Tao of Tunguska

Tao of Tunguska​

I've been working on this for a few months, been playing Tunguska exclusively since their release, probably have logged around 30 to 40 games with them. I did pretty well in ITS last year finished somewhere around top 20 US, this year no so hot, combinations of some bad luck and not making it to as many events. Anyway I'll flesh out the discussion on units and plan to write an overview. Its all WIP and am happy to take suggestions.

Sectorial Overview
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Tunguska can be summarized in two words;

1. Hacking

2. Firepower

Tunguska is know in the fluff for being the premire faction in the fluff for hacking poweress, and the faction's rules certainly play this out. Interventors have always been point for point the best hackers in the game, Tunguska expanded upon this with Mary problems, and a vast array of other hackers to dump into your list. In fact Tunguska is so full of hackers it can be a liability. Tunguska has 29 specialist profiles, and 17 of them are hackers. Of the 10 that are NOT hackers a further 5 (2 stemplars, hollowmen SO, Puppet FO, Meteor) are hackable....

This makes it IMPARATIVE for Tunguska to dominate the infowar game. Nearly all your specialists are vulnerable to hacking. Frequently my first turns involve sniping out KHDs and AHDs to protect my hackers and leiutenant choices from hacking, and to open up the board for my specialists to score. (On the plus side Tunguska has pitchers, repeaters and pandas to help faciliate this). It also means you spend a not insignificant amount of points on hacking gear which may have diminished effectiveness if you opponent is non hackable.

Tunguska packs some outsized firepower. Each Kriza, which is FA 2, packs an amount of firepower comparable to a core fireteam. You can pretty easily fit 2 Kriza AND a core fire team into a 300 point list. You could also comfortably fit a Kriza, a core, and 2 haris's into a list at 300. Wiser foumites than myself have called Tunguska the most Pano of the Nomad sectorials, and I have to agree. (In the repect that more bullets = better).

Of course to counterbalance those strengths, Tunguska of course has some glaring weaknesses
1. High per order cost
2. Lack of ablative wounds
3. Lack of cheap smoke and visor 2 to pair with it
4. Typical Sectorial lack of options

Most sectorials have restriected options, especially when compared to their vanilla, Tunguska certainly fits that mold. There are a number of units I miss dearly when playing Tunguska, none more so than the humble morlock who for 6 points helps secure my deployment zone from rambos and AD, blocks LoF with smoke, and willingly sacrifcies their bodies for the greater good, while only minimally reducing my forces effectivness after their untimely demise.

Units​

Securitate - An elite line infantry selection, Securitate are the most expensive line infantry in Nomads, and you get what you pay for. They have a respectable BS of 12, and with WIP 14 are the envy of the Fusileer Corp. They otherwise have fairly average line infantry stats, but at least they got it where it counts.


The unit has one special skill, Veteran level 1, this skill makes them immune to isolation, which is very useful when engaging jammers or em weaponry, basically making Securitate immune to those weapons. It can also serve as a useful order reserve, as veterans generate regular orders when is loss of Lieutenant. Nomads/Tunguska tend to have fairly obvious Lieutenants, and no chain of command access outside of spec ops. Not that you ever WANT to be in LoL, but it can happen, and having a handful of regular orders and some command tokens goes a long way towards mitigating it.


The unit can form a CORE fireteam, with incredibly flexible options, Grenzers, Perseus, and Raoul can all fill in as Securitate.


Combi - This is the standard load out, which can also be a Lieutenant or decoy. It’s the cheapest option, and no frills. Not much new to say here.


HMG - This is the first option to look at for an offensive weapon in a link. Good range, damage, and burst, on a decent profile. (The Grenzer spitfire can fulfill a similar role with MSV, but costs more with closer range bands)


Multi-Sniper - This is a flexible SWC gun, best range bands in the game, burst 3 in a link during active turn make is passable on assault, and it packs good stopping power in ARO. You might pick it over the HMG/Feuerbach if your meta tends to have longer firing lanes, where the extra range is a significant advantage over the HMG/Feuerbach.


Hacker - This is the first specialist option for Securitate, and probably my least favorite. There are cheaper hackers if you just need a hacker to access remotes, or support ware. I also don’t like placing regular hacking devices in CORE links, especially ones I like to use to attack. Having other link members idle and trigger AROs while he puts up supportware is a significant risk. Generally I would only consider taking one if points were so tight I needed to combine the hacker role, with link filler, or if I wanted sixth sense to counter hackable targets with stealth. The hacker also has the significant hindrance of being vulnerable to other hacking devices, while the link would otherwise be able to mostly ignore them.


