Muun Tactics Broker
May 14, 2009

 

Many people say that the muun tactics broker is now a must use in 200 pts, but whenever I use him, my sacrifices just get killed and there is nowhere to hide them. We usually play on the hardboard map from the Revenge of the Sith starter. I am not sure what is wrong with my placement, but the tactics broker never works for me.

Thanks,
Dan

Thanks for the letter Dan. This is a bit older letter, but in a way I am glad I waited as the Muun Tactics Broker (MTB) has seen some changes in play. The MTB is a very difficult piece to play and changes not only how you run your squad, but also how your opponent plays against you.

Let’s back up to when the MTB first came out. When it came out, it was a fairly new and dynamic twist in the game. By sacrificing a character in your squad (which is mandatory BTW) you can make your opponent’s initiative roll a 1. This USUALLY means that you are going to win init, but there are some things to note. You still roll your init roll. If you roll a 1, it is considered a tie and you reroll. At this point the effect of the MTB is lost and you are at the mercy of the die (similar to Thrawn). The other downside is playing against San Hill. By using the MTB, you are guaranteeing that your opponent will get reserves every initiative.

Why was the MTB big when it came out? Well, at the time Black and Blue and Master Tactician squads were still very popular. The MTB nerfed these because, instead of a guaranteed init win from Thrawn, you now have a guaranteed init loss. Most of the Thrawn squads of the time relied on winning init. The MTB was also a huge boost to San Hill squads because now those people packing a 1-2 power punch could choose to sacrifice San Hill, allowing you to now activate two characters. This was a huge perk for running the MTB for San players, but this perk disappeared when the initiative changed from being able to activate two characters at the start of the round to only being able to activate one.

There are a few keys to running the MTB. The first is that because the effect is mandatory, you have to have a way to not use him. The key situation will be against San Hill. This means if you want to use him, you need to bring it in through Lobot and his reinforcements. There are other types of squads you may not want to use it against, so the ability to opt in and out of using the MTB is huge.

Another thing you need are lots of sacrificial lambs (or pigs in most cases). You know the pace you play, the faster you play the more sacrifices you will need because you will burn through them. In the experimental phases of play, people were losing their main characters because they ran out of fodder. You also have to keep this fodder protected because if your opponent can eliminate them, you will kill yourself. You are going to want 6-8+ sacrifices in most cases. You want as many as possible, but at some point you begin to weaken your overall squad.

Playing the MTB will change how both you and your opponent play. Playing against a MTB, you will find your opponent will immediately switch to a camping, passive mode. They will only engage enough to avoid falling behind by massive amounts of Gambit (center points). After all, why move forward when your opponent is giving you free points (yes you do get points for what the MTB kills provided that it is not a reinforcement). Playing the MTB, it will force you to be much more aggressive. You are, after all, on the clock before you start killing your own important pieces; so if you are not an aggressive player, don’t try the MTB.

Finally you want to manage the MTB. There are cases where you run low on sacrifices and the MTB begins to turn into a liability. In these cases you want an exit plan. There are two ways to do it. The first is to pack your own explosives, most commonly a Kel-Dor. However, if you have flamethrowers or missiles they can work as well. The other way is to throw him into the fight, but if your opponent knows that leaving it alive will hurt you, don’t look for them to help you out.

When the MTB came out he was very good as he countered a lot of top squads. It always takes very careful, very smart play, but once you figured it out, it was a powerful tool, especially with cunning based squads. Then along came a frog and a droid. With the release of Yoda on Kybuck and the Lancer droid, the MTB and his fodder were no longer safe even in the far corner of the map as both pieces not only had the speed to reach the far corners of the map, but they could wipe them all out in a single turn. The MTB and his fodder were banished to the far recesses of tackle boxes everywhere. The meta switched to bigger, more powerful squads. Today you will not see many MTB-ready squads, but this game can be very cyclical. The lancer is in most deadly droid squads, but the problem is that droids are not holding up as a squad because if they hit Kyle Katarn, JBM they lose horribly. Kybuck isn’t seeing the play he was because people are running General Obi-Wan Kenobi and smaller, beefed characters.

Call it a hunch more than anything, but the MTB could be poised for a bit of a comeback. It will depend on what is played in your area. If you are still seeing a lot of Kybuck and lancers then keep it buried. If you r area really isn’t seeing much of these, then try sneaking it in occasionally. If you run the MTB, make sure you practice as it is a character that can kill you through bad placement, losing it even one round too early, or not losing it when you need too.

Dan, the RotS hard map is probably the worst map to try to run a MTB squad on, as it can be very hard to cover your fodder. Try to go with a map with more seclusion and that is much harder to cross like the ruined base for example. Also with the change in init you will be starting from the worst side every time. Also, in 200pts, it is much harder to take full advantage of the big punch because squads are so much bigger and can stand to lose inits.

If anyone has any questions you would like me to address, send me an email to sithdragon13@yahoo.com and put something star warsy in the title so I know it isn’t spam.  May the Force be with you!