empty.

My turn:
I first activated my Seraph to make my Auxbot trigger the CKs. It fell unconscious for this. Then activated my Pathfinder in LoF of the Intruder. Intruder didn't take his ARO, I succeeded the discover roll. Seraph came to put the Intruder unconscious. I sent then the Seraph to chase McMurrough. I won the first FtF but he saved everything and critted the second smoke dodge. Sent the BF to take care of the Moran. Made a CO to relocate my Seraph and Pathfinder to trap McMurrough while sending the BF as the Spearhead to put down the Tsyklon. Tsyklon critted.

Second turn:
McMurrough ran toward my Seraph, get critted by Pathfinder Combi and tied his smoke dodge with Spitfire shot. Anaris reformed his Core, set MML2 to Tsyklon and lost a lot of orders to place them near the OR. Lupe threw to smokes to cover the unconscious Intruder and McMurrough. I saw that he wanted to heal the Intruder and when he activate McMurrough to reach CC with my Seraph, I fired the Nanopulser when he exited the smoke template. I hit both McMurrough and the Intruder. Intruder died but again McMurrough survived and inflicted 2 wounds to the Seraph. One more order and the Seraph is unconscious. He left McMurrough in Engaged state. It's the end of his turn.

My turn:
Pathfinder activated, shot in the CC, hit only the Seraph but no harm done. The triangulated fire killed McMurrough. Pathfinder connected the near antenna and then moved near the core, getting IMM-1 by the MB Hacker. Santiago KHD activated and, after three Hacking attacks, killed the Hacker. I used my last order to dismount my Crabbot for more Flashpulse ARO.

Third turn:
Daktari activated, killed the Pathfinder, put unconscious the Crabbot, left the FT and activated the Antenna. Lupe entered in the OR, touching the Tech-Coffin while the last MB and the Tsyklon piled up LoF to great any knight tempted to come in their way.
Clockmaker used the two last orders to contact the last Antenna and actvated it.

My turn:
I broke the FT during the order count so my Magisters were set free. The one on the right lost the FtF with the Clockmaker but saved the hit. The second killed him. Lt order to make a cautious movement to exit the building by the window and then I reformed the link with the two Magisters and the Lt and tried to dumbly force my way against the Tsyklon and the MB instead of reaching the center of my DZ and then rush directly in the OR and kill Lupe on the way. Tsyklon and MB saved every saved they had to roll. I lost my orders for nothing, had to rush in the open for everyone in order to have a tie. At the beginning of my last order, all my knights are wounded. My last shotgun burst finally put down the Tsyklon and the MB but Lupe critted my Magister and my Lt was put down by the HMG MB.

0-6

I made a lot of mistakes:
- Forgetting my ARO against the MB HMG when the Tsyklon fired the first time.
- Should have used my orders on my Santiago KHD to move him also instead of letting him sit there.
- Shouldn't have gone against Tsyklon and MB. Combining the point above and this one, I would have orders to kill both Lupe and Daktari, reach the Tech-Coffin with my DT, reach and capture the antenna with my Santiago KHD and even maybe one or two for placing my Multiscanner.

Overall, even if my opponent got lucky, I deserved to lose as I made major mistakes. I was tired and this had really heavy consequences on my decision making. MO don't reward order inefficient decisions and this was my doom here.

Spoiler: Game 4: Unmasking vs K-reem (JSA)

The table:


Japanese Secessionist Army
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
9 1 3
DOMARU Spitfire / Pistol, E/M CCW, Shock CC Weapon. (2 | 39)
DOMARU (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, E/M Grenades / Pistol, E/M CCW, Shock CC Weapon. (0 | 36)
OYAMA Lieutenant Chain Rifle, E/M Grenades / Breaker Pistol, AP CCW, EXP CCW. (0 | 28)
TANKŌ Missile Launcher / Pistol, Monofilament CC Weapon, Shock CC Weapon. (1.5 | 32)
TANKŌ Blitzen, Submachine Gun / Pistol, Monofilament CC Weapon, Shock CC Weapon. (0 | 23)
NINJA Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Tactical Bow / Pistol, DA CCW, Knife. (0 | 29)
ONIWABAN Boarding Shotgun, Nanopulser / Pistol, Monofilament CCW. (0 | 41)
YOJIMBO Contender, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades, CrazyKoalas (2) / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 21)
RYŪKEN (CH: Limited Camouflage) Heavy Rocket Launcher, Antipersonnel Mines / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 23)
RYŪKEN (Forward Deployment L2, ODD) Submachine Gun, Antipersonnel Mines, D-Charges / 2 Breaker Pistols, Knife. (0.5 | 24)
5.5 SWC | 296 Points
Open in Infinity Army

