Thoughts on Corregidor Jurisdictional Command

Corregidor Jurisdictional Command is the military force of one of the three immense starships the Nomad Nations calls home. Corregidor, philosophically called the Hand of the Nomads (as opposed to Bakunin – the Soul, and Tunguska, the Mind).

Corregidor started it’s career as an orbital prison for the worst scum Earth had to offer… and preferred to keep locked far, far away. It was later enlarged to serve as a refugee camp, and finally abandoned by Earth to fend for itself.

You got misfits, refugees and criminals from every part of the globe here… though apparently Spanish & Portuguese-speakers were setting the mood.

It did, but it wasn’t pretty. Life on Corregidor is still tough, despite all the years that passed. But we do manage. We provide highly skilled labour to the Human Sphere. From Zero-Gee construction workers to hard bitten mercenary troops.

And guess what. Pressure makes diamonds. The denizens of Corregidor are hard as nails. Who works, eats. Who does not, is forced to work. If he doesn’t do that, he’s politely asked to leave Corregidor. Thorough nearest airlock, with a kick to the rear for a good start. Space suit being highly optional for that kind of travel.

Remember, compadre. This is Corregidor. If a kid comes home with a black eye, his mum isn’t going to scold him for getting into a brawl – she’s going to ask if the other kid got it off worse. If not, the kid will have to take some extra tutoring on hand-to-hand combat…

So, you want to enlist – what to expect?

Bienavenda, compadre. Welcome to the Corregidor Jurisdictional Command. Place where the rough men and women of Corregidor serve to help protect our brothers and sisters… and help the ship make a living.

Well, and make a living for ourselves, too. CJC is a very, very no-nonsense military force, and badass upon a badass is to be found here.

Typically, Nomad forces are considered to rely on excellent Medium Infantry. True, Corregidor has some good entries into that department.

We also get a good share of air landing troops, a couple of Link Team options (namely, three) and a choice of Remotes. There also are budget-priced TAGs (don’t mind they’re basically museum pieces).

And there’s the attitude. As O-12 materials instruct, your typical serviceman from Corregidor is a fella who had ran out of fucks to give years ago…

Weak sides?

Corregidor is short on Smoke, with only 3 characters being equipped with it.

We lack proper Camo Infiltrator, too. Many types of high-end technology are not available to us either – in fact, lots of Corregidor stuff seems to be refurbished military surplus.

But hey, we have cojones. We’ll manage with what we have, plus that unique Corregidorian grin.

So, who’s with us?

Alguaciles
A militarized police regiment and the standard Light Infantry force of Corregidor. They’re pretty vanilla, but they are cheap – and can form Link Teams. And you can field lots of them. They come with a variety of options you might want from a basic unit – HMGs, MultiSniper rifles, light Grenade Launchers, Missile Launchers, Hackers, Paramedics and an odd Forward Observer with Deployable Repeaters.

They make for an acceptable Lieutenant choice, though it’s going to cost you SWC. Use them for whatever task you use Light Infantry for, and they have a good chance of succeeding, especially when operating as a team.

They can be accompanied by ex-Alguacile Lupe Balboa, currently a Vortex Special Operative. This tough chick brings in Smoke Grenades, Panzerfaust and Nanopulser, and can be a member of an Alguaciles Link Team – or operate on her own, as she feels fits.

Daktaris

The field doctors. Their history is rather shady, and their Swahili not fit for publication (seems nobody ever attempted to sew their mouths close with surgical thread should they not stop swearing!), but when Corregidor troopers are down, it’s Daktari who patches them up, at least usually. Apart from being competent Doctors, Daktaris can hold their own in a fight – but usually it is better to keep them away from the trouble.

Clockmakers

The engineers. When you’re stationed in space and a good part of your armed force’s assets are TAGs and REMs (and most of these being refurbished surplus…) you need someone really gifted with a wrench and duct tape to keep it running.

Here enters the Clockmaker, one of the most competent Engineers in the Human Sphere!

Tomcats 

The Rescue Brigade. Kids on Corregidor don’t want to be firemen when they grow up. Nor doctors. They want to be Tomcats! Tomcats are a rescue unit that comes to help Corregidor’s workers in case of an accident. No matter, dirtside or in hard vacuum, fire, flooding, decompression or alien infestation – Tomcats will be there, and they’ll pull your half-fried bacon out of fire. They are an AD L2 Airborne Infiltration unit, can operate in null-gravity, and scale walls even better than real cats… plus, they’re well-armed, usually with flamethrowers mounted under their rifles, and can bring to the battlefield a complement of Doctors and Engineers, accompanied by their own Ghost: Servant remotes, the airdroppable Zondcats.

