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So we haven't played in a long while as a group. Got together once in July but due to schedules, work, commitments ect, it just hasn't happened! That changed last night as several of us were able to get together to play at Texas Toy Soldier in Carrollton TX (DFW.). We had four 3k forces divided into two teams of 6k each. Myself and young Brandon commanded a Malvernis force while Micheal, @Smaug, and @geoffj commanded a mercenary/Terran/Space Egyptian force. Malvernis: My Force Attack: 4x Poltergeist Nomad Specialist 2x Shadows Ghost Brandon's Force Attack: 2x Poltergeist 2x Hunter Recon: 2x Shadow 2x Nomad Specialist: 2x Banshee Merc/Terran/Anubis Guards Michael's Force Attack: Butcher A Dictator A Gladiator II Imperator Recon: 2x Cougar 2x Spartan Terran/Anubis Guard Attack: Starhawk VII Falcon Nightshade Anhur Recon: 3x Talon Serket So we set up, us having five cards and them having four. While they had two recon flips, it never really came up to be a big disadvantage for us. I think having an extra card balanced it out. Anyway, turn one almost all of our stuff raced forward except for our tanks who moved up and took shots at the Serket. Between the six Poltergeist we took the CAV down. In return, the mercenaries fired at one of my Shadows for two damage, and my Ghost took a damage from the Falcon. Smaug would pick on that Ghost with a special hatred for the rest of the game. Turn two saw more of the same and the ECM war kick off. We were able to use our Nomads to gain supremacy for most of the turn, allowing our Shadow's APA to help out. My Poltergeist's put a few points of damage on Smaug's Falcon and young Brandon's Poltergeists combined with some of mine to take one of Geoff's Talon's down to it's last track, which my Ghost cleaned up and killed with it's LLBG's. Smaug paid him back and added three damage, a Suppression token, and Knock-Down state to the Ghost. Michael mauled one of my Shadows and damaged the other. Young Brandon's Banshees raced into the face of the Anubis Guard formation and did some damage to the Falcon. To end the turn, Michael's recon squad regained electronic superiority as we moved into the third and final round. (forgot to photograph that turn, sorry!) On the final turn, there was a little more "going for broke" and so Michael used his recon squad to target my last Shadow and did three damage to it while Smaug and Geoff rushed forward and mostly killed the two Banshee's. The Banshee's and Ghost sucked up a lot of fire that let the Poltergeists really assert themselves so it was a good trade. Micheal's attack squad finished off my mauled Shadow and took some fire from young Brandon's Hunters. Via card manipulation on both teams parts, four of our sections went last and we avalanched the Anubis Guards, killing the Falcon and Nightshade while putting seven damage on the Starhawk VII. probably could have been eight or nine as we forgot he'd stood still and was Stationary, but thats why we play the game. Final thoughts: The final turn had some "final turn play," though I'm mostly confident the six Poltergeists could take on the remaining CAVs and be successful. Nothing is assured with dice, but they are pretty stout tanks! The only thing that came up was CAV's blocking line of site to targets, so watch out for that!