K-reem is a player new to tournaments. Only seen him during the local tournament near Paris one month earlier. He arrived 30 minutes after the beginning of the official time because his kid was ill and I was just about to have a bye when he arrived. He said me he was playing JSA, we set up fast but took our time anyway to make everything cool.

Seeing the table, only the long range list could work there.

I won the toss and decided to go first. He chose the side and I deployed first.

My two decoys were put on the far right and left behind crates. My Designated target in the corner made by the pile of crates in my left flank.

I had a hard time to find where an how to deploy. I finally opted for the right flank for the link and Trauma Doc. BF in the middle, prone, behind the circular silo. Pathfinder and Machinist on the left flank.

His HVTs were placed around the left pile of crates in his half of the table for two of them and behind the blue crate in the right for the last one.
He deployed his Domaru link in face of my link, very close to each other with the Domaru Spitfire in short range ARO. The Ryuken 9 HRL was prone on the top of the pile of crates on the corner of the table you can barely see on the picture. SMG Ryuken 9 behind the little crates in the middle. Oniwaban on the flank of the HRL, Ninja KHD in the open next to the HVT in the right flank.

I saw the location of the Ryuken 9 HRL and really didn't like his location. I deployed my Seraph in the open in front of him.
Yojimbo was deployed behind the house in the middle of his DZ.

I chose my Santiago as my DT again and he chose Neko.

First turn:
The deployment of his FT was really tempting. I really wanted to fire some E/M grenades and missiles in it. This was leaving me thinking that K-reem and I weren't at the same level of playing. To check this, I used my Seraph. If he was rather good, he wouldn't ARO against it at the first attempt. If not, the distraction Carnifex would do its work and I would have the possibility to deal with the Ryuken 9 HRL fast.
I activated the Seraph, he revealed his Ryuken and shot. Here I made an rule error as I though the HRL had Mimetism and K-reem didn't say I was wrong, so I was first rollinging on 12 against 15. I won but he saved. I used the crates for my second attempt to negate hime the cover. He saved again. This time, I was in cover in addition to no cover for him. He died. I activated the link, Konstantinos as the Leader. Concerned for his second Ryuken, he dodged against Konstantinos out of range and cover and my two HIs in LoF too. He succeeded first time but not the second. Konstantinos and the Santiago reached the building of the samuraïs link. I asked if the Spitfire had E/M grenades and my opponent said me yes (I should have check the courtesy list but we were cut down for 30 minutes in the game so I wanted to play fast and trusted him). I opted for my FK LM as the link leader and showed up against the Domaru Spitfire and went back. Domaru shot and Ninja KHD revealed to try to engage me. FK answered to the Ninja by a CC attack, leaving the Domaru shooting him unopposed. The Ninja was cut in half while not bullet went through the good armor of the knight. Second attempt, the link dodged. I scored a success on a 1. Sptifire and Neko dodged but not the FO and he lost 1W. By dodging, my opponent moved the Spitfire back a bit so I can see the Tanko Blitzen at the other extremity of the link. Third and last attempt, the link decided to shoot and I scored a hit to both of my targets. In exchange, Domaru and Tanko critted me once each. I used this last order to set up my sergeants in defensive position too. The three non dodging HIs fell unconscious to missile blasts and the link is broken. I tried with my Lt order to shoot the Spitfire down put he saved. I reformed the link with the three sergeants and the Santiago.

His turn:
LoL but not in retreat, my opponent tilted and decided the game was already over for him. Yojimbo rushed my Seraph and died on the second order. Tanko used his impetuous to charge my Santiago but one of my E/M grenade beated his SMG and both the remaining HIs got IMM-2 and Isolated. He refused to activate his Oniwaban.

