Relthoza In Planetfall pt 3: Recon And Command

Greetings all.  SeerK back again to talk Spiders in Planetfall. Before we delve into the Helixs for this Installment I wanted to make a quick announcement.  We still have a couple spots left in both the Tournaments at Adepticon 2016.  We have primer missions up for The Schaumburg Prime Offensive, but not the Schaumburg Beachhead.  This is Primarily because we are working directly with Spartan on the Planetfall missions.  The process is a bit slower, but it will be worth the wait.  Stay tuned as I will hopefully be able to make the full Official Announcement very soon.
 In this installment we are going to be taking about the, in my opinion, "big Guns" in the Relthoza army.  That is the Recon Helix.  I also want to discuss some of the newly released helix's, namely the Command helix and what it means for the Relthoza Army.  This new unit is literally a game changer.  The Relthoza have been growing in strength with each new release and this feels like a culmination that signals the army almost being "complete". Planetfall has been slowly but surely growing and improving and the future is looking bright. Lets take a look at these two Helix's

Merry Christmas!

From everybody at The Waygate, Merry Christmas, Happy Yule, Happy Hanukkah ( even though it ended on the 14th).  The Holiday season is always full of joy and frustration.  Remember to sit back and just relax.  The WayGate staff will be having a festive brunch today and celebrating with friends as well as family.


We are down to 4 slots in the Schaumburg Prime Offensive!  We also have 3 more slots in the Schaumburg Beachhead! Sign up before they disappear!

I will be doing 2 more posts this year.  I am trying to get the next part of the Planetfall Relthoza series done and by January 31st I will have our year in review.  After that I plan on buckling down and getting on a regular weekly posting schedule.  I want to be more consistent in bringing you coverage of events, releases and the groups musings on the games we play.





Until next time....


Merry X-Mas!!!!

Relthoza In Planetfall Pt 2: Heavy Armor

Greetings all! SeerK here once again to talk Firestorm. We will be continuing to talk about the Relthoza in Firestorm Planetfall. Last time we discussed the Core Helix. In this installment we will be talking about the Heavy Helix and Firepower Leviathan Helix. These heavy hitters help the army out in the offensive firepower department and in the case of the Leviathan an anchor for your drone swarms.

Spiders Everywhere! The Relthoza In Planetfall

Greetings all! SeerK here to talk Spiders.  I have had quite a few games with the Relthoza in Firestorm Planetfall now.  I wanted to start going in depth about the units and tactics with the army so far  I think the best way to do this is to go Helix by Helix and give a break down of the units.  I wanted to get a little ahead of the podcast so to speak.  We have covered the Dindrenzi and RSN in Firestorm Armada and we completed recording of our Terran Episode this past weekend.  We had a special Guest on to help us out.  Alex Mann of Mann's Model Moments lent his expertise.  You guys may also know him as Spartan Alex.  Lets delve into the Faction that has become near and dear to my heart. The Relthoza.

Enter The Spider: Relthoza First Impressions

BUGS!!!!!!

Hi all! SeerK here once again.  It has been a very busy couple of weeks and I apologize for the lack of updates.  I have been scrambling trying to get painting projects done.  The guys and I have also been working on terrain and tables for The Schaumburg Prime Offensive at Adepticon.  We finished the last of the tables today despite the cold.  It is kinda sad when you are waiting for the temperatures to get into the mid 20's to paint.  This is what classifies and "warmer" here in Michigan as of late.

We also had a Primer tournament last weekend which had a decent turnout.  We even had a fellow Vanguard drive from Wisconsin to test his mettle against our local players.  he brought a very nicely done pathogen fleet and got in a bunch of games.  It will be great to see him again at Adepticon.  I actually got to play in the Primer event and actually took 3rd.  I did not field my RSN though.  As near and dear as the RSN is to me, they have not been performing well for me.  To everyones surprise, including my own, the fleet that has been really kicking ass and taking names for me as of late has been the Relthoza.

