Forces for Combat Cards

We finally got in a full-sized game of Tactical Assault: Combat Cards this last week. Picking up a few tips from our first two trial runs we added a full roster of thirty six points per side and included a much wider variety of troop and unit types. There's more than a few innovative mechanics in the game itself, which initially drew me to it, but the other thing was the 'use anything off the shelf' aspect of it. Drawing on that, let's look at the two forces for the battle.


In fluff terms this army would represent a group of special forces troopers with a couple of ad-hoc support units thrown in on loan from the local PDF and the like. Let's break them down:

• x1 Recon Unit, 3pts
• x1 Infiltrator Unit, 3pts
• x3 Infantry Units, 2pts ea.
• x2 Mechanized Units, 4pts ea.
• x1 Command Unit, 2pts
• x2 Aerial Defense Units, 3pts ea.
• x1 Aerial Unit, 2pts
• x1 Behemoth Unit, 6pts
• Total: 36pts

I like the Mechanized units in here being just one figure each. This really lends them that 'power armored' supreme soldier feel. The Infantry units and Command unit are both filled with an appropriate amount of figs, four and two troops respectively and the Infiltrator unit seems reasonable with a small, two-man team. The Recon unit is just one fig, which I might've done a little differently, as it is, it better be one heck of a recon trooper! The Aerial Defense units are neat because they're 15mm figures, so scale in this case is a little abstract. I like to think they really are fifteen foot anti-air mecha, I just don't have any in 28mm! Finally we see a lone aerial unit, a bit of Toy Story whimsy masquerading as a flight drone and another unit of what is becoming a Behemoth staple, a three-Ogryn strong unit.


For the opposing force I wanted to use my (very underused) Dark Angels figures. I also set out with a specific structure in mind, trying to represent an basic military unit with specialist units added on in mission-specific roles. Let's break them down:

• x4 Infantry Units, 2pts ea.
• x1 Command, 2pts
• x1 Engineer, 3pts
• x1 Infiltrator, 3pts
• x1 Anti-armor, 3pts
• x2 Aerial Units, 2pts ea.
• x1 Behemoth, 6pts
• x1 Armored, 5pts
• Total: 34pts (just realized I shorted myself!)

I was quite pleased with my little assault force here, it's very Dark Angels in nature, and fits the Combat Cards rules very well. One thing I should've changed up from the start was making my Infantry Units into Mechanized Units instead. They might cost twice as much per unit, but these are power armored space marines, the Mechanized Unit stats are just for these kinds of troops, I kind of under-statted them by making them mere Infantry. I could've save some points by not taking the Engineer (Techmarine). He was able to participate in some combat, but the Engineer specific rules that applied to him never were applicable in the battle. I loved seeing the Rhino in there as an Armored Unit, although it got taken out in a lucky hit early on, and the Dreadnought makes perfect sense as a Behemoth. The rest are usual suspects; a sniper scout as Infiltrator, a Captain model as the Command unit (edit: captain provided by Tristan over at GW Pertinent, thanks again!), Multi-melta trooper as Anti-armor, and don't forget a pair of jump-pack equipped aerial troopers.

All in all, when I started reading the rules of Tactical Assault, I kept thinking of all the unpainted 15mm stuff I have and how great it would be to paint up unit-specific stands to game with. That idea is still in my head, but there's something to be said about pulling out these old troopers too and breathing new life into them. I should have the AAR regarding both of these forces up soon. Until next time!