2-1

Second turn.
I connected the first console with Konstantinos, revealed the HVT on the right who revealed to be the Designated target. The Santiago killed him while the link moved toward the center console. Konstantinos activated it too and revealed the Decoy near the Seraph. The Seraph killed him and we checked and there was no way I couldn't be 10-0 except if he killed my Santiago. Problem is that since the Oniwaban hadn't been revealed, he was obviously in LoL for the next turn but not in retreat.
We decided to stop the game here and consider the Oniwaban as the only survivant.

10-0

Major victory. The game only last 1 hour and 30 minutes. I don't know what to say here. His link was deployed in a way that putting him in LoL was a solid possibility in addition to killing a good part of the threat he could put on the table. The FK good CC and good ARM was really useful for the success of this move as rolling 23 against 12 was more interesting that 3 dice at 14 against 12. Two shots of Sptifire had few chance to take the FK in cover down.
I really rated the JSA as a difficult match up as we both have tools to strike each other hard at short range. MO favors more BS than JSA but with Smoke, Chain Rifles and E/M Grenades, there are reasons to fear the katana wielders. My opponent could have played really wiser and I wouldn't have been so impetuous and more careful, using BF and Seraph to pick up ARO troops before setting defensive with Drop Beas and suppressive fire.

Spoiler: Game 5: Supplies vs Lakissov (JSA)

The table:

This picture is from a different tournament as I don't have photos of the tournament myself. The setup of the cars and other little pieces of scenery weren't as shown here but close.
Water was very difficult aquatic terrain, There were elevators for each tower. Using one short movement skill with the elevator allowed a trooper to move one floor up or down. Rocks and rooftop of towers were impassable terrain.
Windows allowed only Discover, Dodge and Alert for LoF ARO but can be opened immediately by a short movement skill.
Fences were valid for partial cover but didn't block LoF.

Japanese Secessionist Army
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
GROUP 1 10
KEISOTSU Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 9)
KEISOTSU HMG / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 17)
KEISOTSU Missile Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 14)
KEISOTSU Lieutenant Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 9)
KEMPEI (Multispectral Visor L2) Shock Marksman Rifle / Pistol, CCW, Electric Pulse. (1 | 25)
DOMARU (Fireteam: Haris) Chain Rifle, E/M Grenades / Pistol, E/M CCW, Shock CC Weapon. (0.5 | 27)
KARAKURI Mk12, Chain Rifle, D.E.P. / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 43)
KARAKURI Heavy Shotgun, Chain Rifle, D.E.P. / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 38)
PANGGULING (Minesweeper, Repeater) Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
PANGGULING (Minesweeper, Repeater) Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
GROUP 2 4 2 1
CHAĪYÌ Yaókòng Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
WARCOR (360º Visor) Flash Pulse / Stun Pistol, Knife. (0 | 3)
TOKUSETSU KOHEI Engineer Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14)
YÁOZĂO Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
RYŪKEN (Forward Deployment L2, ODD) Submachine Gun, Antipersonnel Mines, D-Charges / 2 Breaker Pistols, Knife. (0.5 | 24)
NINJA Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Tactical Bow / Pistol, DA CCW, Knife. (0 | 29)
YOJIMBO Contender, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades, CrazyKoalas (2) / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 21)
5.5 SWC | 300 Points
Open in Infinity Army

Lakissov made the way across the whole Europe from Estonia to play with us in France just for the week-end. He was a really kind player and an exemplar of sportmanship. He said me that he came to play on our tables and he reached his last objective by playing on the Varuna table. Since we weren't competing for first place, we opted for a relaxed game.

I picked Experimental drug and HVT: Identity check
Again, I chose the long range list.

I lost the roll and Lakissov decided to play first.
He deployed first on the side entirely visible on the picture.