On battlefield, they pull bacons out of fire pretty well, too – whether it is a wounded soldier who needs patching up, a damaged REM or TAG in need of some TLC, or just an unlucky commander who’s getting his butt handed to him, and would be really grateful for a timely intervention on the flank… I know that, Tomcats saved my bacon many times!

One of the Tomcats is Sergeant Major Carlotta Kowalsky, who can do everything a regular Tomcat Engineer could do, just better (and swings around an ADHL, or glue launcher, to shut up anybody who’d fancy calling names… yes, TAGs included).

Valerya Gromoz

The Romanian Connection. A mercenary hacker often serving with CJC, she’s not as good as an Intruder or Wildcat hacker, but certainly bests Algulacile and Hellcat hackers – she’s better in the game, and carries a Marker – two-shot Repeater deployment system, while being just a little more expensive than an Algulacile. She’s not a common sight in CJC forces, but believe me – she’s worth her pay!

Wildcats

The most badass bunch in the whole Corregidor den of badasses. Originally recruited from among known war criminals, this unit has been under fire just too many times to care. They talk names, kick doors and… definitely shoot straight. They also carry a virtual arsenal – from shotguns, rifles and light flamethrowers up to the dreaded Heavy Rocket Launcher, and a lot of explosive charges. They can bring in a good Lieutenant choice, an Engineer and hands-down the best defensive hacker in the whole Corregidor – and work as a Link Team.

Hellcats

These are the iconic airborne troops of the Nomad force. Tough daredevils who do not fear enemy fire, and can take upon any target, on any range (depending on the loadout). They are also, compared to other factions’ typical airborne troops, quite reasonably priced (and with the N3 fix on shotguns, their basic loadouts are going to be pretty dangerous up close!).

Intruders

Corregidor Assault Commandos, are one of the names our enemies speak with fear. Usually acting undercover among ordinary workers, Intruders are there to keep an eye for trouble. If trouble comes upon the men and women from Corregidor, it is the Intruder’s time to shine    . And they do unleash hell – with a good eye and steady hand, fine armor, camouflage gear and advanced visor devices, Intruders are usually known for their preference in heavy weapons. They are good leaders, too. The main drawback, in my eyes, is that they can’t run all that fast in their heavy gear, but perhaps N3 will fix that…

However, as long as it goes for medium or long-range combat, it’d be hard to find somebody better!

Mobile Brigada

The Mobile Brigada are our only Heavy Infantry, and their armors are rather old-fashioned… but they do the job, and the men and women inside of these armors are more important than the plating. They are your highly-resilient force, and they know much depends on them staying fast, and shooting true. They are going to hold designated positions until they fall, or until ordered otherwise (I’ve witnessed a Brigada standing unfazed in face of Achilles himself, with no regard for the hail of bullets coming his way… guess who was still standing after that ended. A hint – it wasn’t Achilles!). While expensive to field, they may also form the so-called (and much feared) “Pain Train”, Heavy Infantry Link Team. Depending on your choice, they can bring in multirifles with flamethrowers, shotguns and HMGs. The N3 is going to hold some good news regarding the Brigada – including cost reductions, mobility upgrades and most probably a new profile…

McMurrough

“Claws-for-rent”, Dog Warrior-for-hire. He is a little odd sight, a furball in Corregidor service, and – hardly surprising – this furball has some serious attitude problems. Unruly and bloodthirsty, he’s nevertheless quick as hell, damn hard to kill and jumps so high you wonder if he really has the genes of something wolf-like, or rather those of a flea… He’s not in for the ranged combat, but once close up, he’s fully in his element – I’ve seen him massacre entire Link Teams in one go, and turning TAGs into mincemeat with Berenice, his Templar-made sword, next moment…

Señor Massacre

Another mercenary. Former criminal enforcer, former gladiator, former assault trooper, former… you get the picture. He is a specialized close-range combatant, though he knows his way around guns, too. I hope that in N3 we’ll see him around more often – at the moment, competing for employment niche with McMurrough, he just doesn’t deliver.

Moran, the Maasai Hunters

They are our only infiltration specialists, and, which is uncommon among such troops, they come without full-fledged camouflage gear. They are light, but very versatile troops – they shoot just fine, they carry repeaters (so our Hackers can act in Moran’s Zone of Control), and they carry Crazy Koalas, the Teddybears-from-Hell. These self-propelled anti-personnel projectiles provide Moran with excellent area denial capability – no one wants to even breath deeper if an enemy Koala lurks around.

Area denial, that’s the game Moran excel in.