So today we had our 3rd game in a series where we learn the rules and try new things. Below we have the Templar force The Order. Today they brought a Attack squad of 2 Centurion Mk.2's, 1 Crusader and a Spartan and a Specialist Squad of 2 Flail fire support tanks. Here we have the Malvernis Force The Swift Death consisting of an Attack Squad of 5 Banshee hover tanks, a Recon Squad of 4 Nomad vehicles (played ironically by Templar Mambas) and a Specialist Squad of 2 Butchers (with external FCS and Ammo Bin add-ons), 1 Specter B and 1 Shadow. The initial deployments were as thus. The Templar spread out a bit and the Flails started behind the hill on the Right expecting to rain rockets down from afar while the CAV's blasted anything coming over the bridge. The Malvernis deployed the Specialist Squad in the Center to blast anything trying to come over the bridge while the Banshees deployed on the left side with intent to cross the river and hit the flank while the CAV's forced the bridge. The Nomads spread out to provide overlapping ECM bubbles so that if someone got frisky with their MAC's or R10's there would still be coverage. The Malvernis got the first activation and started by advancing the Nomads and activating the ECM. The Banshees on the second card flip and followed suit and advanced forward 10" to activate Double Time but skipped their next action as they didn't want to get too far ahead just yet. Templar got the 3rd card and activated their Flails which tried lobbing Rockets at the enemy but they missed. Malvernis got the 4th card and activated their Specialist squad. The Shadow, having flashbacks to last game where it died Turn 1 ran for the Forest and grabbed a Target Lock on a Centurion which it passed to the rest of the squad via EST. It then remembered it's Chameleon ability and tried very hard to look like a tree. The Specter B moved forward and pelted the rearmost Centurion with Guided Missiles at Extreme Range and actually did 2 damage and a Suppression and Knock Down due to a Critical Hit, Shock and a Failed Piloting Check. The Butchers moved forward and appeared to lay down an additional 3 damage but then it was realized that sometime during their activation their owner had a stroke and started playing Warhammer 40k rules and completely cheated on their attacks. He then apologized and walked all their shooting back. The last activation card went to the Templar Specialist squad where the Spartan took shelter in the valley and popped it's ECM, the Rearmost Centurion stood up and tried to repair itself and failed and the front most Centurion advanced and found out it was out of range for any MAC attacks. The Crusader advanced but couldn't get a target lock to pass with EST due to all the ECM and couldn't shoot anything due to the short range PBG's it carries. Next up I forgot to take pictures in order so I'm sure I missed something. For Malvernis the Banshee's did a double move and started crossing the River. The Nomads moved up as far as they could to keep the ECM umbrella out as far as they could. The Specialist squad advanced on the Bridge in preparation for crossing while the Shadow remained in seclusion in the forest. For the Templar the Centurions moved past the Spartan to range on the enemy. They did manage to ding a Banshee despite Double time and a lack of target locks. The Flails managed to drop a brace of rockets on a Nomad and damage it pretty good. Here we have a picture of some Banshees enjoying the water. So those of you may remember that the 2 Centurions had advanced to bring their MACs to bear on the enemy. This time the Banshee's advanced to bring their PBG's to bear on the Centurions which they promptly Overdrove. End result 1 Banshee with no gun (Crit Fumble) a 2nd Banshee getting scratched and a severely dead Centurion. Here the Remaining Centurion fired it's MAC's and dealt 3 more damage to an already scratched Banshee. The Crusader racked up it's PBGs and laid a hurt on the lead Butcher for 6 damage due to Overdriven guns and a high roll. The Butcher, shaken by the hit, did not return nearly as much damage. On Round 7 the Banshee's destroyed the 2nd Centurion with massed Overdriven PBG's and managed a shot against the Spartan which knocked it down on a failed pilot check. At this point my opponent conceded defeat and we ended the game. Things learned today. 1. Again it's a numbers game. The side with more squads gets more cards in the initiative deck and more opportunities to react to and counter enemy moves 2. If one side brings a recon squad and the other doesn't, the side that doesn't is at a severe disadvantage. Between ECM not allowing target locks making long range fire inaccurate and preventing the use of Guided Missiles and the Recon Squad ability to move flipped initiative cards to the bottom of the deck that weakly armed, poorly armored squad can cause problems way out of proportion to the points spent. 3. Overdriven PBG's hurt like hell. Keep them away from you or kill them on the other side of the table. 4. Fire Support Models need Target Locks, and LOS (if possible) in order to use Rockets effectively. The idea of raining Hellfire down on your enemy from a safe distance away is a nice one but in practice without Target Locks the penalties to Long or Extreme range bombardments are too high. I don't think a single IF salvo fired today landed on target. All damage done was from scattered shots. 5. Hover tanks skimming over water look cool. Hover tanks skimming over water and then destroying Super Heavy CAV's in 1 turn look REALLY Cool. P.S. CAVBoss if you're reading this every faction needs to have models for it's Recon Vehicles. They are too damn useful not to use and by my count Malvernis, Ritterlich and Almirithil have none and Adon has the Dragonfly aircraft which is nice and all but it doesn't have ECM.

This is copied from a post on FB discussing a trick that I think would work great on MDF pieces...I will try a find a tutorial somewhere with more detail.