Deployment:
He deployed his Keisotsu Core in three groups: the Lt in the second floor of the highway tower, the Kempei on the highway and the remaining three Keisotsus on the first rooftop of the highway tower.
Both Pangguling were deployed on each flank in the sea like towers on in chess.
Chayi on the grey balcony of the highway, the Kohei behind on the highway. Ninja KHD infiltrated on th alley to the beach, Warcor on the far right tower first floor footbridge. The Haris is packed behind the highway pillar in the center of his DZ and the Ryuken 9 on the hidden side of the highway tower, behind a car. Everyone is prone if available. His HVT is swimming behind the whole table (there is a band of water large enough for a TAG).

I had a hard time deploying. I didn't counted how many points he already had on the table and deployed with a Oniwaban ready to show up in mind. FK deployed on the stairs of linking the alley to the main part of the table, having this way cover from both part of the wall from the middle of the table. FK had to good firelanes under the highway (one between the pillar hidding the Haris and the highway tower and a second between the highway tower and the wall of the little shop he was deployed next to; this precise LoF passed through the camo token of the mine deployed by the Ryuken) and toward the objective on the alley. Santiago Lt and Trauma Doc in the shop, One sergeant in the alley, prone behind a flower pot, the other in the sea in the rear of my DZ. BF behind the fountain, prone, looking at the middle of the table. Konstantinos and Machinist behind the highway tower with Koni having a narrow LoF to the wall of the other highway tower. Pathfinder is behind my green tower, having LoF to the left objective.
All this set up a twisted net of LoF tight enough to leave my opponent to move but would reveal costly to go through.
My HVT was behind the center tower.

Yojimbo was placed along the wall in the in DZ, in the open.
I deployed the Seraph in face of the Chayi and Yojimbo, in partial cover behind a pillar and formed my core, with the BF, Koni, the Santiago, the FK and the Sergeant behind the flower pot.

First turn:
I used my CT to retrieve him 2 orders in his second group. I knew exactly what was in the first and there iswas nothing I was afraid of in it. I prefered to make him near impossible to do funny things with his second group.
Impetuous, Yojimbo went toward my Pathfinder. My FK and Seraph had LoF and shot (he didn't see that the FK had a LoF going through his camo token). The missiles didn't beat the smoke (we were at more than 100 cm for the ML) but annihilated the CKs. The Seraph canceled the smoke and wounded Yojimbo. Irregular order and Yojimbo moved along the LoF of my FK. I said it to Lakissov after declaring my ARO with the template covering also the Ryoken and offered him to take back his movement as the LoF is public information. He refused, prefering to accept what was going to happen and threw his smoke unopposed to block the other LoF of the FK under the highway. Yojimbo was in +3 range for ML: two autohits and both Yojimbo and the Ryuken died. He then tried to grab the box in the alley but the Ninja failed her WIP roll while the FK and the Sergeant didn't and she disappeared from the board. It was now show time for the Haris. Using crates and cars dispersed under the highway, the Haris achieved to reach the box next the center tower. The Mk12 Karakuri took the box and then decided to make some room in my ARO net. But she decided to direct all the firepower toward the BF while being shot by the Pathfinder too. After three orders, the BF fell unconscious but the Karakuri got critted by the Pathfinder. The doll then faced Konstantinos and finally died between the combined AROs of the Indigo and the bot. The HSG Karakuri crawled and picked the box.
He finally moved his Warcor to make him more painful but outside of LoF from my Seraph.

My turn:
I reformed the link with the second Sergeant in place of the unconscious BF. I activated the Seraph, wounding the Domaru while ignoring the Chayi. Once the Domaru hid himself, I put the Chayin unconscious then tried to wound the Karakuri but it saved. I moved forward to kill the Warcor, then super jumped back on the highway in order to see the Karakuri and have access to my +3 range. 1 crit and 3 hits put it to the second unconscious state and Lakissov triggered the Dogged state. I didn't need to shoot more toward the Karakuri now. I finished the Chayi, saved the flashpulse of the Karakuri and set in suppressive fire.

The Karakuri died at the end of the turn.

