AT43 Addict

Thinking of playing Karmans? Got the models in the 800 point starter and want to expand to a full 2000? This guide should point you in the right direction and by the end you’ll have a nice 2000 point army list that is not only useful but only contains the essentials so you can start playing at 2000 points without spending a lot of extra money on models that might collect dust on your shelf.

One of the first questions most Karman players have is Anakongas or Kaptars, closely followed up by Yetis or Wendigos. For a starter list I would recommend going with Kaptars and Wendigos. Kaptars have higher strength and more range and therefore make a better all around unit. Wendigos have higher strength access to grenade launchers as well as maser strike. Yetis are very good but situational.

Karmans – Karmans (2000 AP)

Platoon 1
- 4 Kaptars (Mentor)
- 8 Wendigos (+ Venerable Cornelius, 2 Grenade Launcher)
- 2 K-Shooters (Mentor)
- 1 Easy Trike (Mentor) / (proxy jungle trike)
- King Buggy (Mentor)

I built this list to be compatable for zero proxies, I know some people don’t like to play with them. If you do allow proxies i would use a jungle trike and use the extra points on karmic warrior for the wendigos.

The King buggy is a great all around buggy. Its flamers are what set it apart and make it better than the Thunder buggy. in this list you’ve got K-shooters so having a Jungle buggy is a bit of overkill. For a comparison of all the buggy types see the battle of the buggies.

So you’re thinking of starting a Therian list. This will be a good guide about putting together a 2000 point cypher list (who really runs anything but cypher anyways?) that will give you a great base to build on in the future. If you’ve already got the models I listed in the 800 pt starter dont fret they are all used in this 2000 point list.

The first decision is whether you want to use Tiamat or Babylon Zero as your company commander. For a more shooty feel go with Babylon Zero, for some more Melee action take Tiamat.

Therians – Cyphers

Platoon 1
- Tiamat (+ Omega Tiamat) / Babylon Zero
- Wraith Golgoth (Alpha)
- 3 Bane Goliaths
- 9 Storm Golems (Alpha, 3 Sonic Gun)
- 6 Grim Golems (+ Alpha Atis-Astarte, 1 Flamer)

- 2 hekats for creation

This gives you some more key essential models for Therians, while rounding out a 2000 point list. As you play some more you’ll figure out what else you need. With this list you will probably want to pick up 2 hekats for summoning. This is an additional cost but what would the Theirans be without hekat summoning?

Tracy over at AT43Comic is reporting that the Dotch Yaga has been slated for a March 2009 release. The newly revealed release plan now has Dotch Yaga slated for release in May, Let the waiting begin!

The Molot is the Twin flamer Type * afv for Red Blok. It is very devastating when used correctly and there are a few things you can do to make them even more useful. I always field at least 2 of them this is because often times, by the time they reach their opponent they have so many pieces hanging off of them that if I had one it likely wouldn’t make it at all.

The next thing to do is back them up with Urod and min sized krasnye with engineers. This armoured column should constantly move towards the enemy as fast as possible. You force your opponent to focus on the Molot’s or Urod. If they focus on the Molots, Urod will be able to repair them, and if they focus on Urod the molots wont be taking any fire. Always force your opponent to make this type of choice, it will help guarantee that some of the units arrive in one piece.

If Urod leads the charge be sure to use shield formation. He has higher armour than the molots so you will take fewer damage over all if the lighter armoured units are benefiting from cover.

Have a goal in mind, usually this involves torching a key point holding infantry unit, If you are running Frontline once your afv’s destroy this unit they will be able to hold the point themselves. If you aren’t running frontline make sure to have an infantry unit that is backing up this armoured column.

Molots are a great asset to many red blok lists, they are feared by all and a well played unit of them can take away your opponents ability to gain Victory Points.

The King Mammoth is the Karman Type *** AFV and it packs quite a punch. With the surprisingly high armour of 16 (high for Karmans anyways) it can survive all sorts of fire. Couple this with some impressive weaponry and you’ve got the perfect death machine. It is armed with 4 light flamers which can be used to create a curtain of flames (more on this later) and a heavy ZZ-Cannon that has 4 strength 17 shots.

Curtain of Flames is an interesting ability. When it is activated it obscures visibility of the King Mammoth and any units that are behind it. This works only for the side of the mammoth that the flamers are mounted on so you must be careful how you position it.

The best way to defeat the curtain is to shoot the Mammoth on overwatch as the curtain is considered to be down while it moves.

This ability provides some much needed cover to Karman troops to advance and shields the king mamoth from fire until it can bring its heavy weapons to bear on a target. The King Mammoth is a great addition to any Karman list and provides both heavy firepower with a great special ability.

There is a new scenario that came down in CHO114 called Traffic Jam. It encorporates some neat weather effects that will really make this one interesting. You can also bring down a full unit of AFV’s from reenforcement for whatever RP points you currently have, this should make for some very fast action. I can’t wait to try this one out.

