The Book of Gladiatrons

[Zer0scaper]

The only way to break out of cyberclaw(besides killing the gladiatron of course) is to throw the gladiatron with Jotun or use a summoning glyph to pull the gladiatron away.

[L3viathan]

Now with the re-launch of the blastatrons, newbies (like me ) definately need to get some gladiatron squads. Any hope for a wave 4 "Soulborgs&Elves" reprint? Or do you have any spares for me?

[Agent Mike]

So, everyone talks about the Gladiatron/Blastatron combo is an amazing combo that can own if you use it right. How can the Gladiatrons survive against ranged units then?? Im not trying to be difficult, I am just not sure I understand this right. Is this only effective with melee units? I hope not.

[GatekeeperDatuck]

Well, you put your markers on the Blastatrons, so you can attack at range each turn, while moving up the Gladiatrons to engage. Sure, some will die, but then the opponent would not be targeting the guys you are actually using to do damage.

[Agent Mike]

But the Gladiatrons are a greater point value than Blastitrons! ....I guess you would shelter the Gladiatrons with Blastitrons and "Guard" them from ranged attackers. Lol... I never thought of that! Would they be able to do that with their weak attack, the Blastitrons? I still wish they could be each like the marro TBR and teleport to the opponent figures. lol.

[Filthy the Clown]

Originally Posted by Agent Mike

But the Gladiatrons are a greater point value than Blastitrons! ....I guess you would shelter the Gladiatrons with Blastitrons and "Guard" them from ranged attackers. Lol... I never thought of that! Would they be able to do that with their weak attack, the Blastitrons? I still wish they could be each like the marro TBR and teleport to the opponent figures. lol.

If you search around the forums, you will find a lot of winning tournament armies that include the Glads/Blasts combo. A few notable mentions:
-spider_poison went undefeated in the 2008 GenCon Championship with 4xGlads, 2xBlasts, Raelin
-Dignan went 6-0 in NHSD 08 with 3xGlads, 2xBlasts, Raelin, Krav
-spider_poison was successful in a MN Tourney with another related combo: 3xGlads, 2xBlasts, Raelin, Isamu, Marcu.

All of these winning armies have a common theme: more Gladiatron squads than Blasts, and Raelin. So, in the right hands, the ranged attack of the Blasts apparently has the punch to stop good armies in their tracks*...But you are going to lose some Glads, and you need Raelin's help.

[Johnnylama]

Originally Posted by Filthy the Clown

All of these winning armies have a common theme: more Gladiatron squads than Blasts, and Raelin. So, in the right hands, the ranged attack of the Blasts apparently has the punch to stop good armies in their tracks*...But you are going to lose some Glads, and you need Raelin's help.

Yes-- When I play against this kind of army, I try to pick off the Blasts with range first if possible. Without them, the Glads are not very powerful. Good players will use the Blast's long range to keep this from happening. They'll probably find an area of height and "turtle" there with Raelin while the Glads move in. With the movement bonding, you can position the Blasts while moving in the Glads, which usually gives you a tactical advantage against your opponent.

Try to bring in the Glads as a swarm so that there will be too many to kill, and hide them behind line of sight blockers if possible. You'll lose a lot of them on the way in, but after they're in, your opponent is in BIG trouble: locked down and with a giant bulls-eye on their foreheads for the Blasts.

Add to all this trouble the fact that robots are immune to certain powers (such as chilling touch or plague), and they are quite a power to contend with.

[dok]

It's worth noting that the 3x Glad, 3x Blast, Raelin build has done well in 500/510 point formats. lonewolf finished 3rd with it at the 2007 main event, and Jexik did well with it at 2009 TTO. That build has 12 Glads to 11 Blasts, so it's not necessary to have many more Glads. I haven't seen that build played, personally, but I'd speculate that the Blasts are used a bit more aggressively than in the 4x/2x or 3x/2x configurations.