Second turn:
Lakissov brought the Kohei in the first group.
Through cautious movements, the Domaru reached the ZoC of my HVT, made his classified and then reached the box but was stuck there. The Keisotsu HMG took the lead of the core, shot my Seraph for the rooftop of his highway tower, forcing it to break the suppressive fire. The Seraph lost the Guts roll and reached total cover thanks to my own highway tower. The Domaru can move up a bit more but Lakissov woudn't have the orders to bring him back in security if the Domaru continued to crawl. So he tried to make him an heroic run but the aim of the Seraph is unbeatable and the Domaru fell unconscious. The Keisotsu core activated once more, the ML showing his head up along the HMG leader in LoF of the FK. First attempt hit the FK two times but didn't inflicted any wound. The second one killed the HMG. The link is formed again.

My turn:
I activated my Pathfinder, moved it to gain LoF on the mine (we first both forgot it as it was represented by a steel cylinder on a white and light grey table and Lakissov offered me to take back all the orders as there was nothing new for both of us about the mine, no template had been placed and this was just due to being both tired) outside of trigger area and discovered it. It destroyed it and then reached the Domaru to steal him his box. I secured Identity check and retreated the Pathfinder next to my Seraph, under the highway and behind the highway tower.

1-1

Third turn:
I felt that Lakissov was in the ropes, thinking of desperate attempts to get something. He moved the Kempei away from the rest of the link on the highway, crawling to avoid the Seraph and the FK. But there was a spot where he couldn't go further. He thought that there was an access from the highway to the tower but there isn't. I offered him to take it back as it was just about the table but there wasn't not that much things he could do anyway apart from trying to kill the Seraph and the FK, which he didn't seem to find to be a good idea. He ended his turn with the Kempei near my Seraph in total cover.

My turn:
I activated my Seraph, reached partial cover thanks to a police car and killed the Keisotsu ML. Now, my link could move freely, The Santiago reached the box in the alley and got it. Then Koni took the center box. I had just enough order for my Trauma Doc to reach my BF and heal him by using my two last CT.

10-1

Major victory again. I think things would have been better for my opponent if he had been a bit more protective toward the deployment of Yojimbo and how he played him. I think that here, Shikami would have done a better job between Super jump, Climbing plus and Nimbus to access to the boxes unseen and fall back. Running on the walls and jumping all over the place would have been a trump card to avoid the ARO lines and maybe win the scenario. An O-Yoroi could have been a good choice too.
About what I've done, I don't see what I could have done better regarding to the situation. I played it patient and rigorous as I didn't wanted to risk my link until the last turn as the two boxes seemed to be a trap for anything except from solo pieces. I prefered take the full use of my three turn to break all the teeth of my opponent list before risking anything important as there was no need for it.

At the end of this game, I finished at the 5th place. I didn't expected it at the start of the tournament as we had big players like karolis, Arkille and Vulkan attending and against whom I doubted to succeed as they are way better players than me.
But I seemed to have quite well understood that MO didn't need to gear specifically for one mission or another but needed more to be prepared to have tools to navigate through the tables.

I would thank my opponents for the nice games they played with me and for their kindness and sportmanship.

Spoiler: Units overall

Seraph: let's begin by the most controversal unit in my lists as a lot of players tend to say that TAGs don't worth the play. First, I could have played it better during my first day (even if it could have been able to wreck my opponent if McMurrough wasn't rolling so high each time). But he was my problem solver for my day 2 games and for this, I'm sticking to the idea that bringing a TAG as a side heavy weapon platform was the good thing to do. I know this TAG isn't loved that much but tbh, he worths way more than what you're paying for it.
One thing to remember is the two profiles really change the behaviour of your Seraph a lot. The HMG one is excellent for heavy support duty while the Spitfire is better for flanking and breaking your opponent's frontline.

Father-Knight Missile Launcher: except for my mistake during the first turn, this guy is maybe the MVP of the whole tournament. Yes, my two last opponents did mistakes but without his high BS, high CC and high ARM, he wouldn't have survived that much to all my opponents' hatred directed toward him. Punishing mistakes and forcing to use a lot of orders just to avoid to receive the dreaded templates.
Like the Seraph, I know a lot of players feel that the FK is too pricy for what he does. I can't agree with that. The overall good stats made him a steel wall nearly impervious to my opponents's attacks.

