The classy map above is from the Kid’s Encyclopedia, of all places. I had watched Jordan play a game versus James in our last showdown tournament and really struggle with deployment, so we decided to play a game and really talk through deployment the next time we had the opportunity. Adam was teaching a brand new player for the start of my game with Jordan. After Adam’s demo game finished, he hopped on over to give Jordan some light coaching–for better or for worse. It’s also been a long time since Jordan and I have played a game, so that was a nice outcome of the exercise as well.

Overview

Mission : Engineering Deck

: Engineering Deck Forces : Ikari Company versus Caledonian Highlander Army (300)

: Company versus (300) Deploy First : CHA

: First Turn: CHA

List A1 GROUP 1 | 7 2 2 BRAWLER Lieutenant Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 16)

KEISOTSU Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 9)

KEISOTSU (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10)

KEISOTSU Paramedic (MediKit) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 11)

TANKŌ Missile Launcher / Pistol, Monofilament CC Weapon, Shock CC Weapon. (1.5 | 32) DRUZE Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) Combi Rifle + Pitcher, D-Charges / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 28)

KARAKURI Heavy Shotgun, Chain Rifle, D.E.P. / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 35)

BASHI BAZOUK Combi Rifle, E/Mauler / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 17)

YUAN YUAN Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 8) GROUP 2 | 5 2 WÚ MÍNG (Fireteam: Haris) Chain Rifle, Submachine Gun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25)

WÚ MÍNG HMG / Pistol, Knife. (2 | 39)

BRAWLER Engineer Rifle + Light Shotgun, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 20) TOKUSETSU EISEI Doctor (MediKit) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14)

FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)

LIBERTO (Minelayer) Light Shotgun, Chain-colt, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 10)

JÄGER Submachine Gun + E/Mitter / Pistol, Monofilament CC Weapon. (0.5 | 18) 5.5 SWC | 300 Points | Open in Infinity Army

Jordan played an exact copy of his list that he had played in the tournament, so he would have an opportunity to try again, so to speak. My Ikari are very different than James’s ISS though.

Wallace

GROUP 1 | 4 6 5 WALLACE Lieutenant Combi Rifle + Light Flamethrower, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, EXP CCW. (0 | 35)

HIGHLANDER Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 6)

HIGHLANDER Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 6)

HIGHLANDER Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 6)

HIGHLANDER Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 6) McMURROUGH 2 Chain Rifles, Grenades, Smoke Grenades / Templar CCW (AP + DA). (0 | 31)

UXÍA McNEILL (Covert Action) (CH: Limited Camouflage, Superior Infiltration, Specialist Operative) Boarding Shotgun, D-Charges, Smoke Grenades / 2 Assault Pistols, AP CCW, Knife. (0 | 27)

S.A.S. (Forward Observer) Rifle / Pistol, AP CCW, Knife. (0 | 24)

S.A.S. (Forward Observer) Rifle / Pistol, AP CCW, Knife. (0 | 24)

CATERAN T2 Sniper Rifle / Pistol, AP CCW. (1 | 24) GROUP 2 | 4 CALEDONIAN MORMAER (Fireteam: Haris) AP HMG / Pistol, Knife. (2.5 | 43)

CALEDONIAN MORMAER (X Visor) T2 Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 33)

HIGHLANDER GREY T2 Boarding Shotgun, Grenades, Smoke Grenades, D-Charges / Pistol, CCW. (0 | 25) VOLUNTEER Paramedic (Medikit) Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10) 3.5 SWC | 300 Points | Open in Infinity Army

Deployment

I set up a roughly symmetric table to make it more of a deployment exercise as opposed to a “this table side is better now exploit it” exercise. We spent a long time talking about his Galwegian deployment, because that was the thing that had gotten him into trouble last time. In his game versus ISS, Jordan had the entire link exploded by an HRL and was understandably a little hesitant about his deployment of them in our game. We ended up with a split-level deployment, with Wallace up top for protection and a Galwegian guarding the approach, and then the other Galwegians covering his deployment zone. The SAS FOs went on both sides to push buttons, although it turned out that the SAS on Jordan’s left being up on a roof was a bit of mistake.

