Playing with the ISC

[Berf]

(11-17-2011 05:59 AM)Peoples Champ Wrote:  I have a very canny opponent to be sure who has both Convoy and Bamaka. He also has lots of models to choose from so you are always facing a different list everytime. Nearly everytime I am faced with 3 vs 5 models which does allow him to save his heavy hitters to last when I have activated everything.

Let us look at your opponent first. He may have more models to choose from, but nothing you cannot manage. Bamakas are your worst nightmare, considering they can field a good mix of strong fighters (Ngwane, Tarar or Sabaka being the strongest ones), good support and easily more fighters than you (usually between 4 or 5).
But there are also 'no-threat fighters' in Bamaka for you. Abama, Bak and Dacke, Sigujana, Jumamosi or Zaafarani cannot do any harm to your Drones if you're carefull. So you just have to keep an eye on them and handle your Mission and/or his, knowing those fighters won't be able to deliver significant attacks or use effective abilities, so there's that (only Abama can be troublesome, because he's extremely hard to kill, so just forget him and concentrate on the rest, but don't let him block your movements, that's his main purpose when he faces ISC).
By comparison, Convoy is way easier to handle for the ISC. Sure, they can field more fighters (5 or 6), but only a few can hold a candle to you in hand-to-hand combat (Otto, Heinrich (both) and Friedrich, Georg a little). Avoid them (Otto, Heinrich and Georg are quite easy to avoid with their average SPD) or deal with them when it's safe (no AP, cannot use chainsaw, etc.). Mark is a threat if you don't have a Drone to put in front line and attract his arrows without risk (Kunoichi, Mamushi or Konchu, place any one of them in a good spot, behind cover is better, and Mark's arrows won't be a major threat). Take care of the rest in brawl mode and it shouldn't be to hard, especially with the Ronin
Another aspect of the game to take into account : Tactical cards. While you can rely on these when facing Bamakas, don't focus your strategy too much on them when facing Convoy, because they have lots of possibilities to counter them. Gretchen, Luther, Heinrich (old one) and now Frantz, all can, and will, put a damper on your tactical phase. So don't rely to much on them.

(11-17-2011 05:59 AM)Peoples Champ Wrote:  We played two games over the weekend the first was vs bamaka with Bak and Dacke, Ngozi and Sabaka vs my ISC with the Grey Daimyo, Yellow Komuso and the Blue Ashigaru. The Bamakas revealed mission (we use random missions) was Land Protection and the ISC had a secret mission Priority Target. So he just had to get models in the centre and clock up the VP while I had to kil him. Big problem was dealing with Sabaka!! He killed everyone from memory and I just struggled to get through him.

Now into the action ! OK, let's be honest, considering the teams and Missions, it was inevitable that you lose. I wouldn't stand a chance either, it is simply impossible. The reasons are numerous. First of all, you don't have any fighter to deal with Sabaka (a problem I pointed out in a message above), so you cannot handle half of the opponent's team. Your only option would be to try Crushing him with the Daimyo and it requires luck every time, so not an option.
Considering you 'need' to kill at least one of his fighters to prevent him from doing his Missions – partly because he has the advantage of having a 100 points team and you don't – your only option is to go for Back or Dacke. You cannot catch Ngozi if he doesn't want you to (too fast) and with Agile, he dodges your attack way too easily, so the other pygmies are your targets. But they can also dodge pretty well and once you're done trying to kill them, Sabaka will come to show you his PhD title (Pound Head Down).
In short, your opponent just has to wait for you to come and try doing your Mission, while he scores every turn by doing nothing (once he is in the center, that is). My main advice here would be : don't play random Missions ! Choosing your Mission is very important in the game, as is the entire Preparation phase (see here), because you have to take into account a lot of things (the teams, the order of the Phase because of the choice of Mission and the Deployment, etc.). If you had played anything other than a 'killing' Mission, you would have had a chance. For example, Ancient artefacts, the Excavations and, mainly, Reconnaissance, and you could have won (even easily with Reco).
I know people who enjoy playing random Missions or with random Tactical cards, or even with random teams ! But they have mastered their faction very well and try something new for fun. Try a regular game, with a full 100 points team and a chosen Mission (still, no brawl versus Sabaka, unless your team is specially built to take him down, Ronin, Konchu and Hadakauma or Shogun being the best ones) and you will see things differently, I assure you