Brother Konstantinos: my little wonder I'm proud to have discovered. In fact, I think that between him, Black Friar Albedo and Dart, you have to have at least one of them in your list if not two. Koni should really not be discarded as he was before. As I tended to risk my BF in the frontline pretty much everytime, Koni had the duty to carry the link team he was part of through the table against camo/ODD troopers and smoke tossers when the BF was too far away or out of combat. Mimetism makes him hard to face and the rest of his toolkit made him an invaluable ace up in my sleeves.

Order Sergeants: the regular ones were just link fillers but did a good job anyway. The HRL is a good trooper too for his cost.

Trauma Doc and Machinist : well, they didn't made a lot in my games but it's better to have them doing nothing than not using them and wishing to have them in the list.

Santiago Knight with KHD: has seen the table only once but did a fairly good job. I was happy to have him

Santiago Lt : this guy did a very good job as a objective grabber during my two last games and was just the MVP of my first game. Everyone praise him and this is for a good reason. He could have been the MVP of my third game too if I wasn't that much in tunnel vision toward the Tsyklon and the Mobile Brigada.

Magisters: what to tell everyone don't know already. They are good, they did a good job. It's not their fault if my opponent is lucky and I'm making bad decisions.

Pathfinder: was always a good trooper. It had an active role in 3 out of my 5 games and a passive one during my second game by forcing the Ekdromoi to roll for the jump instead arriving by a side of the table.

Albedo Black Friar: did a good job overall. As a 1W trooper, he is fairly sensible to bad luck which put down his potential a lot. He has an frightening offensive toolkit but really suffers each time the God of RNG doesn't love you. I was never sad to have him. He is very happy when you start. It's a bit more difficult when you don't.

Conclusion:
Like I thought and said from the appearance of the MO 2.0, the sectorial today is really good. The proficiency of toolbox troopers while still being effective gunfighters gives to MO players the possibility to field a concentrate of order efficiency. But you pay this by the necessity of bieng good enough to make this order efficiency works. You must have a plan A, B and C and while plan A is doing good, plans B and C have to doing good too. You need to be cold headed, smart and always ready to make unconventional decisions. This sectorial needs you to have an opened mind in order to succeed.

The big difference I felt from the other PanO sectorials is that you can't really play a passive game, waiting that your opponent will make some mistakes. You can punish him if he makes some but don't count on it. MO is heavily toward being active, rigorous and vicious.

To the new players who want to start with MO: aknowledge that this sectorial is hard to get in and to master. There is no obvious way to build your lists. You're fairly free in this category but this also means that you'll feel lost for a long time and will have a hard time to understand what kind of combination works together and which won't. And the deployment will be a headache too. Nothing is obvious in MO as all the obvious tools in the old MO have now competitors. HI pain trains might seem easy to play but it is the contrary. Treat it like a super TAG to understand how hard it is to make it work. I would rather suggest to start with an OS link with a Santiago or FK lt in and try to master the solo pieces and Haris you can play before getting your hands deep down in the HI thing. And frankly, you don't need that much HIs in your lists to win.

To the old players who want a challenge in every part of the game: welcome aboard! If you love experimenting and playing a new list every game with the same set of minis, you're in the good spot. As nothing is obvious here, you're free to field a lot of combinations of troopers.

Thank you for reading.

 

Maybe it's not clear but I finally opted for a Spitfire Seraph for the second list as it was designed for tables where HMGs aren't particularly needed. And it was a good decision, as it could have done a great job if my opponent had stopped to roll that high for smokes and ARM saves.

And yes, the OS link works really well. You need some heavy units somewhere though but you don't need to play all your list full of HIs.

TBH, in my case, I don't think a TOFOOS would have helped me. I didn't needed another Specialist. All my lists had already 6 specialists. What was hard was to break the knees of as much troopers as possible in the first turn and TOFOOS can be disappointing for this against Ariadna, Nomads, Aleph etc. while not solving the Riot Grrls and Kamau links problems. They are good but I don't think you have to take one in each of your lists: Dart and Black Friar are good competitors for his slot now, depending on your playstyle, scenarios...