So we're gearing up to get back to playing CAV and hopefully won't be going 8 weeks in-between games again. Since my friend Jeff has been painting up his templar (The white Centurions and Sabers as seen on Facebook) I've been running his lists through CAV FM and sending him the pdf's. This is a list for 4500 points be it a slow grow league or an event or whatever. In actuality it's everything he's painted so far with 3 additional models (a Spartan and 2 more infantry bases. Spartan to add recon capability to the Cav squad, MAR infantry because he's got a ton of them laying about and won't need to buy them.) Do you think it'll work? Or is it going to get shot off the table? List Attack Squad 2x Centurion 1x Crusader 1x Spartan Recon Squad 4x Sabre Infantry squad x2 5x Power Armor ATM w/ODST upgrade 1x Power Armor MAR w/ODST upgrade Jeff 4500 point army.pdf

(cross post from FB group) CAV's have high tech digital camo - essentially LCD paint. I figure buildings have, essentially, digital billboards built into them. What better place for an advertiser or hacker to promote their favorite show? Some CAV terrain I'm working on.

Good times had by all. I have to admit I was very skeptical of my dice, which made it difficult for me to decide targets. I knew those poltergeist where going to be a problem and I felt I had nothing to hit them. Again...dice🤬🤬🤬

Things learned today. 1. Again it's a numbers game. The side with more squads gets more cards in the initiative deck and more opportunities to react to and counter enemy moves. Absolutely. This is designed to give forces with more flexible builds (more squads) to have a greater effect on game play while also discouraging points heavy squads. 2. If one side brings a recon squad and the other doesn't, the side that doesn't is at a severe disadvantage. Between ECM not allowing target locks making long range fire inaccurate and preventing the use of Guided Missiles and the Recon Squad ability to move flipped initiative cards to the bottom of the deck that weakly armed, poorly armored squad can cause problems way out of proportion to the points spent. Correct. Have more reconnaissance is always a good thing during a fight. If you know what the enemy is doing and he has no idea what you are then you are going to have an advantage. The expanded initiative deck will lessen this a bit as it will add more cards that will help, especially in smaller games like this. 3. Overdriven PBG's hurt like hell. Keep them away from you or kill them on the other side of the table. Yeah if you let them close the range and get good numbers to hit they can really tear holes. 4. Fire Support Models need Target Locks, and LOS (if possible) in order to use Rockets effectively. The idea of raining Hellfire down on your enemy from a safe distance away is a nice one but in practice without Target Locks the penalties to Long or Extreme range bombardments are too high. I don't think a single IF salvo fired today landed on target. All damage done was from scattered shots. Trying to rain hellfire with models not specially designed with that idea in mind is hard. Building a force group with that in mind can make a big difference in how effective they are. Most models have rockets for more of a harassing effect. The game is weighted towards direct fire to keep the rocket duels to a minimum and keep the models moving about. The extreme range mod can be overcome with a model with wizzo, a target lock, and 2 models with FCS. In the rules update fire support models will get some help with this. Great tactic is to have a recon model (equipped with rockets) with fire support models, all of them using CFPs. The recon model can lock up the spot and on a successful strike point transfer that to all the others hiding behind a hill. Ouch! 5. Hover tanks skimming over water look cool. Hover tanks skimming over water and then destroying Super Heavy CAV's in 1 turn look REALLY Cool. !!! P.S. CAVBoss if you're reading this every faction needs to have models for it's Recon Vehicles. They are too damn useful not to use and by my count Malvernis, Ritterlich and Almirithil have none and Adon has the Dragonfly aircraft which is nice and all but it doesn't have ECM. I've said in the past that if people will tell me where there are holes in model types I can look at filling them in! SO make a list!!!

So basically this is just to check my math on this one. You have a Fire Support squad consisting of 1 Spartan Recon CAV and 3 Sovereign III Fire Support CAV's. The Spartan has EST and TAG. The Sovereign III's have FCS and Adv Targeting Computer 1 The Spartan declares a target lock on point A which may or may not have a enemy model standing on it. The Spartan uses EST to relay this target lock to the Sovereign III's The Sovereign III's will each get a +3 to their Strike Point roll due to the following +1 from the target lock triggering the Adv. Targeting Computer +2 from the FCS system as each Sovereign III has one and the max bonus available from FCS is +2 If the Sovereign III's can individually see (have LOS) to the Strike Point they would get a further +1 for a total of +4 to the Strike Point roll. For the Combat roll the only bonuses would be if the target was Disabled, Immobile, Stationary or Prone or if the Sovereign III's Salvo Fired their 2 Heavy R10 rocket pods. The Spartan's TAG does nothing as nobody is using Guided Missiles and you can't feed TAG through a EST system anyway. Right?

