What is the case for the Shotgun Rocket Ratnik?

On the bright side the K9 Strelok is nasty.
DTW+SMG Strelok with CC & an Antipode throwing a Hammer on PH15 pretty much forces Dodge AROs or threatens a kill.
With Camo and and Forward Deployment it is easy to get close enough as well.

HRL Ratnik is extra weird because I'd much prefer the Panzerfaust for ARO duty in the same Rangeband. No Impersonation and no Marker State makes even his use as a proper Roadblock questionable.

 

I'll be running the ratnik next time I get a game in, we'll see how he performs

I have high hopes!

 

Curiously enough, I think the most innovative thing on the Ratnik is minesweeper.

Having a forward-playing Minesweeper in the super sensor faction means enemies can't just drop idle mines in contested areas. There's a very real danger that the Ratnik can flip that mine, and risk pinning the enemy model that placed it.

 

You have +6 mod from 0-8" for minesweeper, but doesn't mine just go boom if you are that close?

 

If you just walk up to it, yes. But remember, if an ally of the mine is in the template, it won’t detonate. So a Ratnik could get within 8” if something else was nearby blocking the mine from detonating.

 

Oops, double post.

 

Also minesweeper is usable on other things than just a mines so the 0-8 mod makes sence.

Repeaters, AI Beacon ...

 

Highly unlikely you'd be able to find a spot where the mine does see you within 8 inches and cannot explode because of friendlies being in the vicinity.

 

So I mis-played the Ratnik Minesweeper skill, and by that I mean, I didn't use it at all since i'm a total newb.

So my Ratnik was placed alongside a building in partial cover, my opponent poked a Naga out of a doorway, dropped a monofilament mine. In that instant what are my options to use minesweeper correctly?

A. Don't ARO (mine won't trigger at all, right?)
B. Dodge (triggering mine, hope to make the save, which I didn't make = Dead Ratnik)
C. FIre Back (triggering mine, hope to make save)
D. Minesweeper

Can I minesweeper the mine just dropped. the naga was pretty much w/in 8 inches of the mine?

 

You can't Minesweeper the mine without discovering it first.

Not entirely related but I'll note that Mine Launchers and Drop Bears are deployed un-camo'd.

 

The mine isn't activated until the conclusion of the order. No ARO choice will detonate the mine.

 

DAMNIT. So my dodge shouldn't have triggered it. Then next turn, discover it, then Sweep it?

 

Exactly, though you only get a Dodge ARO if you have LoF to the Naga that's placing it.