 

@ObviousGray: Yeah, I'm in love of the BF. With Bravery, there is really no reason to not like him. I know that everyone had thought that it was a pity to not have a heavy weapon for this profile but that's because his role wasn't understood. He isn't designed to kill long range pieces. He is designed to kill everyone he crosses on his way at short range while the super powerful MSV ARO pieces can't even say something about it. And this while wielding a MSV himself makes him a nearly OP profile. In the three games he had an active roll, he killed way above his worth of points and CAP in two of them. Thing is, you need to be really vicious to make him work as he needs his Drop Bears to deal this amount of damage.
And after my game against Minos, I start to think that the MSR profile has its place in a list.

@Triumph: Thank you! I actually ended 5th but considering my level, it is already something unexpected. I made mistakes though during my games but seems that making my lists more adapted to the table diversity of the tournament rather than focused on scenarios paid as I never had useless troopers.
Hospitallers are really demanding toward the side units you take with them as they are rather weak in reactive compared to the other FTs in OM. They can wreck their way through the table but I didn't found it adapted to the scenarios roster. Like I said, I prefer to play more like in Vanilla but with link possibility. Each component of my lists are supposed to support each other and I'm not fond of units just there to give orders. Sergeants have their place in offensive and defensive duties and did their share of damage.
I'm also suprised how Seraph is dismissed. Super Jump is excellent to deal with troopers on rooftops and navigate through tables like the Supertanker one or Varuna. Even CC 20 is enough to deal with the vast majority of the troopers present in the game when combined with ARM 7 and STR 3. And it is really cheap for a BS 15 TAG. Don't forget that it also embarks a specialist and for this I consider it as a toolbox unit too.
When you know how bad IA players performed, I find it ironic to ear how much IA is better than MO. I think this is more player dependant. I personally prefer what MO has to offer over IA.

@Doa: Not at all, as my first and last opponents lists have 2 groups. I just tend to love playing 1 group lists and I am really used to play them. What I love the most in them is that you really have few troopers just idling there, waiting the end of the game or the appearance of an enemy trooper to kill them. My lists tend to behave like in XCOM and this is how I play most of the time.

 

Ok, I might have finished all the reports now.

 

You're welcome to come! It's always nice to see new people from other parts of the planet.

 

@Lesh': thank you! As I said you, if you have MO players in your community who have questions, feel free to ask me them.

@daboarder: thank you! I'm really interested about what you'll find useful for NZ tables (as I think they are quite different from what we have in France). TBH, I think that everything works in MO (even dismissed Teutonic Knights but I need to test them more than I did with Vanilla) but it's more about combinations of troopers that don't work together and meta rather than just bad troopers. Don't desperate about the difficulties to make MO lists, just take the time and you'll finally find out how you'll make them work.

 

Oh sorry! I though you meant NZ with Oz. My bad

And I have myself a lot of difficulties those times to make VIRD and ASA lists as I really have problems to play lists more focused to multiple groups of weaker troops.
As for Teutons, I think I have a list that might please me. I give it to you, if it can help you to have some ideas:

Military Orders
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10 1
TEUTONIC KNIGHT (NCO) Spitfire / Pistol, AP CCW. (2 | 39)
TEUTONIC KNIGHT Lieutenant Combi Rifle, Panzerfaust / Pistol, AP CCW. (1 | 34)
MAGISTER KNIGHT Panzerfaust, Light Shotgun / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 23)
KNIGHT OF SANTIAGO Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, D-Charges + 1 TinBot A (Deflector L1) / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 38)
ORDER SERGEANT Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13)
MULEBOT Hacker (EVO Hacking Device) Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 25)
SERAPH HMG, 2 Nanopulsers / EXP CCW. (2 | 79)
CRABBOT Flash Pulse / Knife. ()
MACHINIST (Father-Engineer) Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15)
TRAUMA-DOC (Father-Doctor) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14)
PALBOT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16)
5.5 SWC | 299 Points
Open in Infinity Army

And even there, there are room for toying around replacing the Seraph by an Hospitaller HMG or a KofHS FD2 to free points to replace the Trauma-Doc or the Sergeant by a better trooper.
Anyway, feel free to try things around, even with 2 groups. I'd be happy to discuss about it and see how you play your lists.
If you aren't allergic to it, we could even play against each other on TTS. I'm on Vaulsc's Discord server too.