I know what you are thinking.  The Relthoza? Really?  SeerK aren't known for just charging blindly into battle like Leroy Jenkins?  The answer to all those questions is yes.  My play style is very hammer and anvil.  The Ba'Kash, Dindrenzi and Terrans generally fit my style of play.  I was just as shocked as Spellduckwrong when I cleared the table of his  Pathogen fleet the first time I took the Relth out for a spin.  I was using a pretty strait forward basic Relthoza fleet.  I have a patrol fleet box plus a cruiser box and a frigate box, so I have not played with some of the more unique ships in the fleet.  I thought I would share some of my impressions after getting in a few games in.

At first glance the Relthoza can be a bit confusing.  They have very long range torpedo weapons with very close range primary weapons.  My first assumption was that they pepper the enemy with torpedoes then close the distance and engage with their primary weapons.  I was corrected by several Relth players that told me they have to be played "cagey", that is they are not that great close in and you avoid combat and pick apart your opponent at range.  You use your stealth systems and cloaking shields to keep you safe from harm.  Still other players said you must slam into the enemy fast and hard and use the close range weapons to obliterate the enemies ships.

After mush thought I realized all of these points were valid and must all be used in conjunction with one another.  I have taken on the mentality of a hunter when using my Relth.  I stalk my prey and learn about it.  I test it and find its weaknesses and then exploit them.  I then lure my target in and pounce upon it.  It almost as if the Fluff in the Zenian League Fleet Manual is a guide to how the Relthoza should work.  I will elaborate, The Stealth Systems and Cloaking Shields protect the Relthoza ships at range and from what I have noticed, from the dozen or so games I have played with them, they really frustrate my opponents.  I am not usually very patient when I play.  It has always been a weakness of mine.  Patients is the real key to the Relth.  Not so much you being patient, but making your opponent loose their patients.  I have had great success luring ships into striking distance by staying cloaked and keeping just far enough away to make sure the stealth systems are forcing those hit re rolls.  It has allowed me to control the flow of the game.

Game flow control and forcing your opponent to come to you seems to be the real trick to using the Relthoza.  Limiting target choices and misdirecting target priority means you can control where the enemy weapons go and also by proxy controls where ships are going to position themselves.  Decloaking one ship in a squadron can draw fire from the others.  Presenting easy targets helps you get the alpha priority targets into the proper position for your Heavy hitter to do their work.


I am still trying to figure out the Relthoza on the ground.  We have not been able to get in a lot of Planetfall games yet with all the tournament preparation.  I have a feeling the lessons I have learned out in space might help me on the ground.  I have to say I do have some favorites in the fleet though.  The Huntsman Heavy cruisers have been MVP's in just about every game I have played.  They have been working the best when I keep them in reserve and battle shunt them into play.  They are very robust and have been very hard to kill.  They tend to draw a lot of fire and this allows me to get the rest of my fleet into lethal range.  I am also a fan of the Nidus frigate.  Although they are not as tough as the Drone Frigates they do have weaponry in 3 arcs and can carry a wing.  You can engage several targets and with an SRS token with up to 4 wings strong you can do a lot with the squadron.  You can get a big point defense bubble with interceptors.  Bombers are great to give the squadron a one two punch.  My personal favorite is assault shuttles.  4 assault shuttles gives you 8 AP, which is pretty good for taking capital ships.  You can target defensive systems on larger vessels and leave them open to attack by your other vessels.

I am going to be picking up some more ships.  I want to try out the battle cruisers and the Battle Station. I have used the Relth TAC that allows you to shunt a squadron to within command distance of  your Admirals vessel.  Its a nice bait and switch tactic to lure large vessels into a kill zone.  being able to bring a Battle Station into the fight from across the table is pretty cool.


Well thats all for now.  I am continuing my journey along the path of the spider.  I have been mixing in some Ba'Kash with great success and I will be reporting on that in the not to distant future.  I am hoping to get a couple more posts in before the big show at Adepticon.  We are once again sold out and the event is shaping up to be pretty cool.  I hope to see you all there.  If you are looking for anything in the way of Firestorm Armada product our resident merchant of all things gaming will have a lot of product on hand at the convention.  Look for him at the tournament and at bits trading night at the convention.  I guarantee he will have what you are looking for!


Until next time crush the Alliance and as always....


REMEMBER DRAMOS!!!!!

