Dropzone Tactics: The Humble Yari “Love & Hate”
Ah, the humble Yari… Today we take a look at one of the most divisive units in Dropzone Commander.
Some Shaltari players hate them for many different reasons, chiefly for their seemingly high points cost. Other Shaltari players will never leave home without them. I am firmly in this second camp, and today I want to share with you some of the uses I’ve found for these diminutive little Skimmers that help to make them so indispensable.
At first glance, there isn’t much to say about the Yari. It has exceptionally poor armor for a ground vehicle, it costs a very significant number of points once equipped with a weapon, and its roles seem rather limited. If the Caiman is the German Shepherd of the Shaltari attack dogs, then the Yari is most definitely the Chihuahua. With all that said, why am I such a proponent of these light vehicles?
Scout, Speed, Survivability
It is an obvious fact, but one that still bears pointing out. The Yari is a Scout vehicle, and in addition to this it is the only Scout vehicle available to the Shaltari. This is a big deal, as the slow-moving Coyote cannot be everywhere at once to provide its Command Radius.
Enter the nimble Yari. With a 12” Movement value, it is quite capable of getting wherever you need it to be. Even with it simply driving on from the board edge, it is capable of quickly getting into position to hand down those important order cards. Given that it can still reach the speed needed for a Skimmer bonus when it moves on from the table’s edge, it has true value and decent survivability as it moves to forward positions.
However, this is not how I advise the Yari be deployed. In the early turns, it is highly likely that you will have Spirit Light Gates with no other focus. By using them on this first turn to ferry Yaris to the center of the table, you are immediately covering the vast majority of the board in your Commander’s presence, giving you the ability to play cards where and when you need them.
The Yari. On time, every time.
This speed also comes with the immediate Skimmer bonus that I touched on above. You should never have a Yari that can be engaged by the enemy without them enduring the +2 Accuracy modifier. The significance of this cannot be overstated; many times I’ve destroyed Scourge vehicles when they emerge from their Dropships, simply because this bonus isn’t yet active. In a similar way, I’ve knocked out literally dozens of Wolverines by getting the drop on them in the next turn’s activations, simply because they do not have this accuracy modifier.
Add in the ubiquitous Shaltari Passive Saves, and the Yari is much more survivable than it initially appears. I’ve had many times when the enemy fired a disproportionate amount of firepower in the direction of my Yaris, only to have survivors when the smoke cleared that could zip back into cover or press their advantage. One example is a group of six UCM Sabre tanks that fired on four of them, only killing one in the process! While this is slightly below the averages you can usually expect, don’t be surprised when they survive firepower that may have sent a heavy ground tank reeling!
There is an important caveat to be mentioned here. AA weapons will absolutely murder your Yaris, and if you aren’t careful with their initial deployment then they could get into trouble quickly. Dodge these pockets of resistance and look for the prime targets, which will be discussed below.
Ambush
The first thing to consider when unleashing your Yaris on humanity is what role they will play. Some people like to run them with the Microwave Gun option, planning to use them for roasting enemy Infantry as they come to the wall to make their presence known. If this was a Flame weapon, I might be more likely to take it, but as it stands the microwave weaponry feels more like a deterrent than a real offensive force. Since the Dreamsnare already brings a much more potent version of the weapon (and let’s be honest: you already include a Dreamsnare), the Light Ion Cannon feels much more useful on the table.
Some players will no doubt disagree with me, as the Light Ion Cannon is a more expensive weapon for the light vehicle. However, I’m already paying points for the tank, so I’d rather have it as useful as possible. It is here that the Yari fulfills a very unique and powerful role: aircraft ambush.
Consider the following. You and your opponent are jockeying for position at the center of the table. It is the opening turn, and his Legionnaires have rushed up the middle of the board in their Raven-A Light Dropships, moving 24” and positioning behind the central building to leap out on the next turn.
Light Dropships do NOT like to see Yaris coming!
Your last group to activate is a group of Firstborns and Yaris. Bringing two Spirit Light Gates online, you move them half distance to allow a Materialize move for your Yaris, followed by a half move that puts them at the centerline of the table.
If you’ve followed my previous advice and included the biggest Commander allowed at your points value, then you have at worst a 50/50 chance of having the first activation of the next turn. If you win this activation, the Yaris can easily sweep out and knock down the Raven-A’s, stranding the Infantry at least and potentially killing them all on-board. If your opponent wins, he is left with a difficult decision. He can fly his Ravens away and cede control of the point, keeping them intact to fight somewhere else, or he can go ahead and deploy in the Structure, leaving the Raven-A’s to either fly away and abandon their charges (which most likely won’t take them out of the Yari’s range), or they can stay put and be shot down anyway, leaving the Infantry stranded. You can then use the same Spirit Light Gates to deploy Firstborns into the Structure and destroy the Infantry in CQB.
The Yaris also have an excellent ability to chase down enemy Dropships as they attempt to leave with objectives, and to hunt those gunships with one Damage Point that don’t always justify the use of a Kukri or Birdeater. In short, they are fast enough to avoid harm and quick enough to make their punches when and where it counts.
Danger in Numbers
Go ahead. Try to wrangle me.
When you consider the survivability and speed of these vehicles, also think about how many you can put into squads. I personally like to run two groups of four in our usual 2,500 point games, and they can be as hard to wrangle as a gang of Chihuahuas!
I put the same principle into effect in many of my wargaming factions, and it holds true for the Yari as well. A large number of independent attacks have a greater effect than the same number of attacks on a lone platform.
Think about it for a minute, comparing the four shots of a Kukri to the four shots of four Yaris. They can have the same effect on a heavier Dropship with multiple Damage Points, but what happens when you get rushed by four UCM Falcon Gunships?
The Kukri can (and should) destroy a single Falcon, but the other three are left to push on into your lines because the Kukri had no chance at all to damage them. However, the Yaris could divide their four shots across the four enemy aircraft. You have the same chances to cause a Falcon to be destroyed, but you have the added benefit that more than one of them may go down in the process.
This isn’t to say that Kukris are useless, as they make excellent Reactionary Fire attacks and provide a stunning amount of shots when concentrated against heavy air assets. That said, the Yaris are much more efficient at hunting the light units that skirmish in an attempt to draw off your AA and threaten the flanks.
Don’t ever sell the Yaris short. They have a vital function to fulfill in the Shaltari army, and the longer I play them the more I appreciate their usefulness. Give them a chance, using the ambushing and aircraft-swamping tactics listed above. Death by a thousand cuts is still death!
The Yari is one of the more controversial Shaltari units in terms of usefulness. I obviously love it! Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
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