Skills, weapons and equipment
🤬 Frenzy: safe area is a mission generally played defensively, since points are made at the end of the game, so you can expect to face big links with snipers well castled within their deployment zone. This is why you may want to have your murder machines with that sweet impetuous order when times are ripe. It can start on turn two, but turn three is the real moment for cc units to shine.
👯 Holoprojector: since all of the above, having some threatening decoys around can be a big boost to your manouvering capacity. Specialist profiles with holoprojector can make you win games: units like the Tian Gou or the Bashi Bazouk may really be your trump cards.
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| The Knight of the Holy Sepulchre was born for this mission. With holoprojector and multi marksman rifle +1B, the specialist profile with chain of command will efficiently hold any console and its ZO. |
🌋 Dazer: it is very unusual to mention something available only to a handful of armies in a mission focus but underestimating this equipment can be ruinous. Malignos and Draal saboteurs can be proficient both when attacking and defending, tampering your order efficency with the subtle stratagem of an unexpected difficult terrain area.
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| Shrouded by Cristian Il Corinzio: despite not being as relevant or resilient as the Malignos, the Shrouded can still be a pain to deal with for your opponent. The 0,5 SWC, 23 points profile with boarding shotgun, minelayer and Dazer, despite its moderately high cost, can be an interesting choice for this mission. |
Behaviours and tactics
🗡️🛡️ Sword and shield: aka attacking Haris and defensive Core fireteams. This is a classic formation regardless of the meta you play in and I find it extremely effective in this mission. The best way to preserve it is also the best way to counter it: use the third part of your list, meaning all the units that are not part of those fireteams. Bulleteer, Posthumans and Mary Problems all cover this "third part" role in our Operation Golden Ratio series.
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| With either 2 wounds or NWI, any Posthuman proxy profile will allow you to stand tall during your reactive turn with no fear of losing orders. |
⛹️♀️ Buzzer beater: this tactic is particularly appealing to Haqquislam, Nomads and Ariadna since they have access to cheap parachuting specialists with no SWC cost. Playing with low orders can be tough, but if you wait until the very end of the game you can change everything on turn three. Watch out with a coordinated suppress fire of your advanced troops on turns two and three if your opponent is suspiciously low on orders and you started playing first: they may seize victory right under your nose!
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| Picture by u/Stormygeddon: Karakuris may not be everyone's piece of cake, but these STR 3 specialists with two unconscious levels can make a Haris with the ever frenzy Domaru Butai: a deadly combination that works both long range and in close combat |
🃏 Winner, winner, chicken dinner: in this mission, you and your opponent can turn your Classified Objective to either Increase your army points in one Zone of Operations or to make one enemy specialist count as a non-specialist. This is a great strategic boost but you have to declare it before the beginning of the game. I don't like dos and don'ts but if you can't read the situation and you can't make your mind up, always go for the Intelcom card if your opponent did so or you think they will. Moreover, since the "non-specialist" use of the Intelcom card means less points inside a ZO, you could fill the gap by including a Baggage unit in your list, granting you 20 easy additional VPs inside its ZO (especially if you think that the maximum VPs provided by the Intelcom card are 20, assuming you are lucky enough to randomly draw that specific card!). At the same time, keep an eye for enemy units with Baggage if you have to choose first what to declare.
Final thoughts
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| The Grenzer is a recurring sniper in our games and has proved repeatedly how dangerous they can be against any playstyle, even when not in a 5 trooper fireteam. |
Safe area is a call to arms for all those not-hacking specialists profiles with a low SWC cost so there will be a lot of firepower anchored in the deployment zone, ready to jump forward on turn three. You will also face and/or list beefy troopers with specialist profiles, usually put aside in other missions where specific specialists are preferred. About this, please note that a lot of TAG pilots are Specialist Operative. Compared to similar missions like Quadrant Control, where points are made round by round, Safe Area nerfs Forward deployers and Guards unit which are not as effective, so take your time to take them down in case they show up.
Useful links
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