Thoughts. Well after retreating to the restroom to sit upon the Throne of Wisdom and contemplate the if's as Marcellus Wallace would say I've come to the following thoughts. 1. What you describe is by my way of thinking a stronger, faster, better Specialist squad for the Secondary side of things. I say this because as I understand it the differences are. A) A Primary Specialist squad is 1-4 models be they CAV's, Tanks, Infantry or Aircraft where as the Provisional squad is 4-6 models and limited to CAV's and Tanks only? B) The Specialist squad will not benefit from the Fire Support or Recon freebies like the Provisional squad will. I can see it being of benefit for the smaller point armies as a Specialist squad and a Provisional squad will give you an army of 5-10 models that could literally be any damn thing on the wall (playing a pirate or Merc force) or allowing faction forces to take that 1 Aircraft and your Lucky 3 Infantry stands in the Specialist squad (They killed a rampaging Dictator B solo doncha know) that you want and then filling out the rest of the army with the cheaper tank and CAV options in the Provisional Squad while still having access to the ELINT capabilities of Recon models, Long Range firepower of Fire Support and Upfront shooting of Attack. Example: Malvernis 2000 pts Specialist Squad 1x Ghast (Aircraft/Attack) @ 243 Tv 3x Power Armor Medium mortar infantry (Infantry/Fire Support) @ 177 Tv Provisional Squad 1x Wight (CAV/Attack) @ 596Tv 1x Shadow (CAV/Recon) @ 280 Tv 2x Banshees (Vehicle/Attack) @ 436 Tv 1x Shade (CAV/Fire Support) @ 236 Tv Total 1968 Tv Now I'm not saying the above list makes any kind of rational, logistical or tactical kind of sense, I just threw it together as an example of what could be done (assuming I got my facts straight, of course.) The Provisional squad would be classified as an Attack squad as its 3 Attack models to 1 Fire Support and 1 Recon. But you have a little of everything available and can explore your options without having to drop $60 in models to play. Although I have no idea why you wouldn't drop $60 or more as there's so many options and they're all priced to move.

Something a little different, a friend of mine asked if he could use my minis in a photo shoot. Turns out, space beer is a thing. Check them out on Instagram if you like. https://www.instagram.com/p/CTNKRtolYFe/?utm_medium=copy_link

Here are links to the four fonts for Adon, Rach, Ritter, and Malvern. These are script fonts so like what you would see in a book or other document. I'm happy with Adon and Rach, but the other two are not what I had in mind so they will be going back to drawing board. https://talon-games.com/downloads/FONTS/Adon Regular.ttf https://talon-games.com/downloads/FONTS/Rach Regular.ttf https://talon-games.com/downloads/FONTS/Ritterlich Regular.ttf https://talon-games.com/downloads/FONTS/Malvernis Regular.ttf

FLight Squads get "dual" designations so if you have two recon aircraft they do count as a "recon" squad.

@CAVBOSS do you have these letters as an actual font we could import into windows? If so, @Dave.C you could print them out and save a ton of work.

This is going to take a couple of coats.

Honestly, that might make it better in a different way, as it could add into the MoS. But if there's a time to find problems, it's before an update lands.

Here is a question that came up on stream tonight, laid out so that Jon can review and address it. I am running a Specialist squad with a Concussion, a Scout Helicopter, and two Bears. I have fitted the Concussion with Semi-Guided Rockets. The interaction in question is: 1) The Scout Heli target locks a strike point and shares it to its squad with EST. It spends its other action to paint that target with the active version of TAG. 2) The Concussion accepts the target lock and fires its Semi-Guided Rockets at the strike point. 3) The Bears have declared their intent to accept the Chain Fire firing solution and shoot the same target. IF all the bonuses interact together as the "on paper" implies, then the Concussion has a maximum +6 on its Strike Point roll (+1 Semi-Guided, +2 Target Lock, +2 FCS, +1 Can see the target). Can the Concussion use the Semi-Guided Rockets and still share the successful strike point to the Bears, even if they aren't running Semi-Guided ammunition? ((Specific models provided to flesh out the example and to push the numbers as high as I think they can go. I very much believe that seeing how extreme the numbers can go can help us see if the interaction gets out of hand. Considering the investment involved (target lock, another model spending an action for TAG, etc) I don't think this is out of line for a maximum best case scenario, but hey.))

