That was exciting wasn’t it? A selection of different scenarios and
different force sizes all vying for various relics left over from The Builders,
before the reckless Amano set off the chain of events that ended up
annihilating the planet Xilos.
Time for a nice relaxing wind down and spend some time in
the familiar company of the Concord Combined Command.
We’re going to crank it up all the way to 1,000. That’s right – the 1K mark.
Why not 750?
Because you don’t get the really sweet, sweet Strategic options at
750. That, and I’ve been dying to do 1,000 point lists.
But 1,000 offers so many choices and options. And being stuck to just one list isn’t
satisfying at this level. We’ll be
wanting to have a set of core lists for a variety of tactical situations.
These will comprise of an “Exploratory” list, “Offensive”
list and “Defensive” list.
All being balanced but the content being slightly
different.
So CCC forces at 1,000.
What’s in the force selector?
Force Selector
Force size
|
Points Value
|
Tactical (t)
|
Support (s)
|
Strategic (g)
|
Auxiliary (a)
|
Combat Force
|
1,000
|
4-6
|
1-4
|
0-1
|
0-2
|
We’ll need a minimum of 4 tactical choices and a single
support choice for all situational lists.
We could take up to 6 tactical choices, 4 support choices and a
magnificent 2 auxiliary choices. The number of auxiliary choices don’t just
have an effect on the squads though, it permits duplication of most Army Options.
Selecting the army
Is it wrong to start by looking at the Strategic choices
and ignoring the fact there are tactical choices needed first?
Of course it’s not wrong!
Strategically there are the Support Teams, a Transport
Drone or Combat Drones.
The Support Teams are by far the cheapest option and can
be equipped with larger weapons than the regular lighter Support teams. One point to note is that these teams are
Slow, meaning that they would move half the regular distance. Also to note is that all the Heavy Weapon
options are unable to fire unless given a Fire order (but do NOT get the +1 for
aiming), so no advancing and firing for these folks.
Plasma Bombard has a very good range, importantly the
effective range covers most of a regular battlefield so not too many negatives
when shooting. The immense SV7 can
potentially knock out most things (perhaps not other weapons teams though) is
pretty much the second highest SV available at the moment (just beaten by SV9
of a short ranged Compression Bombard).
Guess technically it is the highest SV at ranges over 50 inches. Only being able to fire on a Fire order is
one of two downsides (Plasma Fade is the other) as enemy units will not happily
step out in front of it, but you could create a patch of ground in its sights
where you know the enemy are unlikely to tread.
X-Howitzer unit has the joint highest range of all the
weapons available. The only hiding place
from this beast is within 10 inches of it.
Its SV2 will allow it to threaten infantry units from all factions, but
the real punch comes from the Blast D10.
Against even a high value vehicle such as a Ghar Command Crawler which
would be taking Res tests on 9s, having to roll potentially 10 times could cause
it some serious harm. Not being able to
move and fire doesn’t hurt this bad boy so much, with the ability to fire
overhead. Added to the various exotic
munitions available makes this my preference so far.
The C3T7 Transporter Drone is not like anything else in
the CCC force. It’s MoD2 and can
transport up to 10 regular sized models.
Theoretically the C3T7 can make an advance move, then a second advance
move and still permit disembarkation (if the transport makes a run order it
cannot disembark passengers). This gives
the transported troops an extra 10 inches or so movement for that game turn. It’s armed with a Plasma Light Support, so at
least it can move and fire. A variety of
drones can be added to the unit. Down
side is you can only take one per C3 Strike Squads, so if you only have one
Strike Squad you can only take one Transporter; which is not so bad at 1,000
points as one is all we can take anyway.
I like transports.
I’d prefer transports to be an upgrade to a squad and not take up a
precious Strategic slot, but it’s the same for all factions so I’m not going to
grumble to much (except I’d love a fully “mechanised” CCC Exploration Strike
Force with transports and combat drones).