McMurrough was more or less in the middle, ready to race up the right side of the table, and then Jordan split his second combat group between the left and right of the table. The Volunteer Paramedic went on the left to cover his near left objective, while the heavy infantry Haris went on the right. Jordan and I went back and forth on what he wanted to do with them, but he basically decided to play it safe and up them behind a bit of cover all the way on the right and out of LoF of most things, to let them advance as well as cover the right edge of the board with AROs against AD. He put his Cateran down to cover both sides of the objective room, but prone, just in case he needed group one orders for other things. I started off by deploying the Tanko smack dab in the middle of my deployment zone, watching the inside of the objective room and the flank approaches. The rest of the link basically was deployed to support him, with the Brawler watching his back and the Paramedic near by to try and pick him up if necessary. I knew exactly where McMurrough was going, so I put my Keisotsu FO and my Fugazi out to flash pulse him. I copied Jordan’s deployment of his Volunteer Paramedic with my Tokusetsu doctor, and then put my Druze AHD on the same side as the heavy infantry haris to viral pistol them down if i could find the shot. I also nominated the table edge nearest to the haris as the entry point for my Bashi Bazouk with Combi and E/Mauler so I could perhaps get some E/M templates onto them after they advanced.

My Wu Ming Haris was on the right, with the HMG on the same catwalk system as my Tanko, and the Brawler and Chain Rifle Wu Ming below covering the right side of my deployment zone and watching the Karakuri’s back, who was watching the right table edge against the Volunteer or SAS advancing up. I held the Libertos in reserve, and then deployment went back to Jordan. Uxia came down right next to my Keisotsu link, with the intent of taking out my Tanko and damaging my link, so I just deployed the Libertos and its mine in such a way that if Uxia advanced, the mine would go off and I would get free chain colt in from the Libertos as well. I’m digging the Libertos a lot already! I tied my Xenotech to my Doctor and Jordan did the same with his Paramedic.

Turn 1

Top of 1 – CHA

The first order sets the tone of the game, with my Fugazi crit-flash pulsing McMurrough. We didn’t bother rolling my Keisotsu FO’s flash pulses for obvious reasons. After sinking 5 orders into his SAS FO on his right, trying to push the button on his near right antenna, Jordan finally succeeds. Definitely a string of bad luck at the beginning of the game! The Galwegians then throw smoke for the Volunteer Paramedic, who makes her play for the near left antenna. After all four orders in that pool, Jordan’s got his near left antenna, has dropped the Multiscanner, and thrown the Volunteer into suppression, so not a bad recovery from his earlier rash of bad luck. He’s got a few orders left, so he spends one on Uxia and tries to boarding shotgun down my Tanko by catching him with a template bounced off the Fugazi. Two birds, one stone! The Tanko pistols back, the mine goes off, the Fugazi flash pulses, and the Libertos (after some waffling and nail biting from me) chain colts Uxia. Uxia takes out the flash pulse bot, but my Tanko is quick on the draw and beats out her shotgun. We then start rolling ARM saves on Uxia, and she passes against the pistol and the mine but not against my Libertos’s chain colt. Phew! It was the right call after all! Jordan really wants my Tanko gone, so he gets his Cateran into LoF and takes a shot at him. We’re above the trees, so the saturation zone doesn’t apply, and he ends up being within 24″ when he’s finally visible, putting me on 10s and him on 12s. Thankfully, I manage to sneak a missile through. All it takes is one failed ARM save, and that’s what I get: 17, 18, and a 1. With that, Jordan is out of orders and passes things back to me.

Bottom of 1 – Ikari

I’m obligated to walk in my Yuan Yuan because of the Engineering Deck rules. I want to chain rifle the Volunteer Paramedic in suppression, so I choose to walk in over there. Three things can see: one of the heavy infantry on the other side of the table, a Galwegian, and the Volunteer Paramedic, but not all at the same time. I elect to take the pistol shot that’s outside of 16″ and going through a saturation zone as opposed to anything else, and of course Jordan rolls a hit and I fail ARM. Ah well. One ADHL-toting Yuan Yuan down. I need to get McMurrough off the table, so I throw the Wu Ming Haris at the problem. Some fancy footwork lets me get the Brawler Engineer in contact with the right near antenna, and I snag that objective. The HMG gets into position to see McMurrough and the Chain Rifle Wu Ming covers the interior of the objective room. McMurrough rolls like crap on his smoke, and my HMG puts two wounds on him, dropping him unconscious. I retreat the HMG to safety, just in case, and then start working on things with my primary group. My Druze AHD grabs the left objective, then dashes up the left side of the table to viral pistol down the SAS. There’s a hostile Paramedic still on the table, so my Druze executes McMurrough on the way to the far left antenna (that the poor SAS tried with 5 orders to connect), successfully flipping the antenna. At this point, I need to get out of there, so I retreat the Druze all the way to the near corner of the objective corner and throw him into suppression. Sadly, as fun as it was to shoot something with a viral pistol, the combi was still the right choice against the S.A.S. Boo.

