C.O.R.E tactica

The Core are my favorite faction. Here are some things I think about when building and playing them.

Menial
Core need 75 points of menial per 250 points. This means 150 points in 500, 225 in 750. So the first thing I look at is which models to pick to get me there. Of these, Thumper, Nexus and Menial Bots are sort of the holy trinity. Infiltrators at 55 points and 1 HP usually don't have the sustainability for me and rarely get things done. At 80 points with the gamma restriction, Rends can be problematic and also don't typically live that long.

Thumper gives me a huge range thread as well as one of the only AP denials that Core has so that pick is often a no-brainer. Menial Bots are also gamma but at only 30 points a pop with 2 HP, I figure I can roll those dice and keep them in the front as fodder. Nexus with 2 upgrades usually ends up being more deadly than the rend and no less survivable, but with command and Inspire to boot. Pathfinders are another possiblity here and I go back and forth on MK I. It is a pretty deadly model with low point cost and high survivability but the 80mm base often makes him an early target.


AP denial
sucking the AP from enemy models is crucial in Dark Age and the CORE just don't have a lot of it. Some models, like Centurion/Legionary have AOE knock down which is nice and Thumpers have BL(3) stun but other than that you need a plan for how you slow down enemies. Luckily Core get Combat drones. These 3 little bots are for jumping in and typing up enemies at the right time and maybe even getting a few wounds in. Picking this upgrade is always my first choice and good Combat Drone play will often decide close games.


Not a lot of healing
Like the Dragyri, the Core do not have access to "Hang in there Boys" or Regeneration to keep them up. We do get a Recovery Unit but suffice it to say that model is only going to be good for maybe 1-3 wounds healed per game. Because of this, you need to maximize the number of wounds you deal while reducing the wounds you take.

Because of this, often you will see models like TB 13 preferred over Rends. TB's can be very hard to kill. Holoflage models, to a lesser degree, can be effective against range opponents. Otherwise that's why models like Menial Bots who get much more HP-per-point than average are important.

Preference is important and some people will swear by Rends. ~80 points, 2 HP is where a lot of Core models are. By the numbers, an 80 point Rend has 5/16 armor/defense and [2] AS 6, PW 5x2 attacks. Compare that to the MKI Pathfinder that is 1 def/2 arm better and also effective [2] AS 6, PW 5x2 attacks.

It also gets elusive, strider, tough as nails, vault and more importantly no gamma but is also 5 points less. Now the Rend gets an upgrade which it could use for an extra attack, like a rending saw, but it also might need it for Alpha Upgrade so it can activate normally. The TB 13 also usually get's love over the Rend. It still gets an upgrade, usually for an additional attack, and even though PW 4 is effectively ~7 PW less powerful than the Rends, and it has 20% less armor, it has 15% better defense and a 60% chance to ignore any non-range hit. This usually means it's alive long enough to put the hurt where you need it.

Otherwise for the same points the Nexus can hit harder and has alpha, for 20 more points you get a Churgeon or Recovery Unit, and 10 points less gets you a Zetamax. It's a tough choice and for me the Rend and DRG-y don't get picked often.