Combat Drones come in two main sizes; the C3M4 Combat
Drone and the twice the price C3M25 Heavy Combat Drone. The C3M4 being MoD2 lets it be reasonably
manoeuvrable. Equipped with a selection
of different Light Support Weapons it can advance and shoot, enabling it go out
hunting for targets. By comparison the Heavy Combat Drones are Slow and have
Heavy Support Weapons that are fire on a Fire order only weapons. They are MoD3 which to an extent offsets
Slow, but not by much. If stationary it
can shoot three times with their monstrous armaments, which is not a bad thing
if taking the C3M50 Heavy Siege Drone with X-Howitzer or Mag Mortar (did
someone say “Maaaaggg Mortar”??? I love
Mag Mortars. Imagine dropping 3 Mag
Mortar rounds in and around the enemy each turn, fun times).
So that's a quick overview of the Strategic options available.
Best think about the rest of the force…
Exploration Force:
4 Tactical units.
First though is Drop Command Squad, Drop Suqad, Strike Squad and a Nuhu.Backed up by a X-Launcher and an Interceptor Squad. The Strike Team, Nuhu and X-Launcher transported in a C3T7. Then see if there are any points left over… I highly doubt it though…
(t) Drop Command Squad (141) = 141
(t) Drop Squad (176), Extra Lance (+6), Spotter (+10) =
192(t) Strike Squad (112), Lance (+3), Spotter (+10) = 125
(t) Nuhu (164), 2x Shield Drones (+20) = 184
(s) Support Team with X-Launcher (40), All Ammo (+15), Spotter (+10) = 65
(s) Interceptor Squad (136), Compactor with Plasma Cannon (+25), Spotter (+10) = 171
(g) C3T7 Transporter Drone (194) = 194
(a) Targeter Probes (20) = 20
Total = 1,092 points & 9 order dice.
That’s not too far off, surprisingly. But still 92 points
too many.
Dropping the Drop Squad would require a Strike Squad to
replace it, so would only save 60 or so points.
Which is not enough. The only
unit I can drop without having to take a replacement is the Interceptor
Squad… That would leave 79 points to
play with. Perhaps a LS Drone and a
Batter Drone for the Transporter?
Final list for
Exploration Force
(t) Drop Command Squad (141) = 141(t) Drop Squad (176), Extra Lance (+6), Spotter (+10) = 192
(t) Strike Squad (112), Lance (+3), Spotter (+10) = 125
(t) Nuhu (164), 2x Shield Drones (+20) = 184
(s) Support Team with X-Launcher (40), All Ammo (+15), Spotter (+10) = 65
(s) C3D1 Light Support Drone (59) = 59
(g) C3T7 Transporter Drone (194), Batter Drone (+20) = 214
(a) Targeter Probes (20) = 20
Total = 1,000 points & 9 order dice
Some scenarios only permit half a force to set up, so I’d be tempted to use my 5 dice to take the C3T7 (2dice), Strike Squad, Nuhu & mandatory Probes. Then have the rest turn up as and when required.
Defensive Force:
Defiantly an X-Howitzer with little X-Launcher buddies,
lots of Strike Squads and a few Light or Medium drones to add a bit of
punch. Then we can add some extra bits
in…
Concord Defensive Force
(t) Command Squad (110) = 110(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) Support Team with X-Launcher (40), All Ammo (+15), Spotter (+10) = 65
(s) C3D1 Light Support Drone (59) = 59
(s) C3D2 Medium Support Drone (93), Plasma Cannon (+5), Spotter (+10) = 108
(g) X-Howitzer (110), All Ammo (+15), Batter Drone (+20) = 145
(a) Targeter Probes (20) = 20
Total = 882 points & 9 order dice.
Not quite enough left over for an Interceptor Squad. Tempted to take a shard of Scout Probes to
give the X-Howitzer and X-Launcher buddy more options for patch sighting. That should leave enough points left over for
another C3D1 LS Drone. Then upgrade the
Strike Squads with Slingnet launchers for added pins. Not upgrading the Command Squad, he’s there
to bark orders out at the start of the game.
Not adding spotters to the C3D1 LS Drones as with 3 shots they should be
able to hit at least something; putting them in separate squads should increase
their longevity hopefully.
