Armoured Clash: Sulanate Trial 2k

 

Well the Sultanate orbat just dropped and I had a game lined up, so I couldn’t resist trying out the new rules. I’m quite interested in the faction (I love the Egyptians in Dystopian Wars) and the playstyle also looks very interesting with the heaviest rotorcraft to date and strong melee infantry that can attack from anywhere.

BROADSIDE!

We rolled for the mission and got Lord of the Manor again. For some reason I’m was also motivated to write in a more narrative style today, so let me know if that is better or worse than my usual style for these.

Lists and Deployment

My opponent ran his old reliable Empire list. Double Full Strength Rockets, a Laoshan, some Fanguns and Launchers, Steambikes, a Command Platoon, Full Bulnabangs, Full Terracotta and AA Lions, and a singleton Doksuri.

 

The "Plan"

I went with my usual approach to a new faction, the greatest hits that I found interesting. This time I even overthought my gameplan in advance. The skiff was there to enable going greedy on portals, Cavalry to hopefully do a glorious charge from Reserves on R2, what fire support sultanate can actually bring, and of course the ridiculous melee troops. The House Always Wins was mainly there to try out; being a special command I think it’s more of a gimmick than something that should be a core part of your strategy.

Round 1

 

Start of Round 1

The pair of Sabiha Fighters roared across the field, jinking past ineffective fire from the Laoshan to strike at the Artillery hiding in the back. Both find their mark, blowing away half of the battery and suppressing the rest. After this explosive start both sides start jockeying for position, with Terracotta Soldiers marching to contest the central fortress while AA hovercraft positioned themselves to intercept the opposing tank hunter. But the lull in the fighting soon provides an opportunity. 

In retrospect, charging right into the enemies center has downsides

A portal rips open in front of the rocket teams holding the center, gleaming ranks of Cor Caroli pouring out to massacre the empire troops. While the rocket teams are driven back, a few of the heavily armored warriors fall to lucky blows, and they retreat back into the light from which they came. On the other flank, another portal pours out a wave of spear-wielding immortals, smashing into the steambikes and claiming the objective marking the path to the fort.

This proved their undoing, however, as their exposed position was quickly attacked from all sides. Still, their sacrifice ties up the flank, allowing the sultanate commander to order his personal skiff into the fray. Its lances tore into the Laoshan and then swept through the dense ranks of rocket troopers, felling many. The return fire from the Empire forces concentrated on the monowheel cavalry leading the right flank, eventually wiping them out.

For a more concise summary, I overcommitted my melee troops, and was punished for it. Empire led 10 to 0 from wiping out my FS Immortals and Sipahi (though the later was an expected part of the plan). Still, there was quite a bit of damage to the empire forces, and I was happy enough with my positioning going into round 2.

Round 2

Start of Round 2

Portals again ripped open on the Empire’s flank, but this time a full cavalry charge manifested. They tore into the wide open flanks of the Laoshan, its turrets hitting nothing but air before the Companions retreated in good order. Meanwhile the Cor Caroli’s return to the battlefield is marked by heavy fire, as the Fanguns had pivoted in good order to shell their position. Still, their charge into the entrenched Jezzails smashed them to pieces, the survivors fleeing in disarray. In the center the two behemoths continue to duel, broadsides pouring back and forth between them. Incidental fire from the Skiff scatted the remaining rocket team, finishing the job.

 

In retrospect, charging my heavy infantry into the pile of anti-heavy may have been a mistake

To deal with the block of cavalry threatening his flank, the empire commander ordered his lion automata forward, driving the companions back but suffering some casualties in return. Their Terracotta bretheren also advanced into the central fortress, forming a veritably invincible bastion.

On the other flank, Janissaries began streaming out of the Portal there, firing on the Bulnabang to lethal effect while the empire forces engaged the Spica skirmishers, leaving just a lone survivor.

With the steel chair!

I managed to catch up, leaving the score tied at 11. Charging into the Laoshan was probably the wrong play since I couldn’t get Overrun off on it, but on the other hand I needed the damage on it. My opponent also got some pretty good rolls into the Cor Caroli, but they did their job, just dieing a little faster than expected.

The Terracotta holding the middle meant my win condition had now narrowed to kill off the enemy infantry and then score the secondary to win. Still, that looked quite achievable.

Round 3

 

I think this was more towards the end, but you get the gist

The duel between the behemoths comes to an end, the skiff’s turrets silencing the Laoshan’s guns. Following this success, the sulanate commander redirected the Senehem AA Rotorcraft to bombarding the remaining Bulnabang, forcing them to scatter. And finally, the Janissaries continue their rampage, dropping more than half of the empire command platoon.

On the other side, artillery and tank shells drive the remaining companion cavalry from the field. The lion automata finally fulfill their intended purpose, opening fire on the Senehem Rotorcraft but only downing one. But there’s nothing left that can deal with the rows of Janissaries, and the mpire forces quit the field.

At the end of the round Sultanate led 26 to 20, and we called it there. Chances were good that sultanate would have wiped the remaining empire infantry next turn, and they didn’t have enough forces left to remove the Janissaries before they started racking up points.

Lessons Learned

MVP was probably the Janissaries, stepping out of a portal and ripping 2 opposing infantry units to shreds. Instant movement anywhere is good with rows of infantry, who would have thought. I can’t emphasize enough how good being able to reposition infantry anywhere you need it is.

The other units mostly performed as expected. The Hayalet’s range kept their tissue paper armor from being an issue, and their provided good flexible fire support throughout the game. The Sabihas worked great as an early activation, though I should have focused down the Artillery immediately.

The Ferik worked well enough but I’ll probably skip it in the future unless I really need the portals. Not having a short range on the guns smarts. Speaking of, I’ll probably go less greedy on portals and just let the Immortals take a transport, though maybe To The Winds combined with deploying on the table for a R2 reserve deployment could also work (and prevents losing activations).

There’s an interesting extra benefit to the Sabiha Fighter Squadrons here: Since they have to come in from reserves, you can use them as a skip for Reserve Deployment, so your melee units can potentially deploy after opposing reserves.

The Senehem worked well but felt restricted by their range. That’s probably intended and reasonable, and I’ll probably take the full strength unit again. I’ll probably also try out the Khepri at reinforced next time.

The only unit I found disappointing was the Spica Orionis. They didn’t really have enough bite, and I think another unit of Sipahi would have covered the objective grabber role better, and provided another Penetrating shot to boot.

Speaking of Penetrating, I’ve made my peace with it. I’m still not a huge fan of the ability, since it essentially forces you into taking out heavy targets at an activation disadvantage, but it worked well enough that I don’t feel like complaining too much.

Closing

Overall I really liked how Sultanate played. Portals feel extremely dynamic, though I think there’s enough potential for counterplay to keep them from being OP. The main thing I’d keep an eye on is deploying from reserves through the portal, I think the real power is there. I’ll also have to play with Like the Wind next time to see what you can pull with that.

I think the faction is going to reward good sequencing with your activations. Conversely, if your opponent can disrupt your intended plan (say, by closing a few portals on you), you might be left floundering. Conversely, you’re almost impossible to flank or defeat in detail, since you can always throw units to where you need them most.

Thanks to my opponent for a great game, and thanks for reading. Let me know if you prefer the more narrative description of the action, or our regularly scheduled programming.