Fluff Monday: Monsters and Legends

SeerK Here.  Although its not Friday I thought I would post our next installment of the story of Alex Cross.  I have been pretty busy getting ready for our tournament The Second Annual Storm Zone Brawl: The Battle At Omicron Theta at UCON.  It is this coming Saturday the 15th.  our start time is 10 a.m. and there are still spots available.  We have patrol fleets, dreadnought boxes and battle stations up for grabs.  I hope to see you all there!  In the mean time Enjoy the story!

The doors to the hanger bay slowly parted. The force shield holding the environment in the bay flickered slightly as the air momentarily rushed towards the black inky vacuum of space. Alex stood at the center of his officers. They were lined up in two neat rows while an honor guard of the ships Marines stood at attention in parallel lines with their weapons at parade rest. Klaxons sounded as the shuttle entered the bay. The plain steel gray craft slowed as it entered the bay. Its slab sided bulk slowly lowered itself onto the landing pad closest to the arranged rows of officers and Marines.

After it had completed its landing. the Marines turned and quick stepped into two rows flanking the hatch. They stood to attention as the hatch opened. Even covert meetings and secret trips had pomp and traditions to be followed in the Rense System Navy. Alex stood, rather calmly with his hands behind his back, as the hatch opened the the ramp came down. Pioneer troopers came down first, followed by what looked to be a collection of administrators, Fleet Colonels, Fleet Captains and Fleet Marshals. They filed down and joined the other soldiers and Fleet officers in neat rows. Salutes and hand shakes were exchanged. Alex felt all their eyes on him. It was a bit unsettling. It seemed they knew why Fleet Marshal Gronier was here.

As Alex became lost in thought, he awoke form his reverie as one of the higher ranking officers shouted “Attention! Alpha On Deck!” The woman emerging from the blocky shuttle craft looked to be in her early 40's. She was tall with a mane of silver hair flowing down her shoulder. It was arranged in a complex of braids with a heavy looking silver tie at the end of the arrangement. It looked like the “Wings Of Liberty”, The Symbol of the Federation. She was actually quite lovely, with high cheek bones and a slight frame. The look in her eyes could have penetrated a Terran energy shield. They were locked firmly on Alex. It was her, Supreme Fleet Marshal Delphine Rense-Gronier. The “Silver Fox” they called her, well at least not in her presence. Alex knew she was a little over 62 years old, but thanks to Directorate Bio Sciences looked to be in her Early 40's. Her nickname was earned thanks to her silver hair, apparantly it had been that way from a very young age, and her hallmark hit and run tactics when prosecuting campaigns. Her forces were like ghosts and her tactics were reminiscent of the old Earth General Erwin Rommel.

The Fleet Marshal strode confidently down the ramp Saluting the Marines as she went past them. Alex Stepped forward and saluted.

“Welcome the the Leonidas sir! I am..” Marshal Gronier Interrupted as Alex spouted his greeting.

“Do I look like a sir Cross? I hate that protocol Cross. As we have never met that was your one warning”

“Yes ma'am” Her stare seemed to be boring a hole into Alex. He was off to a great start.

“At ease Fleet Marshal, you look like you are going to faint.”

The rumors of her candor did not prepare Alex for the actuality of it. Alex relaxed and lowered his hand from his salute.

“Apologies Fleet Marshal, I am just surprised you are here. Last word was your Task Fleet was in the Omicron Theta System, I take it things did not go well” Alex froze as he realized how frank his statement was.

A wry smile broke the sternness of her face. She seemed almost amused. She glanced back at one of the officers that had arrived with her with a raised eyebrow. He was a middle aged man with close cropped hair and a jagged scar down the right side of his face. He looked as if someone had slapped him. He shook his head in what seemed like an act of contrition.

She gestured for Alex to walk with her. As they walked side by side towards the briefing room the other officers and Marines filed in behind them.

“Marshal Fromer was right about you Cross”

“Right about what ma'am?”

“You are blunt and speak your mind, terrible quality in an officer”The Marshal smiled as she made the statement. Alex was a little taken aback, but she continued.

“Terrible in an Officer, but an excellent quality in a front line Task Fleet Commander and as an adviser.” “ Which is primarily why I am here Cross” Alex tried to contain his confusion.

