Building Your Firefight Force
21st Jul 2023
Dan Mapleston
We've shown off lots of exciting new things coming to Firefight in the near future. So to round off the week let's look at how you create an army for both regular missions, and Annihilation games...
Totally new to Firefight? Go here first.
Building a Strike Force
Each game is played at a points level. Typical games range from 1,000 to 1,500 points, but you can go larger if you wish!
Each Force List is split into four sections:
- Command: the generals and commanders
- Troop: the fighters that make up the bulk of your army
- Specialist: elite units with special abilities or weaponry
- Support: large vehicles, creatures or gun platforms
Some units types can only be selected by 'unlocking' them with other units. First, you must take at least one Command unit and one Troop unit. Each Troop unit unlocks one Specialist or Command Unit. For every two Troop units, you may also include one Support unit.
Let's look at an example below with the Forge Fathers! Our first Command unit doesn't need unlocking. Then, our two Troop units allow us to also take an equal number of Specialist units. Those same two Troop units also let us take one Support unit.
Some units or unit upgrades are unique, and are marked with a [1] to indicate they can only be taken once. There are also general limits on duplication of Command, Specialist and Support units within these normal games to ensure variety, realism and balance.
- 0-999pts: Up to one of each unit entry
- 1,000-1,499pts: Up to two of each unit entry
- 1,500-1,999pts: Up to three of each unit entry
- 2,000pts+: +1 duplicate unit entry for each 500pts
Building an Armoured Battlegroup
Here we go - let's talk Annihilation games! This is our new vehicle-based mission mode, and it's going to be an absolute blast. It's no surprise that we use a different force organisation chart for this way of playing.
Each game is played at a points level. In this game mode bigger is better, but you could play smaller engagements if your table space is limited. Units are now split into just two main types:
- Mechansised: any unit with the keywords 'vehicle'/'walker'/'tracked'/'wheeled', plus Jetbikes and Sky Razors
- Non-Mechanised: Everything else!
Any non-mechanised units need to either have the 'aerial deployment' keyword, or be capable of using a transport and begin the game inside a vehicle.
Your first command unit must either be i) a command vehicle, ii) an 'ad-hoc command vehicle' (a special upgrade available to one transport), or iii) another command unit that can start the game deployed within a vehicle. It all becomes simple when we look at the chart...
Let's look at an example below with the GCPS! Our Command unit (the Canis Command Mule) doesn't need unlocking. Then, our six Mechanised units allow us to take half as many Non-Mechanised Units. Our Marine units will start the game inside the Hornet Dropships, and our Ranger Tank Hunters will be travelling inside the Wolverine APC.
So there you go - some inspiration for your new Firefight army, and a sneak peek at the revised force organisation rules from Firefight: Command Protocols!