Soaring tech for set-up if opponent starts adjacent.

[phonixinmi]

Upon review of the Soaring rules, I came to a conclusion about the advantage of starting your fliers in soaring mode if you're playing 2nd and your opponent decides to start adjacent to you on an outdoor map.

Going first has significant advantages under the scenario described in the above paragraph. To combat this advantage, if you set up your flying figs in soaring mode at the start of the game, not only do you chop your opponent's range attacks in half, but placing the soaring figs in front of your others blocks line of fire.

Also, in the mid to late game, if an opponent range attacks one of your fliers, you can keep him from executing the "kill shot" on the next turn by using soaring in an attempt to prevent him from doing a simple taxi-shoot maneuver.

I'm sure there must be other strategic applications for soaring and would like to open up the discussion of it in this thread.

All opinions welcome.

[Francesco_V]

Your idea is a clever one.

But your fliers in soaring mode can not taxi...

Also, soaring is not alowed in indoor maps.

[HalfassedNinja]

Personally I've only used soaring once:

I was using a 600pt team on V Sinestro, LE Superman, E Black Cat, and an R SHIELD Medic. LE Supes would fly in with the Dumpster, wack, move back, and soar. He pretty much ruled the board.

[Dr. Ramius]

The only real use I have been able to make out of soaring is to get my beaten clix back to healer. It just improves the odds of making it back before they get KO'd.

Plus I like the idea of parking the figure in soaring mode next to figs like Bane who can't touch them for the lack of leap & climb.

[webhead817]

I think that soaring can be a good defense against "short boarding" and first strike as you described, but there is the significant draw back that taxiing won't work. Flyers with Charge/Running Shot/Hypersonic Speed are golden though.

I like the idea of cheap flyers setting up a kind of soaring shield to block line of fire though.

[Funky Jett]

Figures with Leap/Climb can't make a close combat attack soaring figures. They have to have a ranged attack. The only figures that can make a close combat attack against a soaring figure is ANOTHER soaring figure.

And a small clarification... you CAN taxi while in soaring mode, provided you start next to the passenger while in hovering mode, and end up in hovering mode at the end of your move (when you have to drop off your passenger). Once you pick up your passenger, you can go to soaring mode, move, then go back down to hovering mode and drop off your passenger.

(EDIT - Apparently I don't know how to spell 'soaring')

[webhead817]

Funky Jett is right of course. But, if you are starting the game in soaring mode, your fliers will have to make a move action to drop down to hovering first, and then pick up and move a character on a subsequent turn.

[Dr. Ramius]

Originally posted by Funky Jett
Figures with Leap/Climb can't make a close combat attack soaring figures. They have to have a ranged attack. The only figures that can make a close combat attack against a soaring figure is ANOTHER doaring figure..



My Bad

[phonixinmi]

I'm a firm believer that positioning is a vital component to success in this game (much like that of chess), and I think that the ability to halve you opponent's range attacks with the appropriate soaring "decoys" can be an excellent tactic to draw your opponents in closer than they would like. Then, you can use a hovering taxi to bring in a heavy hitter against them.

Secondly, the strategically placed soaring piece can have an effect on your opponent's outwitters, PCers, and perplexers...

[phonixinmi]

Does anyone have any other game play examples to share regarding when the Soaring ability made a difference?