Heavy Gear – NuCoal Spotlight

Brief Faction Overview: The New Coalition (NuCoal) was founded by five Badland’s city-states located in the Barrington Basin and Westridge Mountain Range. Originally founded for economic reasons, as the Inter-Polar War came to fruition the economic coalition shifted to a military and economic umbrella for the region’s city-states. Since the end of the TN1930s the coalition has gained more members and has become a dominant power in the region.

Reasons to play the NuCoal:

• Hovertanks, Genetically Engineered Super Soldiers, and Gears!

• Want to play a high mobility force with a wide variety of models?

• NuCoal brings a good array of Electronic Counter Counter Measures (ECCM) which ensures that NuCoal will maintain communications with its combat groups.

• GRELs: Genetically engineered for combat, NuCoal’s GRELs have evolved from their original intent and can now be found piloting Gears and practicing a martial arts style called the Perfect Form, further enhancing their combat capabilities.

• Speed and Firepower: When looking for good positioning and covering wide swaths of territory, the only army that can match NuCoal’s mobility is Earth’s Colonial Expeditionary Force, but they don’t have access to Gears or the Hussar Geartank.

Subfaction Information

• Port Arthur Korp (PAK): The marooned soldiers of the failed first Earth invasion, decades ago, settled in the Badlands and reformed their military under the leadership of Colonel Arthur, the highest ranking officer left behind by the CEF. Their city state is the most populous of NuCoal and contains the largest military force in the organization with over 100,000 personnel.

• Earth Remnants: Port Arthur still maintains their old CEF equipment and has access to all of the hovertanks, hovercars, and hover APCs the CEF used in the original invasion. These tanks provide some excellent mobile fire power that the other NuCoal factions do not have access to.

• GRELs Gone Wild!: Decades of service beyond their design, the GRELs of Port Arthur have very few coping mechanism for the alien lifestyle and as a result take their trained abilities to the maximum. This instability manifests itself in the GREL Beserk rolls. Some of these abilities are beneficial depending on the circumstances, but they can also wreak havoc to your perfectly crafted maneuvers. Fortunately, they do not manifest often.

• NuCoal Self Defense Force (NSDF): The overarching military of NuCoal encompasses seven different armies based on the city-states and counties of NuCoal. Each city-state provides options depending on which one is chosen.

  • Prince Gable: Access to Northern allies and loads of Satellite Uplink upgrades.

  • Lance Point: Access to Southern allies and more infiltrators.

  • Fort Neil: Access to one Veteran equipment upgrade and some Gear swaps.

  • Erech & Nineveh: Mercs! Up to half of their forces may be mercenary leagueless forces.

  • Temple Heights: Jannite GREL upgrades and En Koreshi, a mysterious and powerful infantry unit.

  • Khayr ad-Din: An army full of duelists. Combat Group Leaders may take a single Duelist upgrade.

  • County Militias: Standard Leagueless forces, but with access to NuCoal Gears and vehicles.

Getting Started with the Task Force:

• The General Purpose Squad (GP): NuCoal’s army building is slightly different from the previous three examples. The new Field Guide format has a number of pre-configured squads available to it. Two of the best squads are the Gearhunter Squad with Light Bazookas and the Urban Combat Squad with Frag Cannons. Both weapon options complement the high mobility of the Chasseur MKI. Get up close and blast away with your heavy weapons, but also make sure that you set up your heavy weapons for the kill shot. Crossfire should be easier to achieve with superior mobility.

• Recon Squads: Jerboas have incredible land speed and jump jets to boot. They move nearly as fast as the hover based Chasseurs and can clear obstacles by jumping over them if needed. This scrappy recon model is equipped with Light Rifles designed to harrass enemies from a distance when not engaging in Forward Observation or Electronic Warfare. The Urban Warfare squad adds two Jerboa Fists equipped with Heavy Panzerfausts for added punch and with their mobility they can provide a nasty surprise for an opponent that disregards the normally less aggressive recon units.

• Strike Squad: The Cuirassier is essentially a Black Mamba clone without the glass back flaw. As such it performs very similarly on the board to the elite Southern Gear. In the Blackwatch Squad, the Cuirassier has two Medium Bazookas and in the General Options the squad can add a single Heavy Grenade Launcher upgrade. This squad will be unbelievably efficient at killing enemies on the force. The Heavy Grenade Launcher is used to stun a wide area and generate crossfire zones, while the two Medium Bazooka wielding Cuirassiers finish the killing.

• Fire Support: The Chevalier has a limited long range option much like the Crusader IV in the Peace River Army. One excellent veteran option for the fire support squad is the Spear variant of the Chevalier, which gives the fire support Gear three linked Medium Rocket Packs. This devastating variant forces opponents to make three defense rolls against each MRP barrage. As the baseline unit is composed of recon and fire support options, the squad is able to handle changes during activation. Also the squad composition can potentially cut down on the need to go on standby if you’re forward observing with your built in recon Gears.

• Infantry: NuCoal Infantry Foot Infantry Platoons are composed of two sections chosen from the list. Much like the Northern and Southern forces, the best options to take for the ground pounding infantry due to their slow movement is the Mortar Squads. If you are playing in an Urban board, pay for infiltration to start your infantry in buildings and give your opponents a nasty surprise.