Final list for
Defensive Force
(t) Command Squad (110) = 110(t) Strike Squad (112), Lance (+3), Slingnet ammo (+5), Spotter (+10) = 130
(t) Strike Squad (112), Lance (+3), Slingnet ammo (+5), Spotter (+10) = 130
(t) Strike Squad (112), Lance (+3), Slingnet ammo (+5), Spotter (+10) = 130
(s) Support Team with X-Launcher (40), All Ammo (+15), Spotter (+10) = 65
(s) C3D1 Light Support Drone (59) = 59
(s) C3D1 Light Support Drone (59) = 59
(s) C3D2 Medium Support Drone (93), Plasma Cannon (+5), Spotter (+10) = 108
(g) X-Howitzer (110), All Ammo (+15), Batter Drone (+20) = 145
(a) Targeter Probes (20) = 20
(a) Scout Probes (40) = 40
Total = 996 points & 11 order dice.
Offensive Force
C3M4 leads the way on this one. As many hard hitting units as possible supported by infantry, but thinking Drones, Interceptors and of course an X-Launcher.
(t) Drop Command Squad (141) = 141
(t) Drop Squad (176), Extra Lance (+6), Spotter (+10) = 192
(t) Strike Squad (112), Lance (+3), Spotter (+10) = 125
(t) Strike Squad (112), Lance (+3), Spotter (+10) = 125
(s) Support Team with X-Launcher (40), All Ammo (+15), Spotter (+10) = 65
(s) Interceptor Squad (136), Compactor with Plasma Cannon (+25), Spotter (+10) = 171
(s) C3D1 Light Support Drone (59) = 59
(s) C3D2 Medium Support Drone (93), Plasma Cannon (+5), Spotter (+10) = 108
(g) C3M4 Combat Drone (249) = 249
(a) Targeter Probes (20) = 20
Total = 1,255 points & 11 order dice.
Changing the “Drop” units for regular units would save 98 points. Leaving out the Interceptor Squad would bring the total saved to 269, leaving 14 points left to spend.
I really wanted the Interceptors though. And Drop troops.
The LS, MS and X-Launcher would save 232, so would still
need to drop something else.
Gosh darn it, looks like the Drop Troops are dropped
(haha, I made a funny) and the Interceptors are dropped too.
This would make the final list for Offensive Force
(t) Command Squad (110) = 110(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) Support Team with X-Launcher (40), All Ammo (+15), Spotter (+10) = 65
(s) C3D1 Light Support Drone (59) = 59
(s) C3D2 Medium Support Drone (93), Plasma Cannon (+5), Spotter (+10) = 108
(g) C3M4 Combat Drone (249) = 249
(a) Targeter Probes (20) = 20
Total = 1,255 points & 10 order dice.
But you know, I’m going to drop the other support choices and take the Interceptors and Drop Troops.
This makes the
actual final list for Offensive Force
(t) Drop Command Squad (141) = 141(t) Drop Squad (176), Extra Lance (+6), Spotter (+10) = 192
(t) Strike Squad (112), Spotter (+10) = 122
(t) Strike Squad (112), Lance (+3), Spotter (+10) = 125
(s) Interceptor Squad (136), Compactor with Plasma Cannon (+25), Spotter (+10) = 171
(g) C3M4 Combat Drone (249) = 249
Total = 1,000 points & 7 order dice.
But what would happen if I tried to cram a C3M50 Heavy
Siege Drone with Mag Mortar into a 500 point list…
(t) Command Squad (110) = 110(t) Strike Squad (112), Lance (+3) = 115
(t) Strike Squad (112), Lance (+3), Spotter (+10) = 125
(t) Strike Squad (112), Lance (+3), Spotter (+10) = 125
(s) C3D1 Light Support Drone (59) = 59
(g) C3M50 Heavy Siege Drone (418), Mag Mortar (free), Net Ammo (+5) = 423
(a) Scout Probes (40) = 40
Total = 997 points & 9 order dice.
Ooooooooo… It’s probably not a well balanced list, but…. You know… MAG MORTAR!!
Until next time!
