There is something behind the wall! [Starmada vs. Combined Army]

The problem of doing well in the first round of a tournament or a league is the high probability to face a strong opponent in the next round. So it happened in the IGIL that my second opponent here was the well known W0rstC4se! That alone would be enough to make things difficult, but in addition to this, the mission for that round was Tic Tac Toe - Something Crushers are designed for, but well...

TicTac
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GROUP 1  10  
 KAPPA MULTI Sniper Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 19)
 KAPPA Combi Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 12)
 BLUECOAT Submachine Gun, Heavy Riotstopper / Pistol, Shock CC Weapon, PARA CC Weapon(-6). (0 | 16)
 BLUECOAT (Lieutenant) Submachine Gun, Heavy Riotstopper / Pistol, Shock CC Weapon, PARA CC Weapon(-6). (0 | 16)
 BLUECOAT Adhesive Launcher(+1B), Heavy Riotstopper / Pistol, Shock CC Weapon, PARA CC Weapon(-6). (0 | 13)
 OKO Combi Rifle, Flash Pulse / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 16)
 FUZZBOT (Minesweeper, Repeater)  ( ) / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 8)
 KNIGHT OF SANTIAGO (Hacker, Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, D-Charges ( | TinBot: Firewall [-3]) / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 39)
 CRUSHER (Forward Deployment [+8"]) Submachine Gun, Light Rocket Launcher, Nanopulser, D-Charges / Pistol, E/M CC Weapon. (1 | 35)
 EPSILON Heavy Machine Gun, Nanopulser / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 34)

GROUP 25  / 2
 CRUSHER (Combat Jump, Parachutist) Boarding Shotgun, Panzerfaust, D-Charges / Pistol, E/M CC Weapon. (0 | 36)
 VARANGIAN Submachine Gun, Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Heavy Pistol, AP CC Weapon. (0 | 12)
 VARANGIAN Submachine Gun, Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Heavy Pistol, AP CC Weapon. (0 | 12)
 PEELER Heavy Machine Gun / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (1 | 25)
 KYTTÄ Flash Pulse / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 7)

 5 SWC | 300 Points
Open in Infinity Army

Since it was possible to face Shasvasti or vanilla CA, a core-team with some Bluecoats was set next to one FO-bot to clear the midfield from camo-markers. Crushers and the Santiago KHD should be able to chew themselves through one row of antennas after another, after the Varangians and the Epsilon have cleared the big guns. The first iteration of that list included an Epsilon sniper to outrange the Q-drone, but as I saw the map, the HMG under smoke should be more flexible with the same risk. To click the last antennas in turn three, the AD Crusher was included and should be pulled into group one then.

 
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GROUP 1  10  / 2
 SHROUDED (Minelayer) Combi Rifle, Shock Mines / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 23)
 SHROUDED (Hacker, Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Shock Mines ( ) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 25)
 DĀTURAZI Chain Rifle(+1B), Grenades, Smoke Grenades / Heavy Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 14)
 DĀTURAZI Chain Rifle(+1B), Grenades, Smoke Grenades / Heavy Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 14)
 Q-DRONE Heavy Machine Gun / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (1 | 25)
 R-DRONE Flash Pulse / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 7)
 R-DRONE Flash Pulse / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 7)
 MED-TECH OBSIDON MEDCHANOID Combi Rifle, D-Charges ( | GizmoKit, MediKit) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 22)
 SLAVE DRONE PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 3)
 SLAVE DRONE PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 3)
 CALIBAN (Multispectral Visor L1) Spitfire, D-Charges ( ) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 38)
 SKIÁVORO (Lieutenant [+1 Command Token], Strategos L1]) Spitfire, Nanopulser / Heavy Pistol, Shock CC Weapon. (1.5 | 53)

GROUP 23  / 1  
 LIBERTO (Minelayer) Light Shotgun, Shock Mines / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1 | 8)
 RASYAT (Specialist Operative) Combi Rifle, E/Mitter, D-Charges, Eclipse Grenades / Heavy Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 34)
 E-DRONE Combi Rifle / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0.5 | 18)
 ÍMETRON . (0 | 4)

 6 SWC | 298 Points
Open in Infinity Army

Even with some of the must-haves of vanilla CA, the list turned out to be unusual. I am not sure about single pieces and the distribution between the groups, but most of the stuff should be accurate. While a  bunch of camo-troops secures the midfield and can push the buttons there, a Caliban and maybe even the Skiavoro can clear the last line of antennas for the Rasyat to activate them in turn three. Meanwhile Dr. Worm or the E-drone itself can do the work in front of the DZ. 

The map, designed by TJE, only had a view longer firelanes and only one vertical level. The walls are intended to be infinite high, creating some closed rooms with semi-obvious entrances here and there. Parachuting is only allowed on the streets, not in the rooms. One could say it is a hackers paradise!

I win the Lt-roll and decide to deploy second in the south. To get the advantage of the second turn, W0rstC4ase takes the risk and lets me go first.

Most of the REMs take the right side, one Daturazi on the left, one on the right. Three camo-markers are deployed around the right street, one is hiding in the room on the left and one behind that room. The missing points let me assume something scary as reserve or a Sphinx in HD.

To utilize the range, my link scatters around the two rooms on the left, supported by the KHD Santiago. To grab the antenna in the center and clear the camo-markers there, my Oko starts behind the central room, the Crusher in there. Each side gets a Varangian, the Peeler takes care on the right street.

Skivoro appears on in the center of the DZ, out of LoF and I send in the Epsilon on the right.

Star 1: Maybe I loose two orders from somewhere. Both Varangians advance, smoke is set up on the right. After the Epsilon finishs the Q-drone, the Oko takes the room and reveals a Liberto, a mine and one Shrouded on the right. Unfortunately the "low" barriers block LoF to my Epsilon as it appears. So I click the central antenna, retreat the Epsilon and send the Oko into SF.

CA 1: Both Daturazis advance, then the Caliban starts his work. After killing the left Varangian, my FLashbot and some members of my fire-team, even the Peeler falls to his spitfire and close combat weapons.

Star 2: Again the barriers and the overall structure of the map are the biggest problem. One wound on the Caliban is caused by the Epsilon. The second one needs to be done by my Lt, but again it guts into full cover then. Without ressources to take it out completely, I prepare for turn three.

CA 2: To minimize the risk for the Caliban, the Rasyat enters the field on my right side, dropping the Epsilon. That enables the Caliban to continue his killing-streek with the other Varangian an one wound on my KHD. The E-drone and Dr. Worm activate the whole first row of antennas.

Star 3: Things are more or less done here, but one last hope is still waiting in the air. The Crusher enters the field on the far right, wounding the Skivoro with a panzerfaust-shot in the back and on its way towards the antenna is engaged by the Daturazi on that side. While they start a brawl, a flashbot lights into that fight, stunning the Daturazi shortly before he is blown apart by a D-charge. With my last order I can activate the console.

CA 3: The Shrouded on the left activates the last two antennas on that side, while the other Daturazi and the Caliban clear my DZ.

With that the game ends 10-2 for W0rstC4ase. The map and some saving rolls favoured the Caliban, which consumed my whole second turn without major success. Some more luck there would have forced him to send in the Skivoro earlier or reveal other specialists on the way, so that the Crushers or even the Santiago could have worked them out. With limited access-points to your deployment, even Starmada can set up a good enough defense-line, supported by one or two Crushers. With more and more defense-strategies evolving around midfield-troops, the Oko or his brothers become a more regular include in most of my lists, even if you sometimes need to suicide them into a hacking-network simply to reveal the targets to shoot them.