There are a few errors in the actual scenario but it is pretty clear that the text for the “clear” weather effect and the “fog” weather effect should be reversed. Fog will give a -1 to your accuracy and clear weather +1.

This one is for all factions so get at it!

I also want to mention that I’ve started a new section dedicated to these scenarios so its easy for players to get at them.

So you’re a fresh Therian commander and want to know what the deal with Hekat summoning is. This ability will cause much frustration for your opponents as you are potentially able to bring a new type * AFV onto the board each turn.

For the cost of 4 LP you may take a type * AFV model that is not currently a part of your army and place it next to the Company Commander where it will be able to activate on your next turn. Only the Company Commander can use this routine so it is not possible to spawn multiple Type * AFVs in a single turn.

The spawned Type * AFVs are not alphas so they do not have any access to routines themselves. if you want to be able to use the rush routine with them the Company Commander must be the one to do it. Similarly, these summoned Type * cannot repair themselves, instead relying on the Company Commander’s routines. Remember the Company Commander is the only one that can use routines on other units in the army.

Another thing to note. If you are going to be summoning type *’s, having Sigma Urash around is extremely useful. Sigma Urash is the only Therian capable of using fusion on 2 afvs of different units. This means having him around will let you fuse those 2 half dead Hekats into a Type ** AFV of your choice.

So you’re thinking of getting into at-43 but don’t want to shell out for a full 2000+ point army? Here are some good places to start if you’re looking at getting into the game. Each of these armies will give you an AFV, a type 1 unit and a battle suit to give you a flavour of each of the unit types. Best of all none of the units will go un used as they are all staples of each army.

UNA

• 1 Fire toad
• 1 steel trooper unit box
• 1 steel trooper attachment
• 1 unit of Steel TacArms

Karmans

• 1 Kaptar unit box
• 1 Wendigo unit box / k-shooter unit box
• 1 easy trike

Red Blok

• Krasnye unit box + attachment Box / RPG Soldaty unit box + attachment box
• Dragomirov Kolossus box
• Sierp

Therians

• Storm Golem unit box
• Bane Goliath unit box
• Hekat

As you can see each of these lists will come out to around 825 points give or take. you will get a feel for how the army will play and will find that all these units will be useful. Each of these armies are from their basic troop pattern so there are no extra rules to complicate matters. From here it is easy to branch out after you get a feel for how the army will play.

The guys over at Le Dragon Du Nord have a fantastic painting / modelling blog up and running. Their work is really phenominal and I highly recommend everyone go check it out. Its pretty amazing what these guys are doing with the AT-43 Pre-Painted Plastic (PPP) and the fact that they really love using it as a base for all their detailed painting. They have lots of other games covered too so if you’re into confrontation and the like this blog will be of interest to you too.

If you’re looking to play Cogs and you like AFV’s then the A-Volution list is for you. The layout is similar to Red Blok’s Frontline list but with an even greater focus on AFV’s.

• AFV */**/***
• AFV */**/***
• AFV * Infantry ***
• Infantry */**
• Infantry */**

This pattern will let the Cogs run 2 type *** AFVs in a platoon. We haven’t yet seen the point costs for these but I imagine that a list with 2 type *** would be quite devastating.

The next bit of info about this list is the Heroes it can use. Remember there are no officers for the Cogs, only heroes so if you want to avoid paying for activation, one of these guys is essential.

First up is the G45. This Hero packs a hefty punch with a Quantum MG and a rocket launcher. The Quantum MG is a standard 4/1 shot MG with strength 7. Every weapon for the Cogs gets a reroll so this is pretty standard faire.

The Rocket Launcher is common to all 3 hero types and has 3 shots of strength 11/2. The difference between this rocket launcher and say redblok’s is that this comes with an accuracy of 6. While the red blok is struggling to run across

the board to use theirs, the Cogs will be happily engaging targets across the board.

The G36 Hero forgoes the MG for twin Quantum rifles. With 2 shots each and a reroll they get the same number of shots as the MG but with a range of 8 and a strength of 5. This is an even greater long range fighter, though his weapons are not going to pose a threat to anything but infantry. The G36 also has the standard rocket Launcher discussed before.

Finally the G18. This guy is set up for Melee. In addition to the rocket Launcher, he is armed with 2 quantum blades for a much more up close and personal style. He gives a +3 unit number bonus and he’ll need it to get into melee range.

All of these heroes can detect stealth as they are equipped with Detection Systems. They also have the ability to Rocket Jump. Most interestingly is these Heroes’ ability to summon type * AFVs.  Thats right, the Cogs are getting afv summoning ability just like the dreadded Therians. This ability costs 4 LP and behaves in the same way as the Therian’s construction routeine.

So there you have it, A-Volution is an AFV heavy list, the Heroes come in 3 flavours melee, MG, and ultra long range and they can summon. Sounds like this will be a really  interesting army to play. I can’t wait.