They continued for a few minutes winding their way through the halls of the ship until they arrived at the briefing room. Fleet Marshal Gronier took the place at the head of the table and gestured fro everybody to sit. The Stewards served scotch and refreshments to the officers as the Fleet Marshal brought maps and fleet dispositions up on the holo projector at the center of the table.

“Lets get down to business, Omicron theta was a disaster and its because that bastard Gravanivitch was feeding us false intel. We have apprehended the spies among us and now our mission has changed.”

Alex was a bit shocked by the Fleet Marshals directness. There were audible groans and sighs at her pronouncements. She continued for several minutes detailing the regroup and reinforcement of the miscellaneous fleet groups still at large from the battle. From the displays and information it looked as if she was planning on hitting the system with about twice as many ships and was dedicating the RNV Dramos to the fight. The Rense Navies sole Leviathan class warship. This was more than an extended campaign to take a planet, this looked to be a plan of vengeance. Marshal Groniers legendary temper seemed to be getting the better of her. A thought occurred to Alex, this looked like a very well orchestrated diversion. The number of assets and the sheer amount of fire power was over kill.

“Ma'am, this looks reckless. Unless you are trying to draw forces off of Schaumberg Prime.....”

Alex trailed off as all eyes looked at him. Several of the men at the table were shaking their heads, a couple had mortified looks.

“Why would I try to do that Marshal Cross?”

Alex felt trapped, but the wry grin on the Fleet Marshals face showed her hand. With as much confidence as he could muster he answered.

“Ma'am, If it were me I would say I would be drawing forces off of Schaumberg prime to make sure my second smaller Battle Fleet had the element of surprise when it shunted in to take the system......And secure a foothold to hit the Fortress.” The pronouncement made Alex sit back in his seat. The eyes moved from him to the smiling Fleet Marshal Gronier.

“You are sharp Cross. I also cannot take full credit for the plan...”

“Panzer......” Alex laughed slightly. That cunning spider.

“As I recall Cross you have dealt with this Relth in the past?”

“Yes ma'am. His name is very hard to say quickly so I just called him Panzer. He might as well be a tank as big as he is. When I was A Fleet Colonel we participated in joint operations with his hive for over a year.”

Alex knew why she was here “So you want me to treat with the Relthoza fleet thats here.” It wasn’t a question Alex made it as a statement of fact.

“Yes Fleet Marshal I do, they should be here within the hour.”

“Actually Ma'am they are already here.”

“They communicated their arrival time Cross, it was to be in about an hour.”

“True, but Panzer always arrives early and being the consummate hunter that he is probably already has the fleet surrounded.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes ma'am. He follows the old ways and his queen does not suffer failure from her 1^st consort.”

As if on cue, the bridge signaled the conference room.

“Sir this is the bridge, a large hunter fleet just appeared on the scopes with full weapons lock.” The panic in the officers voice was obvious.

“Understood, do not return weapons lock. Roll the ships belly towards the battleship.”

“How did you know there was a battle ship sir?”

“Just roll the ship Lt.”

Alex grinned. That crafty spider was probably shadowing the Fleet Marshals ships the whole time.

“Presenting your belly Cross?”

“Yes ma'am, all the better to lure him in.” Alex grinned. Panzer was probably having a good laugh on his bridge. This was going to be interesting. Hopefully nobody would die when they went to meet with the Relth. The spider was a traditionalist after all.

Until next time Crush the Alliance and as Always...

REMEMBER DRAMOS!!!   

Fluff Friday: The Liberation Of Omicron Theta pt 1

SeerK here with another "Fluff Friday" We continue with the tale of Fleet Marshal Alexander Cross. In the wake of a hollow Victory Alex finds himself propelled into the spotlight, but not in the way he had anticipated.

“Sir I have multiple fold signatures with vessels inbound to our position”

“Are they Friend or Foe Mr. Carlson?”

“I.F.F. Signals verified sir....Its Task Fleet Corvus”

Alex slumped in his command chair. Task Fleet Corvus. That was Fleet Marshal Groniers' Task fleet. It was a bulk of the RSN ships in this sector of space. It was part of the 101^st Combined fleet. Judging by the signals lighting up his screens it was a big chunk of the combined fleet. A thought occurred to Alex. Why did she bring so many ships? Wasn't the 101^st currently engaged with the Liberation of Omicron Theta?