It's a weird situation that I think points out a problem with both TAG and Target-Lock coming into play at the same time. Im thinking that the +1 for semi-guided should probably apply to the combat roll rather than the strike-point.

I looked at the rules and everything seems legal to me. The Concussion in your math benefits from 'can see the target' but you could do all of this without LOS to the strike point, you'd just lose the +1.

I do have a backup plan which is a little more traditional Specialist Squad 2x Butcher w/external ammo bins & External FCS pods 1x Specter B 1x Shadow The FCS pods on the Specter and Butchers allow for more accurate IF shots for removing recon vehicles and other annoyances hiding behind hills. MRAC'S and GM's to deal with CAV's and any heavy armor. Attack Squad 5x Banshee Flank'em and shoot 'em in the butt. Recon Squad 4x Nomad Initiative deck shenanigans, ECM bubbles, Distractions

Just doing some theorycrafting, and it looks like the External ECMs would be really good on infantry transports. Most of them have few actual combat options, and after they deliver their charges are glorified cover. If you have the points on hand, is there a reason to not load them up with the External ECMs? They're likely well downfield, they are pretty much begging to absorb fire, and they don't have much else to do with their actions. Am I missing something?

Good catch Krugerannd, I stand corrected. 🙂

Infantry Models do not benefit from APA per the Errata titled 3_4_3_Special. Under the section for APA on the first page. "Enhanced Targeting Acquisition: Using a Special Action (1 AP) to activate, the provides SA: APA improved targeting data on any enemy model located within the system's area of effect, equal to the model's APA rating level (+1/+2), to the Combat Roll of allied non-infantry models until the start of the models next activation." You could still mount them to the transports and use a Action to activate them and send the bonus to your CAV's, Tanks and Aircraft but those transports are going to be the center of attention.

