What Faction to play?

[fluffy05]

I have seen Hiromoons stat card's - which look awesome by the way!

I am looking at the models (from table top distance) and thinking I might go for some of this.

We have models coming into our LGS possibly next week and I cannot decide which way to go.

I have looked at MGP BF:Evo webpage and am tracking down all info I can on factions & future releases but am still unsure.

I can't decide between EFTF, USMC, and PLA.

Is there really that much difference between the styles of play between factions?

I was looking at PLA and USMC (because I love Battlefield 2 PC game )

What are the most commonly played factions in your area?

 

[EmperorNortonII]

Where I am, we have one guy doing both PLA and MEA, two doing USMC, one EFTF, and myself, going PLA.

 

[Mr Evil]

its weird at this stage.

PLA are your middle men i feel, they have well ballanced infantry and average tanks an average APC but they do have numbers on thier side.

the usmc and eft for wave 1 are near equals, but by wave 2 your see the usmc as a strike force with speed, and the EFT as a more conventional combination of arms and good training.

mea are a rable at the mo and will be for a while they will be both nemourous and cheap in points, and a great army of them will require a bigger £$ investment. but there gonna be hard the break.

if you wish for a fair force from day 1 then pla are great, as are the USMC as when they fet the shadows there have a million options of tactics.

hope that helps

 

[Dorb]

If your country is one of the few, and proud(in the game) you'll have to support them. I would say in the U.S.A. its gotta be a hit to grab the USMC and for your dead beat friends who won't spend the $$$ on minis, then its MEA for them. - Unless they are a bunch of tree huggers then give'em some of the PLA! If your a Brit (god bless T.Blair) I assume you'll feel the same way.
:wink:

Or wait till the rules book comes out and see which just "feels" right. :twisted:

 

[Locutus9956]

Well Im buying a couple of small starter forces (2 infantry boxes and an MBT) for both EFTF and USMC. As starter forces they are more or less equally matched and will be good for getting people into the game. I must admit Im kind of torn as to which I build into my main force though. I do know one of my mates wants to go USMC though so Ill probably go EFTF mainly. That and SAS = cool

Form what Ive read though, as far as the wave 1 stuff goes:

USMC: Best infantry, Superb Tank

EFTF: Infantry not QUITE as good as USMC, but slightly better Tank

PLA: Average infantry with some anti tank abilities, average tank

MEA: Average infantry but its cheap and has anti tank capabilities (no tanks though yet)

Incidentally if you want a look at units actual stats for wave 1 download the latest issue of Signs and Portents which has the wave 1 cards in it

 

[fluffy05]

Thanks for that. I do want to look at the stat cards! I will download S&P.

I hsd though USMC tank would be better than the EFTF Challenger. Now I can have a better look

 

[Locutus9956]

Looking at the stats again I got it slightly wrong, on the basic squads the PLA infantry are arguably better than the USMC as they have more variety in weaponry (though they dont have the cover mocking Land Warrior abilities )

As for the Tanks, the Challenger II and M1A2 are virtually identical but the Challenger II has SLIGHTLY improved Chobam armour that makes it very slightly tougher than the Abrahams. Still the two of them can face off and blow the bejesus out of each other for ages in theory

 

[Turtle]

Another way to think of things:

USMC/USA: High tech, high unit costs mean fewer troops but with abilities to make up for it. High tech also means lots of cool gadgets like drones, and other advanced looking stuff. Units tend to be more highly specialized.

EFTF: Slightly more practical, but similar to the USMC. Mostly modern units with upgraded tech, instead of everything being the latest new designs. Units are specialized, but have wider variety of variants due to other countries.

PLA: All practical gear, they won't be getting any high tech goodies until much later. But what they have works fine, if not slightly behind the times. For example, their tank is the worst tank in the game so far, but it's very cheap to field, yet is still very much a threat. Their firepower comes from having more troops to hold heavy weapons, not by the weapons being all that advanced.

MEA: No tech. Mostly infantry based so far. Their stuff is definitely behind the times, but works in numbers and when used very carefully. Basic MEA is a human wave, highly expenable, but still a threat. Their support units tend to be weaker physically, but have some nasty kick. For example the technical is the fastest transport, but it's only armed with an MG and can't take any punishment.

 

[lastbesthope]

As for the Tanks, the Challenger II and M1A2 are virtually identical but the Challenger II has SLIGHTLY improved Chobam armour that makes it very slightly tougher than the Abrahams. Still the two of them can face off and blow the bejesus out of each other for ages in theory

But the Challenger II has a unique feature, with a normal kill score of 13+, if you can keep it in cover this becomes 15+, as yet, no weapon in the game can kill it in one shot. No other tank or model out yet can say that.

LBH

 

[Shadow Queen]

is it me that the United States Marine Corps has an extra man??

Im gonna have to go for the USMC and the us tank

and the MEA and there 4x4's for demoing

 

[lastbesthope]

is it me that the United States Marine Corps has an extra man??

Im gonna have to go for the USMC and the us tank

and the MEA and there 4x4's for demoing

9 men in a USMC squad compared to 8 men in a Brit squad, though the Yanks cost an extra 25 points so it's about even.

LBH

 

[Locutus9956]

Well the Abrahms is very slightly better than the Challenger in some ways (its 1" faster, it has one more machine gun (though its 50 cal has less dice than the brittish GMPG) As noted though, the Challenger is that little extra bit tougher to kill in return which is a very important factor.

Overall the Challenger is better for engaging other tanks with but for general support the Abrahms is a better (more small arms firepower and more mobile)