Combi Viral Pistol Outcome 64.00% Druze Wounds S.A.S. 26.31% 59.26% Druze Kills S.A.S. 28.18% 31.08% No success 7.82% 9.65% S.A.S. Wounds Druze

Turn 2

Top of 2 – CHA

At this point, Adam steps in to advise. Jordan wants to get rid of my Tanko, so Adam recommends sending in the Mormaer AP HMG. After spreading out the Haris before they make LoF to the Tanko, the Mormaer pie-slices and takes out my Druze. I misjudge the distance, thinking it was outside of 24″, and dodge. Sadly, we’re in 24″ and the Mormaer blasts my Druze off the table. I’m okay with this, because the further the Haris advances, the more of a window they give my Bashi to arrive. We do some quick math and they decide to take a shot at the Tanko while out of cover. 5 dice on 13’s versus two on 19’s sounds good, but as we found out, it’s not great.

No Cover (Hit Mode) Cover (Blast Mode) Outcome 32.46% 41.76% Mormaer wounds Tanko. 8.41% 14.57% Mormaer KOs Tanko. 1.75% 3.85% Mormaer kills Tanko. 15.15% 21.16% No success. 52.39% 37.09% Tanko KOs Mormaer. 39.88% 23.54% Tanko kills Mormaer.

We’ve arrived at a loose guideline in our meta which is you want a 2 dice advantage in burst where a +3 target number advantage roughly is a +1 burst equivalency. This is not a very robust metric, but it’s a good decision making tool. In any case, my +6 BS advantage on the Tanko means it’s an effectively 5 to 4 dice face to face. Being in cover gets them to a 5 to 3 dice face to face, effectively, giving them that magic +2 burst advantage. Again, not a bulletproof metric, but if you’re looking for a quick litmus test on a decision it’s not awful. In any case, I roll a 17 and a 1 against no crits, and that’s enough to take the Mormaer off the table after two failed ARM rolls. Two Galwegians advance into the objective room with two corner guarding. Wallace leverages the catwalk above to stay in coherency while remaining safe. They stay out of LoF of my SMG Wu Ming, but I miss a ARO on my Karakuri’s long range shotgun. I missed it, so we ignore it. The remaining SAS runs all the way back to Jordan’s deployment zone, setting up a Turn 3 run to get to the antenna that I flipped with my Druze. With that, it’s end of turn of CHA.

Bottom of 2 – Ikari

I bring in a Cube Jager behind the Volunteer Paramedic and SMG her off the table. With the remaining Haris members advanced, this gives me a window to bring on the Bashi. I sneak right behind the remaining Mormaer and the Grey and drop a E/Mauler. Jordan pops his SAS out of camo to take a shot but whiffs on a 19. The Mormaer manages to change face as the E/Mauler goes down to see the threat. I dash the Bashi away. The Mormaer doens’t react, for fear of setting off the E/Mauler, which lets me gun down the SAS as I walk int cover. With the SAS down, who was pinning my Cube Jager, I’m free to walk up to the Volunteer’s antenna and flip it, giving me all four antennas. I attempt to take out one of the Galwegians with the Wu Ming SMG but he beats me out with smoke. I’ve got orders, so I spend them on the Bashi, taking a shot at the T2 Rifle Mormaer who fires back. I sneak some hits it but he passes ARM (of course)… but doesn’t pass thes save against the E/Mauler. The Grey, fortunately for Jordan, does pass his BTS and turns around. I advance my Karakuri to make a run on the objective room at the bottom of 3… and throw the Bashi into suppression before passing the turn. The Bashi and the Cube Jager have executed a perfect pincer manuever, taking out Jordan’s remaining specialists and breaking up his heavy infantry haris.

