Shades Corvid debuted a new squad and strategy that year. Made of mainly Magenta, Purple, and Black parts, the squad featured three Armored Spotters and one Armored Sniper.
The first step is choosing the archetypes to use. The Armored Spotters (2B/1Gd8/2Y/2W + SSR) will provide Cover for the Armored Sniper (2Ra+d8/1B/2W) using the Special Ability granted by two Defensive Systems. They'll also be able to place Spots all over the game board due to double Spotting Systems. So those three Frames will support and defend the Armored Sniper. The final Frame will provide offensive punch for the squad and also act as a timing disruptor.
The second step to using this squad is underbidding. Shades went with four Frames with fifteen Systems (4/15). This was lower than the other two players who both had five Frames and 20 systems (5/20). This guaranteed Shades the Defender position allowing him to place his forces as he wanted.
The third step is actual placement of Stations and Frames. Two Stations and two Frames define the perimeter (Yellow line) and which area of the table he'll get to control. As you can see from the picture, he chose an area that didn't have much in the way of cover. This allows clear lines of attack to any incoming Frames. I probably would have chosen one of the sections with four trees on a plate to hide behind though. A full quarter of the table is within the perimeter. One Station is left unguarded out in the open as a bait.
Fourth step, playing the game. Because Spotting doesn't activate opposing Frames, Templeton can activate the Armored Spotters without worry of incurring an attack. Although he may want to wait to see what the Point Offense frame is going to do since it starts the game inside of Artillery range. Otherwise the gameplan should be to drop Spots to incite combat between opponents and delay in using the Armored Sniper as long as possible, then use it to -- hopefully -- pick off the weakest Frame on the table. Because each Armored Spotter also has a SSR, they can each cross-Spot for each other once an opponent's Frames start getting too close. One thing to keep in mind is that this formation will break. It's just a question of When. It all depends on how many opponents you actually have and how aggressive they are in attacking you. In the actual game, it broke in the third turn and Shades sent a damaged Armored Spotter running for one of my stations. Which was an excellent idea. The best way to avoid an attack is to not be there.
One thing that could have been done differently is to use two of the Armored Spotters to push the initial perimeter out even further instead of starting in the Turtle formation. Then, on the first turn, activate the outlying Frames and retreat them back into the Turtle formation. This would leave even more space for the opponents to get across before being able to engage and hopefully add more time before the formation breaks.
Granted, all of this is conjecture as it's based on three year old memories and a barely-there battle report. Still, I'd love to see someone else give it a try.
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