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A collectors guide for Vor: the Maelstrom

MARCH 2001

This month's purchases and force compsition were planned more or less concurrently with my February force, but due the financial resttrictions thereof I had to wait. The thing is, from the minute I saw it, I knew I HAD to have an AMP suit. It wasn't an option, it was an imperitative. So, the thing about an AMP suit is you can onl have one of them per every two of the same squad type. Which means, if I want an AMP suit, I need at least 8 Concussors to field one of them. So, here we go....

1 pack of Concussors and 1 Concussor AMP suit. That's a toral of $13, which leaves me $7 to save towards something big (Eradicator, anyone?) I still have one extra Prime figure floating around as well, so we can definitely boost the force up to a "real" level (400 points of Shard seems fair only against Growlers.)

Last month, I focussed on what Beam Lasers, Heavy Beam Lasers, and Matrix Cannons could do for me. And in the context of a couple of 400 pint games, they did very good. This month, I want to focus on what Heavy Pulsar Cannons can do. This will not only teach me something, but will also bulk out my points a little. Now, with 8 Concussors, a Concussor AMP suit, and two Primes in my Shard force, we can form up the following:

5 CONCUSORS: 2 Heavy Pulsars, 1 Matrix Cannon, 1 AMP Suit; 340 points
4 CONCUSSORS: 2 Heavy Pulsars; 210 points PRIME: Heavy Pulsar, Beam Laser, Focusing Lens, Sonic Field; 124 points
PRIME: Heavy Pulsar, Beam Laser, Shielding Lens, Syphon Field; 125 points
TOTAL: 799 points

The Heavy Pulsars give me some indirect firepower with a burst, so even if I miss, they will (hopefully) scatter into something else and blow it apart. Of course, it remains to be seen whether or not this will work as planned, because I have often found that ideas that look great on paper do not translate well onto the tabletop battlefield. Which brings us to...

The Battles

And then I tested out my beautiful new figures in a couple of battles. First against Darkhost's Zykhee, and then against Peredyne01's Union.

March Conclusions

WOW! I learned LOT this month. On the one had, I was hopelessly out numbered and learned the value of not building the spiky-death-expensive force (we were at over 75 points per model on average this month.) On the other hand, I won against a similar force but was the boredom worth it? I am totally unimpressed with Heavy Pulsar Cannons in the hands of Concussors. The Matrix Cannon has it's usual amusement value, but doesn't really DO enough to keep it on the roster all the time. But mostly, I think I need to let go of all the heavy weapons and get some basic troops out on the field. And it's time to replace some Beam Lasers with Splinter Lances to force some manuevering into the game. Standing behind hills and taking potshots, indeed!

So, although my original plan was to get an Eradicator in April, I think I would be MUCH better off with some more Infantry, some Concussors at least, and maybe some Ambients, Scryes, or Husks. Stay tuned for April's episode, inwhich the Shard learn mass combat tactics...

The Gallery

And what do this months Shard look like? Check out the March Gallery.

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