[tcglkn]

Originally Posted by dok

It's worth noting that the 3x Glad, 3x Blast, Raelin build has done well in 500/510 point formats. lonewolf finished 3rd with it at the 2007 main event, and Jexik did well with it at 2009 TTO. That build has 12 Glads to 11 Blasts, so it's not necessary to have many more Glads. I haven't seen that build played, personally, but I'd speculate that the Blasts are used a bit more aggressively than in the 4x/2x or 3x/2x configurations.

With that army I guess you sit a Blast in favor of having Raelin?

[Jexik]

Originally Posted by tcglkn

With that army I guess you sit a Blast in favor of having Raelin?

Yes. 12/11.

And as dok said, sometimes you're more aggressive with the Blasts. It's pretty slick when it works. You toss out the Blastatrons as your Gladiatrons dwindle, because people instinctively gun for them since they have lower defense... but they're playing directly into your plans. Doing sort of a leap-frog where you send a B-tron forward to engage, shoot that engaged target with your rear-b-trons to free up the lead one, and then keep going is a common move.

Raelin is a big part of making this army work against other ranged armies. She increases the Glads' defense and allows you to push forward. Also, jungle and stuff like that is important to utilize if available. The big thing to keep in mind is that there is no hurry. Swarm up slowly so that once you do start taking casualties, you can replace them quickly.

The three units you're most worried about are Deathreavers, Krav, and other Raelins. When it comes to Deathreavers, you're in a lot of trouble if they've got 3 or more squads. There's no way around it. Krav don't care how many dice you throw at them from range, and even 2 dice that Gladiatrons have in melee won't exactly scare them. Sometimes, the best play is actually to charge forward with Raelin to kill Krav. Versus Raelin, sometimes you just have to power through it and ignore her. She's often in a place such that getting Gladiatrons near her is difficult if your opponent knows what he's doing.

4th are a problem, but again, don't rush forward. Lonewolf seems to know how to handle this matchup pretty well. Redcoats/Raelin are similar- tough for less experienced 'tron players, but doable if you practice against it.

I've played trons in 4 separate events, losing one game in each. Two times, the other army had Redcoats- one of them had Raelin, and the other was pure Redcoats. Once was Q9 + rats on the worst map ever for trons, facing Lonewolf of all people. The other was against Krav/Raelin dwarves. Lonewolf's only loss with 3/3/Raelin at GC 2007 was Rÿchean's army with 3x Rats, Krav, AE, MW, and Kaemon.

Melee armies are your ideal matchup, unless MM is playing them, but Q9, Nilfheim, and a lot of popular 2nd tier sorts of armies just get stomped by well-played 'trons.

[Hogg]

Originally Posted by Agent Mike

But the Gladiatrons are a greater point value than Blastitrons! ....I guess you would shelter the Gladiatrons with Blastitrons and "Guard" them from ranged attackers. Lol... I never thought of that! Would they be able to do that with their weak attack, the Blastitrons? I still wish they could be each like the marro TBR and teleport to the opponent figures. lol.

I don't think you're getting it. You engage as much enemy as you can with the Glads. Ranged enemy units have to attack what they're engaged with, so they have to attack the Gladiatrons. They can't use those units to attack the Blastatrons anymore and they can't disengage either. With all your markers on the Blasts you can adjust your Glads every turn and move and attack with your Blasts, which will be pumped by the engagements.

Don't worry about the cards point costs. The In Game Point Value (search or it) is more important to consider when using this combo of units. They dont need to teleport, they have movement bonding and you can move eight figures per activation, twentyfour a round. Late game you will find yourself not needing to move many figures.

[mikelizzio]

I apologize if this is mentioned elsewhere, but I searched the FAQs and Official Units threads to no avail.

Has a ruling been made about whether or not a figure can fly past a Gladiatron without becoming affected by cyberclaw? If so, could someone direct me to the ruling?

Thanks,

Mike