Is an MEA Militia army competitive?

[Konrad von Richtmark]

Hulloh!

I'm in the progress of building an MEA army, haven't played a single game yet, but I'm looking very much forward to it. I've heard, though, that an MEA Militia force is not nearly as competitive as an MEA Government force due to the lack, at present, of a command option. What do you think about this? I've heard the MEA Militia is going to get a command option in the future, what's known (if anything) about it? Should I just use a Govt force in the meantime and let the commander cruise about in a Tunguska?

 

[darth_azabrush]

Militia is more than compettative even with the big guns around. Personally I'm more scared of infantry than I am of vehicles whatever the game system. Tanks are big lumbering hunks of metal that pretty much have target painted all over them. Infantry can dig into buildings till the cows come home.

 

[The Old Soldier]

If your playing tourneys I would say NO. I enjoy playing them, but I play basically just games and scenarios.

They can't deal well with Armor. Tanks should just sit back and pounded them while infantry shields the tanks. While they have a good AA weapon, it is expensive, and really is a government vehicle. Once the AA is gone, Air power will finish them off rather quickly.

NOW, if you keep the troops basically infantry platoons with support from a tank, then the MEA militia can have a really good fight.

I'm talking using only MP figures and cards. NOW if you use others cards such as Pietia's with other manufactors models to represent them. The Militia is a excellent choice for just about any battle. Pietia has made many different types of militia, AT weapons, AA weapons, and obsolete vehicles that can be found in a militia force. Good stuff.

 

[Mr Evil]

the feyeen are the real players in the force, but it all dies in droves i find, that said the rpg's need to be maxed out gret for removing enemy in cover and fedyeen will kill petty much any vehicle in the game if they get up close and personal.

technicals are another great one butno match for the usmc shadow.

MEA take alot of time to learn to use and keep alive, try and think of them as an insurgent force and not an army and you be ok.

 

[JayRaider]

They are great fun too play.
Always a bonus!

 

[Bede]

And anyway, there is no MEA Government Forces option. There aren't any models, and where are the cards/stats for them?

 

[Konrad von Richtmark]

Well, none of the current MEA models are listed as being militia-exclusive, so the only obstacle to playing government MEA is that the dudes aren't as uniformed as they should be. But as I expect it to take until wave 10-ish before uniformed MEA hit the market, I guess none would take offense at one using the current infantry as governmentals.

 

[JayRaider]

And anyway, there is no MEA Government Forces option. There aren't any models, and where are the cards/stats for them?

Evocommand for stats.

 

[Lorcan Nagle]

Currently there's nothing a government force can take that the Militia can't, excepting the command option for a Tunguska. The main thing is balancing the discounted basic troopers with the increased ratio of squad to support choices. Currently unless you really want to spam the field with Fedayeen or really want that command option you're better off with a militia force, IMO.

 

[The Old Soldier]

And anyway, there is no MEA Government Forces option. There aren't any models, and where are the cards/stats for them?

Evocommand for stats.

Yep, and there are some really good ones to use. I have a complete light infantry MEA government platoon, with BTR, and Truck options.

I prefer my troops to reflect the reality of modern warfare, so there is NO spamming of troops like Fedayeen in my militia platoons. I never use more than 1 Fedayeen unit per militia Platoon, nor 2 militia snipers per Platoon. The Tunguska is really a government vehicle, so I will not be using it in a militia platoon. Instead I run pickup trucks with AA weapons in the truck beds.

Personally I'd like to see a restructuring of the Army Organization in the Main Rule Book. But, I'll not sweat it. I know MP and I look at this kind of stuff from two completely different view points. I'll leave it at that.

 

[Konrad von Richtmark]

Currently there's nothing a government force can take that the Militia can't, excepting the command option for a Tunguska. The main thing is balancing the discounted basic troopers with the increased ratio of squad to support choices. Currently unless you really want to spam the field with Fedayeen or really want that command option you're better off with a militia force, IMO.

But doesn't the discount for basic squads only apply if you downgrade them to untrained civilians, or is the discount for untrained civilians an additional option? I understood it to be the former, and I don't know how keen I'm on letting my troops evaporate away due to demoralization when suppressed.

 

[Lorcan Nagle]

I've assumed it's a basic discount seperate to the untrained option - IIRC there's no mention that the discount is dependent on taking untrained.

 

[The Old Soldier]

I don't think so, I believe the wording is just wonky. The discount only applies if you decide in going untrained. After all, the troops are already cheap.

Either that or there should be a KEY word on the cards such as Militia. IF that was done, they only cards with that key word could be taken, and thus you gain a discount. Like I stated the Army list has much to be desired. :roll:

 

[Lorcan Nagle]

But where is it even suggested that the discount is dependent on them being untrained other than them both being 5%?

 

[Pietia]

I'd say that the (See Civilian Troops below) is quite strong suggestion ;-)

 

[Lorcan Nagle]

Ah, I've still not got the full rulebook, I'm working off a set of near-final playtest rules that only list them as having an automatic 5% discount.

 

[DM]

Bearing in mind which countries are supposed to be in the MEA you can always bolster their forces with an Abrams or two

 

[Konrad von Richtmark]

Ah, I've still not got the full rulebook, I'm working off a set of near-final playtest rules that only list them as having an automatic 5% discount.

Oh, that explains it. According to the rulebook there is no overall discount, but an option to turn a squad into untrained civilians. It brings down the final price with 25%, but they get nerfed by having to reroll any D10 shots if the opponent insists, and whenever they get suppressed there's a 1/6 chance that each guy will bugger off and count as a casualty.

 

[Pietia]

Oh, that explains it. According to the rulebook there is no overall discount, but an option to turn a squad into untrained civilians.

To be more precise, in a Militia army you have to downgrade all the Squad units to Civilians:

Squad: At least two units. All Squad units purchased with a 25% discount (see Civilian Troops upgrade below)

 

[Konrad von Richtmark]

But a few lines below, it says

Civilian Troops (Special): Any Squad unit may be designated as comprising green civilians...

I think the word "may" indicates that it's optional to do so.