Turn 3

Top of 3 – CHA

I’ve currently got nothing in the center room, so Jordan goes for points, breaking a Galwegian out of the link to go and get his Xenotech (proxied by the 112) under the cover of some smoke. Without much difficulty, he syncs the Xenotech and gets him into the room, returning the Galwegian to his original corner guard position outside the room. We forget about the Xenotech rules and Jordan reforms the link, but it ends up not mattering (Pro-Tip: you can’t sync the Xenotech and be in a link). With his remaining order in the second pool, Jordan tries to take out the Bashi with his Grey, but he fails. At least he passes ARM against the hail of suppressive combi fire that comes back at him.

Bottom of 3 – Ikari

I throw my Doctor into the first pool with my remaining command token (I used the others on flipping irregular orders to regular). I try to clear out one of the Galwegians, this time with my HMG, but get beat out by smoke again. My Doctor gets the Xenotech into the doorway after dropping a Multiscanner… human shields aren’t very ethical but certainly effective against the Galwegian’s chain rifles. I push the Wu Ming SMG into the room and crit the Galwegian I can see off the table, but his chain rifle puts a wound on the Wu Ming. The Doctor dives in along with the Xenotech… as does the Karakuri. Unfortunately, Jordan’s dodge beats out my Intuitive Attack with the Karakuri’s chain rifle, and the game is over. With my Jager securing Jordan’s HVT, and both of us having placed the Multiscanner, it’s a

6-1 Ikari Company Victory!

Notes

Notes for Me

I think I was too conservative with the Wu Ming HMG’s placement, which caused some movement issues with the Haris. Probably not a bad idea against a T2 sniper and Uxia though.

Ikari is pretty rad. They don’t really have much in the way of infiltrating specialists, but they make up for it with lots of interesting AD options and one of the toughest specialists in the game–the Karakuri.

I’m pretty pleased with the performance of the list. Having three AD units with such useful kit basically on demand is very strong, and if it’s not the right time to drop them in, I just don’t.

The Wu Ming Haris or the Libertos eats all the orders in group 2, and the same for the Druze and the Karakuri in group 1. I’m a big fan.

Solo Druze are pretty scary. Just because something can link, doesn’t mean it has to be linked. This is particularly true of Karakuri out of JSA. I have no interest in paying 60-70ish more points just to get burst 4 on my Mk12 in JSA. Just not worth it.

Coming from JSA, I do miss the Keisotsu link as the Domaru delivery system, but the defensive Tanko core is pretty terrifying. The rest of the link folks like a wet paper napkin, but if you can protect them the Tanko will do work for you. This game alone, he took out a Mormaer and a Cateran, all by himself, and if he goes down, there’s a Paramedic to pick him back up again.

I keep wanting to mess with the composition of that Wu Ming Haris. The Chain Rifle seems pretty necessary, and the Brawler Haris profile isn’t a suitable substitute. The HMG seems obligatory, unless I want to take a Druze HMG Haris which seems expensive, so really the last thing to mess with is “which Brawler?”

I think the Doctor, the Engineer, and the AHD Brawler are all good options. I’m not interested in any of the heavy weapon profiles, really… If I want a dedicated ARO Haris, the double Tanko ML + Brawler Haris is the way to go there. The Engineer is good for objective rooms, since you know people are going to be packing AHDs and E/M, and the Doctor for other things. The AHD is a pretty weak link, so I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave it out.

I was really pleased with my pincer movement with the two AD troops. Definitely

Notes for Jordan

I don’t think I would’ve sent Uxia after the Tanko. Start on the ground floor, kill all my Keisotsu there, kill the Doctor, and THEN go after the Tanko. I would’ve put the Libertos on the bottom to deal with you, but my chance of success is much lower now.

Turns out Uxia isn’t very good at killing linked Tankos, Assault Pistol or not. Stabbing is pretty close to even, but you’re not going to take out the Tanko in one hit, and Shock/Mono will make sure you don’t get to try again if you lose…

Dual Assault Pistols Boarding Shotgun Outcome 26.09% 18.45% Uxia wounds Tanko. 4.34% 1.84% Uxia KOs Tanko. 0.51% Uxia kills Tanko. 30.30% 31.33% No success. 43.61% 50.22% Tanko KOs Uxia. 9.51% 11.87% Tanko kills Uxia.