Concord 500 Point Force - Out of the Box

This is the first voyage into putting a Concord Combine Command 500 point force together.  The main these will be to base it around the figures available in the main box game, so nothing too exotic. 

It is not a competitive list, but will allow you to use everything from the box game without investing further. 

Force Selector

Force size	Points Value	Tactical (t)	Support (s)	Strategic (g)	Auxiliary (a)
Scouting Force	500	3-4	0-1	0	0-1

At 500 points the Concord force requires at least 3 tactical choices.

The force could contain as many as 4 tactical choices, 1 support choice and 1 Auxiliary choice, giving a potential 6 order dice.  Army Options are available, with the maximum of each individual option being equal to the number of Auxiliary choices, but no more than 50 points (10% of the total cost).

Selecting the army

Going to ignore the Limited Choices to begin with, as need 3 other units first before permitted to take the Limited Choice. 

Based on the parameters of “what’s in the box” we’re kind of limited to Strike Squads.  At least two of them to begin with. The base cost being 112, so that’s almost half of the point allocation gone (224 spent, 276 left) and we still need a third tactical choice.

The third choice is either going to be a Strike Squad or a Command Squad (we’ll need a 4^th unit later though for the Limited Choice).  There are 2 strike squads already and variety is the spice of life, however the strength of the Command Squad is its Command and Follow abilities, not to mention the Acc of 6.  However the unit cannot be upgraded to have a lance, and with only 3 squad members it is going to be attracting some unwanted attention and possibly never reaching its maximum potential.  A third Strike Squad would put 15 men on the table and the ability to take lances could put out a potential 6 pins between them.  Most forces would be hard put to absorb 6 pins in any one turn, nor cause that much disruption.

I think a third Strike Squad each with a lance just edges it taking the force up to:

(t) Strike Squad (112), Lance (+3) = 115
(t) Strike Squad (112), Lance (+3) = 115
(t) Strike Squad (112), Lance (+3) = 115
Total = 345 points & 3 order dice.

Before upgrading Strike squads it is probably worth looking at a fourth unit.

Potentially a 4^th Strike Squad, or a Command Squad or a C2D1 Light Support Drone.  All available in the starter box.
We’ve looked at Strike Squads above and they can put out quite a bit of firepower, but a 4^th Strike Squad would only leave 40 points to spend. 
Similarly the Command Squad would take a chunk out of the remaining points allocation.
Now, this isn’t technically a problem as 40 points could equip all the Strike Squads with Spotter Drones, which are something of a must when using lances.

However, for a bit of variety I’ll pop for the Light Support Drone with Plasma Light Support.  At almost half the cost of the other units it allows a bit of wiggle room for taking upgrades.

List now comprises of

(t) Strike Squad (112), Lance (+3) = 115
(t) Strike Squad (112), Lance (+3) = 115
(t) Strike Squad (112), Lance (+3) = 115
(s) C2D1 Light Support Drone (59)
Total = 404 points & 4 order dice.

A fifth order dice would be really useful.  The only available options are to take either a fourth tactical choice or to take an auxiliary choice.  As all the tactical choices are over 96 points (our remaining quota) it really can only be an auxiliary choice.

The Concord auxiliary options are either targeter probes, scout probes, medical probes or the General Purpose drone. 

Wanting to keep an eye on saving 30 points to give the Strike Squads spotter drones (to help with the lance inaccuracy) and with the other eye on 59 points to take a second Light Support drone in the support unit, the scouts and medical probes are just a bit too expensive.  Not only that, but there is not much for the scouts to do with there being no overhead weapons.

Choosing between targeters and the GP drone is a bit tough, as you can proxy the spotter drone figures to be targeters with opponent’s permission, but making this list in advance the permission cannot be guaranteed. 

Also, trying to squeeze in that second Light Support drone may be a bit much so will drop that idea for now…

And the spotter drones in the units are going to be a good investment, so will update the list to show:

(t) Strike Squad (112), Lance (+3), spotter (+10) = 125
(t) Strike Squad (112), Lance (+3), spotter (+10) = 125
(t) Strike Squad (112), Lance (+3), spotter (+10) = 125
(s) C2D1 Light Support Drone = (59)
(a) GP General Purpose Drone / Targeter probes = (20)
Total = 454 points & 5 order dice. 

46 points left.

Not enough to acquire the final tactical choice, so will look at the upgrades for the Strike Squads.

Extra figures, plasma grenades or sling net.  I’d quite like the Strike Squads to be identical, that way the opponent will not be drawn to attack one specific unit over another.  And I am not likely to be to gung-ho with any one specific unit either and make my deployment options that bit simpler.
While pondering upgrades for the Strike Squads, may be worth checking out the upgrades for the Light Support Drone.  It can take a spotter, two shield drones, a batter drone and can be improved to self-repair.
The GP drone can be upgraded similarly to the Light Support drone, but with a Subversion Matrix too.  Difficult knowing if the Subversion Matrix will be any use or not as entirely depends on the force being faced.  However it can suck up a whole bunch of opponents order dice if things go well and in small games not being able to utilise all units each turn is a pain.

So I think a “collapsible” Subversion Matrix would be useful.  That is to say take the Subversion Matrix in the list, but should a last minute adjustment be required, have a straight forward substitution to hand.  Just so happens that a Batter drone costs the same number of points.

As for upgrading the other units, the Light Support Drone could do with some protection, so perhaps a batter drone for this too.
I have seen some people use parts of left over Subversion Matrix weapons into batter drones, so technically not using figures not available in the box game.

So where does that take the list to:

(t) Strike Squad (112), Lance (+3), spotter (+10) = 125
(t) Strike Squad (112), Lance (+3), spotter (+10) = 125
(t) Strike Squad (112), Lance (+3), spotter (+10) = 125
(s) C2D1 Light Support Drone (59), batter (+20) = 79
(a) GP General Purpose Drone (20), Subversion Matrix (+20) = 40
Total = 494 points & 5 order dice. 

6 points left.  Upgrade single unit leader with slingnet?  Or a 5 point army option.  Think a 5 point army option is perhaps more flexible, with it being able to be used in more situations.

Either Block or Well Prepared as these are the only 5 point army options.  So force a dice back into the bag or a +1 to a re-roll. 

This makes the final list:

(t) Strike Squad (112), Lance (+3), spotter (+10) = 125
(t) Strike Squad (112), Lance (+3), spotter (+10) = 125
(t) Strike Squad (112), Lance (+3), spotter (+10) = 125
(s) C2D1 Light Support Drone (59), batter (+20) = 79
(a) GP General Purpose Drone (20), Subversion Matrix* (+20) = 40
(o) Well Prepared = 5
Total = 499 points & 5 order dice. 
*Swap the Subversion Matrix for a Batter Drone depending on opponent.

So there we have a 500 point Concord list using only what is available in the box.

Using the batter template to move the Light Support drone forwards supported by three Strike Squads, capable of pinning many units at once.  And should the need arise the option to drop the Subversion Matrix for a batter drone, to increase protection a flank.

It is not dedicated to battle against any specific faction, but then it should not fare poorly to any one opponent either.

If you use this list or one very similar to it, I would be very interested in how it fares, so please let me know in the comments below.

Bye for now!!