“Mr. Carlson are there any troop ships with the fleet?”

“Just a sec Sir.......negative no troop transports or bulk landers Sir.”

That didn't bode well. The 101^st was designated as a Planetfall Division as it contained Legions and ships from the Caros League of systems. Fleet Marshal Groniers' Task Fleet Corvus supplied the intelligence and major offensive punch to the already impressive fire power of the 75^th Caros Assault fleet.

“Sir incoming message from the Agamemnon”.

“Put it through Mr. Ross”

The Agamemnon was the Groniers flagship. It was one of the few Banshee class Dreadnoughts in the RSN fleet.

“Message is text only sir....it reads “briefing on your vessel in one hour”. Its gold level encoded”

A gold level encoded message just telling me to expect company? Something is not right. Alex pondered the information at hand. A feeling of dread suddenly filled him.

“Mr. Carlson do we have a visual of the Task Fleet vessels yet?” His voice was steady despite the fear that was very quickly overtaking him.

“Yes sir, leading vessels coming into visual range now”

“On my screens if you please Mr. Carlson....zoom in on the lead ship and enhance.”

The cruiser on Alexs' screen looked like it had been to hell and back. It looked like it was lucky to be still moving under its own power. How the hell did it make the fold jump to here? Why did they make the jump?

“Mr. Carlson signal the Agamemnon affirmative and tell sick bay to get ready to receive injured.”

“Aye sir!”

Alex sat in his command chair, silent, for a good two minutes. It was clear the Armada that had been sent to Omicron Theta had been hit hard and this was likely a retreating section of the fleet. Given Fleet Marshal Gronier was in over all command of the action, she would not be here to discipline a junior officer with a full scale planetary liberation in process. Alex chastised himself for thinking the Fleet Marshal was here just to dress him down. It was ego and pure vanity on his part.

“ I just have to get over myself.....” Alex trailed off in thought as he muttered out loud.

“What was that sir?”

Alex snapped out of his reverie, “ I will be in the briefing room awaiting our guests Mr. Carlson, you have the Bridge”

“Aye Sir.”

Alex stood and put on his uniform coat. He buttoned it up as he walked out of the bridge and down the hall. He arrived in the Briefing room a few minutes later. He sat down at the long table in the chair at the head of the table. He summoned the steward to bring refreshments to the room and added a bottle of 30 year old single malt scotch from his own private stock to the order.

The steward arrived a few minutes later as Alex was going over the com traffic from the new arrivals.

“Would you like a glass sir?”

Alex looked up and saw the steward had quickly set up the refreshments and was holding the bottle of scotch.

“Yes, make it a double if you would please.”

Alex nursed his drink while listening to the com traffic from the incoming fleet. He became lost in the damage reports, casualty reports and the off hand remarks of the comm officers relaying the traffic. It was very clear the battle to liberate Omicron Theta did not go as planned. In fact it sounded as if it had been a disaster. A coded message from an unknown source to the Agamemnon did catch Alex's attention though. The coding was utterly alien, but very familiar. It was from a Relthoza Barb Fleet. The message was simply a time. Two standard hours. The signature that followed the time brought a smile to Alex's face.

“Panzer you crafty old spider, looks like we will be hunting somebody together again” Alex muttered .

Shvar'ss'kovar'shen, or “Panzer” as Alex Nicknamed him. Relth names were very difficult for non-Relthoza to pronounce, so nicknames abounded. Panzers actually name meant “Implacable hunter with a will of Iron”, or something to that effect. Alex had nicknamed him “Panzer” after the Ancient Terran German legend of Der Panzer Mensch or “Tank Man”. It was a very apt comparison. In his powered exo Armor the Relthoza Warrior was almost literally a tank, both in size, firepower and resiliency.

Time passed quickly as Alex thought about his old hunting companion. A chime awoke him from his reverie. It was the bridge signaling the Fleet Marshals Shuttle was inbound. This was going to be interesting. The “Silver Fox” herself was going to be on board his ship. Honor and fear in equal measure gripped Alex's being. He stood and Straightened his uniform. Gave himself a re assuring smile and girded himself to meet a legend.