Remotes

Transductor Zond

Basically a mobile repeater. Very mobile – at MOV 6-6, it is the fastest thing CJC can field. It is also very cheap, so you could fill a hole in your list with it to generate a Regular Order – provided you have a Hacker or TAG already. I used it once to fulfill an objective in enemy Deployment Zone in a YAMS game (not much more than “just get there”-type objective, and – being late in the game, I was somewhat short on Orders), but since it generally can’t do much more, I’m not a fan.

Stempler Zond

The standard scout remote, with Sensor and Forward Observer. That last part also makes it a specialist, which will be useful in ITS and Paradiso-like missions. One advantage it has over similar models from other factions – it can basically run walls, plus it packs a Combi rifle. With N3 changes, it might be an interesting choice – fast, and hard-hitting.

Reaktion Zond

Another also standard type, with total Reaction, 360-Visor HMG this time. There are two flavours – one has HMG and AP mines, the other adds a light EM grenade launcher to the setup. Since the launcher is difficult to use effectively, I usually go for the cheaper, mine-equipped model. It can also run walls (thanks to Climbing Plus), so moving it into position is usually a child’s play.

Total Reaction REM is a very effective defender, assuming you provide it with appropriate placement – line and range of fire will become even more important in the light of N3 HMG range adjustments.

Vertigo Zond

Our Guided Missile launch platform. Since it is difficult to set up a proper target-acquisition network in CJC (nowhere near to Bakunin’s abilities…), it is not very popular – I’ve used it just once in my career, and wasn’t impressed with the results. But yes, it is there, and you can try your time with a GML.

Salyut Zond

Our baggage remote. It carries campaign provisions (which has a beneficial effect on the force’s morale), but can be also used for casualty evacuation. Oh, and some other uses, too, depending on the model – one is a Minesweeper (and a very cheap Order generator, on par with Transductor. Not as fast though, but sturdier), another is an EVO Repeater every Hacker will be happy to have as his support, the third packs a Total Reaction Combi Rifle.

The third one is most expensive, and save for close-range rear area security, I can hardly see an application for it. Maybe CasEvac, but it rarely is a factor in my games.

Lunokhod Sputnik

A large (and rather inexpensive) REM meant as an assault platform – well-armored, fast, able to scale walls, serving as a Repeater for your Hackers and capable of Minesweeping. There are two variants, both armed with Boarding Shotguns, but the extra equipment differs from there. One carries demolition charges an Akrylat Kanone – 2-shot Adhesive launcher, with apparent intention of using it against TAGs and similar heavy targets – in my opinion, it is ineffective and definitely need a revamp. The other – heavy flamethrower and a pair of Crazy Koalas, just like Moran Maasai do, making it extremely effective close range combatant.

Tsyklon Sputnik

Tsyklons are a long-ranged variant in the Sputnik class of assault remotes, swapping the Minesweeper gear for an all-around visor, but retaining all the other capabilities (well, and not that cheap). It also comes in two variants – with a light machinegun (Spitfire) and Marker to shoot Repeaters, it is excellent attack platform, especially well suited to support your hackers.

The other packs a powerful Feuerbach anti-armor weapon, but due to odd range bands and low rate-of-fire, it is not my favourite (still, I’m hoping for N3 revision that will make it way more useful).

Geckos

Geckos are outdated PanOceanian scout TAGs we’ve refurbished to modern standards. They’re small enough to be used in boarding actions, and while not as tough as modern Main Battle TAGs (especially in the cyberwarfare department, but they lack in mobility too), you’ll be fine if you use them as super-heavy infantry. They pack Chain Colts and either twin Combi Rifles, or a single, high-caliber Mk12 gun, plus a Panzerfaust or Blitzen (limited-ammunition launchers with anti-tank, or electromagnetic warheads) to be used against heavy targets – where the primary weapon doesn’t guarantee proper effect.

They’re very on-the budget TAGs, but still nominally TAGs… and they can wreak some really merry hell.

Personally, I prefer the Mk12 + Blitzen variant, but the twin Combi + Panzerfaust works just fine, too.

Iguana

The Iguana is an another outdated TAG we’ve modded the heck out of it. While, as I said, outdated and somewhat fragile, Iguana is a typically Nomad bag-of-trick. It carries a proper HMG and Heavy Flamethrower, has standard TAG mobility, and a Repeater. However, should it be destroyed, it ejects it’s Operator – armed with a HMG, and wearing a HI armor – to carry on the fight. If you decide to keep the Operator safe, the TAG doesn’t count as destroyed against your Retreat Threshold – pretty cunning, huh?

While other players do often worry much about their TAGs – after all, once an expensive TAG goes down, you’ve lost a significant amount of points, and a lion’s share of your offensive potential – with Iguana, you can be aggressive. It isn’t that expensive, and even if it’s out, you just have to keep the Operator alive, and apply your secondary attack vector. Disposable TAG, how does that sound?