So we got our second game in today. Tactical mistakes and poor dice rolls were the order of the day. The Specialist Squad of the 5th Regiment. Butcher B, Revenant, Specter B and Shadow. The initial deployment. You can see great care was taken to gain maximum tactical advantage. My opponent (who has pictures of his models on Facebook, mine don't do him justice) Has a pair of Centurions Mk. 2 and 4 Sabre recon tanks. He gets 2 initiative cards and I get 1. This was my first mistake. The recon squad allows him to move my card from just flipped to the bottom of the deck. Ergo I go last every turn as I have no Recon squad to counter it. The first turn for my army. The Shadow stealthily takes position in the stand of trees and target locks one of the opposing centurions. The Revenant and Butcher B move forward and have no targets. The Specter B takes advantage of the target lock on the Centurion and lays a salvo of Rockets right on the Sabre recon vehicle instead of the target locked Centurion. Mistake #2. My opponent is unimpressed with my opening gambit. The damaged Sabre moves behind the temple/statue thingy by the curve in the road and advances the rest of the squad forward alongside the Centurions. Turn 3. Those of you who have been following along and paying attention may notice something missing from this picture. Can you guess what it is? Why the Shadow is missing from the trees. That's because Shadows don't react well to target locked Heavy MAC cannons. They also don't like critical hits and Medium Guided Missiles either. Apparently light cover and chameleon will not save you from a determined enemy. When asked why so determined the reply "Well I remember all the nasty crap you can do with a recon model so I wanted it gone A.S.A.P." The Butcher B decided staying together to concentrate fire with the Revenant was a suckers game and left on a run up the side to try a flanking maneuver. Me and Bonaparte right? 2 Tactical geniuses in a pod. Here on the next turn my opponent decided the Specter B had to go. The Heavy MAC's missed but the Medium GM's forced a pilot roll which I promptly failed. Right so on this turn the Butcher B has doubled down on the whole Flanking move/Lone wolf ploy. We rev up our mighty MRAC's and....snake eyes. Dammit he was right all along these things suck. Fortunately re-reading the rules shows that after you roll snake eyes you roll a d6 and on a 1 or 2 only are the cannons jammed. The cannons did not jam. They didn't hit, but they didn't jam. The Specter B decided it does not like being the center of attention and moved to hide behind the Revenant. The opponent's Sabers are readying to Dukes of Hazzard it over the hilltop and the one Centurion hasn't moved a inch from it's position on the hill. It just stands there calmly scanning for targets to target lock and blast into oblivion. The Sabers, instead of going over the top like I would have, decided to act wisely and scooted around the hill. The Specter B torso twists, grabs a target lock and blasts one with it's Guided Missiles. Upon doing so on the next turn all 3 surviving Sabers activate ECM to stop target locks. I again lament the passing of my Shadow which has now caught fire and is burning merrily in the forest. The second Centurion is apparently very scared of my Butcher B (or the funny sound the guns were making last turn and moves to join it's comrade. Time is also taken during the busy war to make repair rolls to fix the dent I put in the Saber hiding behind the temple/statue thingy by the curve in the road. The Revenant moves forward in an attempt to engage something with its MACs before it's too late. Sadly both shots go whizzing down field, hitting nothing but air. The Saber harassing the Specter B drives behind it and hoses it down with its Light MRAC actually plinking it for damage. the remainder engage ECM again and hold position. The Centurions shift fire to the Revenant and start cracking armor. Return fire is ineffective and the Rockets fired from the Specter B miss badly. The Butcher B opens up with the MRAC's again but having had to move coupled with no target lock means failure. The observant among you will note the billowing cloud of Black smoke coming from the Revenant which lies broken on it's back. Crit's hurt. 2 Crit's don't' bear thinking about. The Specter B contemplates a new line of work as it drops a volley of rockets to make a crater for some future infantry squad to hole up in. The Butcher B moves forward and tries to take the Saber hiding behind the hill and manages to choke again. The second Centurion decided to leave the safety of the temple/statue thingy and starts taking pot shots at the Butcher B with it's brother. However this time they all missed. Slaughtering everyone else apparently took it out of them. The Sabers, deciding it's too late in the war to risk their lives. scatter after receiving some damage from the surviving Malvernis forces. I can't help it, they were all I seemed to be able to hit. The final picture. Malvernis lost a Revenant and a Shadow and had a damaged Specter B. Templar lost 1 Saber. I was hoping to show better using a State of the Art Malvernis force. Unfortunately the Art was Pottery in this case. Final thoughts 1. Hanging the Shadow out where it could be seen that early in the game wasn't smart. It especially wasn't smart when I knew the opposition had long range weapons and the means to use them. a simple target lock gives a Centurion +3 to direct fire attacks. that will offset range penalties and cover bonuses nicely. 2. The Specter B was not used well. Either I should have kept it back and used the rockets or moved up and used the Guided Missiles, not flip flopped between them. But then again having ECM bubbles everywhere does limit the options. 3. The Revenant and the Butcher B should have been side by side and concentrating fire on those who opposed them. Starting with the Sabers to get rid of the ECM. MACs and MRACs don't care about ECM. Then get the target locks and hose the Centurions 1 at a time. Oh well, there's always next week.

So if putting ODST on the CAV's is good, wouldn't having it on the CAV's and Infantry both be better? I imagine the Sabres will be a little lonely for a turn or 2 but I'd imagine dropping 70% of the army in the opponents half of the board should make up for that.

Yeah you have to spend both APs to deploy. You could always use a CP to get an extra action for at least one model. This was decided as a compromise to keep someone on the ground from getting waxed without any real way to avoid it (ie being unable to shoot at the descending attackers). This makes you choose to deploy around someone who has already activated or take your chance vs someone who hasn't on the ground.

ODST applies to only CAVs and infantry and deploying them uses both of their actions.

Ok, second coat of grey down, so now it looks properly scarred and such. I've started mapping out where stuff will sit with graph paper, and am working on adapting the fonts that I'm going to need. Commander2 for proof of concept:

Yes, that is it. 🙂

My understanding is that infantry don't benefit from APA due to not having dedicated targeting computers to feed the extra data through. Otherwise it would absolutely be an option.

A slight left hand turn from our traditional route on the show. 🙂 8pm CST on https://www.twitch.tv/talongamesonline