The Book of Marro Drones

[Aldin]

Originally Posted by Devil's Advocate

I know people respect the Drones, but most consider them to be around a B. Just kinda curious if they have a lower rating than maybe they deserve due to people not playing masses of them. With 22+ drones that is alot of casualties one can absorb before they lose the potential for 9 attacks. Each round the Drone user would have roughly a 1/2 chance of getting atleast 1 turn of 9 attacks.

Nine activations and nine attacks are two completely seperate things. I've played around with the Drones and you very rarely get nine attacks (I'm not sure I've ever actually done it). The reason is that to get nine attacks you need nine Drones in position to take full advantage of an activation. Since you're not always moving nine, getting nine in position often means making choices with earlier OMs to give up potential attacks in order to move more supporting Drones forward. And even if you have nine Drones adjacent to enemy figs, an early kill often takes away the attack of another adjacent Drone.

This isn't to say that they aren't great - they are. And a lot of fun as well. But the real potential is for about five or six attacks. The nines do a nice job of optimizing the sixes. This is powerful, but not really "A" grade worthy in my experience.

~Aldin, swarmingly

[Bonecrusher]

Originally Posted by Devil's Advocate

I have no data to back this up but I wonder if the Drones are 1 of the most overlooked squads. A single good roll of the dice and you can get 9 attacks of 3+ in a turn that also have good speed and decent defense. 1 single 9 attack turn could be game ending. I suspect a reason for them being overlooked is people not wanting to buy tons of Minions

I might have to play test 8x Drones and Raelin (lose 1 drone to Start Zone limit) vs Tier 1 Armies, I suspect the Drones match up better than many suspect

That is a solid army, but I would definitely switch out 2x Drones for the Krav or 3x Drones for Q10. I have played 6x Drones, Krav and New Raelin before to great effect. The ranged support helped a lot.

[Turkish]

Sust played a game with these guys. These guys are awesome. High move and swarm rocks.They do need covering fire, but they move up and engage fast.

Drones are my favorite squad, bar none.

[Sir Dendrik]

You know, it's weird, I've never had any luck with the marro drones.

It just seems like I'm always rolling to move six or nine, but it just ends up that I attack with the three I was moving anyway and the rest are just moved up into range of enemy ranged fire.

Am I playing them wrong or what?

[killercactus]

Originally Posted by Sir Dendrik

You know, it's weird, I've never had any luck with the marro drones.

It just seems like I'm always rolling to move six or nine, but it just ends up that I attack with the three I was moving anyway and the rest are just moved up into range of enemy ranged fire.

Am I playing them wrong or what?

Maybe - it depends on the situation. I would advise moving your back Drones out first, and spending a couple of early turns reinforcing rather than charging. That way, when you get that strong roll in the middle of the game, it helps a lot more.

[Snotwalker 8000]

Originally Posted by killercactus

Maybe - it depends on the situation. I would advise moving your back Drones out first, and spending a couple of early turns reinforcing rather than charging. That way, when you get that strong roll in the middle of the game, it helps a lot more.

Exactly... if you have the option of patience, it really pays off with these guys. Don't overextend and overly spread out your forces. It's sort of the same with the zombies... try to keep them together, with frequent reinforcing, so that when you strike, you can strike hard!

SW8K

[Sir Dendrik]

Swiggity sweet, I never really thought of taking my time. Thanks for the tips!

I guess I can't play them the same as my beloved venoc vipers... ah well.

[MattWolf99]

If a Marro drone is within 12 spaces of the Hive Can I use the Drone's ability to move drones outside the hive's range?

[Obsidian]

No. "Any figure that is taking a turn" must be within 12 spaces.

[ParaGoomba Slayer]

Originally Posted by MattWolf99

If a Marro drone is within 12 spaces of the Hive Can I use the Drone's ability to move drones outside the hive's range?

The Hive's card says that the figures you're taking a turn with must be within the 12 spaces. So no, you can't move Drones outside of the Hive's range if you succesfully swarm.

[RickyDMMontoya]

How much do these things rock with Torin?

A lot.

As some other posters have noted, the Drones work best when you aggregate them into a swarm, ready to pounce on a good roll.

Torin serves as a great mobile base around which to aggregate the Drones. Back the cluster with Raelin and I have seen this army work wonders. In my opinion, the Drones are the unit that benefits the most from Torin's abilities. No other unit wants to stand around in front of the enemy more than the Drones, and no unit makes the enemy ranged units think twice about shooting them more than Torin.

[elvenwizard9]

Are these guys worth picking up? I love the Marro theme, as well as the theme of the drones - it also seems that with the proper ranged support these guys could potentially wreak a lot of havoc on the competitive scene.

How about...

x4 Marro Drones 200
x3 Marro Stingers 380
Marro Hive 540


Swarm with drones early, tie down key units and points on the battlefield, then brin in Stingers behind the front line of drones, dropping figures left and right with the Drones' mass attacks and the Stingers' drain. Running out of rabble to expend? Rebirth them.

However, the number of spaces could pose a problem - Drop the Hive for Su-Bak-Na. Slightly less competitive than the Hive, not being able to Rebirth, but the d20 boost can help with swarming and stinging.=, and Su-Bak-Na can be a heavy hitter if need be. Or, if in a larger game, simply use Su-Bak-Na and the Hive at 700 points.