(11-17-2011 05:59 AM)Peoples Champ Wrote:  Second game Convoy with Gretchen and Lute, Mark, Leo, Erhard and Luther vs my ISC with the Carmin Ronin, Black Kunoichi and a Green Mamushi (such a cool model). The Convoy got a random mission of "Infiltration" and ISC had a secret mission of "The Four Winds". Tough to play 3 models vs 6!!
Better game but again the numbers allowed my opponent to spread out and get past me as I did not have enough models to slow him down. I was forced to try to stop him as by merely fulfilling my mission I could only net 45VPs while he could get 100. In the end the carmin ronin struggled for 3 turns to try and kill Erhard. The Mamushi took out Gretchin but then died in the last turn to Luther and Lute. Mark just strolled down one side of the board and grabbed 35 easy VPs whilst luther got 35 and I ended up with only the VPs for killing Erhard and Gretchin.

Okay, so what do we have here ? Random Missions again, but this time, it is much more balanced. Mainly because you can wait for him in your half of the field, while he must cross the entire field to achieve his goal. You're playing with 95 points again, but that's not as crippling as the last time, although you could (should) have replaced the Kunoichi or the Mamushi with the Daimyo or the Komuso, but I will come back on that later.
Here, I think you might have missed something in the rules, and that's why being out-activated is a pain : look at page 16, last paragraph. You can choose not to activate a fighter (except for the first activation of the round) and pass the hand to your opponent. If he does the same, the round ends. It is extremely important to know when to pass the hand as an ISC player, because it can save you a lot of trouble. In this case, as you could win just by staying in your half of the field (and eventually use the Burrowing ability to make the Mamushi pop up anywhere, say in a corner, at the last round), you could pass the hand almost every time up to the third round, in order to let you opponent come, so you can out-activate him !
Just place your Drone in his path if you have to, play a Contaminated area at the beginning in order to lead him where you want or separate his troop and wait for him to play his 'mission-fullfilling fighters', so you can go where he goes. Aim at Gretchen and Luther (the Mamushi and Kunoichi working together can take Luther down in round 2 with a little luck), the easiest targets and voilà, opponent's leader dead and a top score of 70 VP, while you can still score some VP and/or prevent him from scoring
Now, if you had the Komuso instead of one of the 30 Drone, you could have blocked ways very efficiently, seeing only Luther has a chance of charging you, and your AP decreasing ability is the best when it comes to cripple someone with AP left to dodge, or to prevent someone from getting away (losing 2 AP when you have to run across the Field is such a pain). Fear markers can also work wonders, as Infiltration requires an Action ability, a type of Action you cannot perform with a Fear marker.
And last, select your TC accordingly. Even with Luther and Gretchen, you can build a strategy with your TC. For example : first round, Contaminated area, for restraining his movement possibilities. Second round, Enragement, the purpose here is for him to cough up SP, because a Kunoichi with Rage marker is so annoying. Third round, Cautious move, if Mark is threatening, but between the Smokescreen, the Kunoichi and/or the Mamushi, it shouldn't be a problem, so play Inhuman force if Mark is no threat, again, either he cancels it or he suffers, you don't lose. Fourth or fifth round, Provocation in order to prevent someone escaping.
Of course, adapt yourself to the events. If Luther uses successfully (2+ successes on his PSI roll) his Preacher ability, don't waste precious SP if it is not a matter of survival. The purpose of this startegy is to make him run out of SP early, so you can play the Provocation TC at the right time (your best TC considering the Missions, you make him come to you and it can prevent him from doing his mission).
Well, that makes quite a long post, but I think I covered the essential. If you have any question or need some advice, ask away ! I hope everything is understandable, I haven't written in english so much since high school

P.S.: You seem to have used the Lure TC on an opponent's fighter, but that was a mistake. The Lure TC has been changed with the last batch of erratas and can now target only an allied fighter (which is its true purpose). Sorry for the inconvenience, I checked in the download section and the ISC starter pack is not updated, so it's our fault.