Paramedic - This is probably the preferred specialist. Two points over the combi pays for paramedic.She’s a non hackable cheap specialist, and every once in a while you’ll heal something important instead of kill it. (Every once in a while...)


Feuerbach - This gun hits hard, same burst as a multi-sniper but is AP AND DA, or in ARO feel free to use EXP ammo instead. What you trade for in hitting power over a multi sniper, you lose in range. I’d pick this over a Multi if my meta has fewer long firing lanes, or if you faced high arm and wounds frequently. Also the EXP option is only burst 1, so if your meta uses lots of saturation, you don’t lose anything by using EXP.


Repeater - These is are some of the profiles that makes Tunguska and Securitate very unique. Tunguska is excellent at infowar, and needs to dominate it to be successful. This profile permits you to drag your hacking area along with your mostly non-hackable link. (The repeater on their backs is hackable). You can use them and the order efficiency of the link, to deny significant portions of the board to hackable targets. (And to protect the link from being flanked). The repeater is also a lynchpin for staple Nomad synergies, such as White Noise to counter visored opposition. I generally prefer the shotgun, as she gets uses as a rearguard to prevent gotchas up close to the link.


Zondnautica - These guys are a tool box. The chain rifle and smoke on the bike/remote can help solve a lot of problems. When going second I frequently advise deploying them dismounted. If someone tries to rush your deployment zone you can use the relatively expenedable bot as a corner guard to trade hits, or force them to burn orders against smoke before closing in to gut more valuable models. Just be careful about your impetuous order, if you deploy them seperate, the bike can outrun the rider, probably best at that point to not take it.


The riders themselves have three useful profiles.


Boarding Shotgun - This unit is a cheap short range attack piece. If your opponent leaves an opening, ram a mimitism boarding shotgun into his guys.


Assault Hacker - This unit is a very fast specialist. Tunguska has limited AD specialist options, and few true infiltrating specialists. Those that do infiltrate are even more expensive than this guy. If you can’t start next to the objective, this guy is good at running up to it.


Spitfire - This unit is a good backup gun fighter. He’s a little worse than a Heckler whom can take cover in gun contests. He is far more flexible due to his speed and the tools the bot brings.


It can’t be emphasized enough, the dismounted bike is a large feature of these guys utility. (Think about deva bots or aux bots for Aleph or Pano). The bots can force hits by teaming up direct templates with BS f2f rolls. The bots add intuitive attack to the Zondnautica’s repertoire. We all know how great smoke is, and we all know how short Tunguska is on spare bodies, Zondnautica bring both. .


Hecklers - These are the nearest unit in Tunguska to a traditional camo skirmisher (eg. a Zero). They don’t neatly fill that role, they are slightly on the expensive side, don’t have true camo, and only forward deploy 1, instead of infiltration. They do have slightly better stats then an average skirmisher with BS 12.


So what are Heckler’s really good at? - Keeping your opponent guessing. (“The joke’s on them!”) Hecker’s have four different profiles with wildly different capabilities, and unit they are revealed, your opponent doesn’t know what trap they are waiting to spring. This allows you to play some fun head games.


Jammer - This profile creates a no zone within 8 inches, with no need for LoF. He loves to hide behind wall, and inside of or on top of buildings to serve as area denial. He excels at denying access to where your opponent would like to go, such as objective rooms, or approaches to rambo your deployment zone. He also neatly supplements our Infowar game, a move + fast panda can project a hacking zone ~21 inches away from where he started. (4 inch move, ~1 inch base + 8 inch panda move + 8 inch repeater radius).


Emarat/Boarding Shotgun - This profiles creates an entirely different no zone within a large template from the Hecker. E/marats stop any non-veteran profile cold with isolation, and immobilize 2 Remotes, Heavy Infantry, and Tags. This profile is incredibly dangerous to engage at short range and is excellent for corner guarding tight corridors or other similarly constricted approaches to somewhere you do not want to opponent to access. Though not quite cheap enough to be considered expendable like the glorious Morlock, he can be used to protect vital areas in a similar manner. Paired with the Jammer above it can really leave your opponent guessing as to how best to engage your camo markers.


This profile also has a nice backup weapon in the form of a boarding shotgun, allowing it to utilize its mimitism to contest BS face to face rolls, and to actually serve as a short range, active threat to a wide variety of targets.


Killer Hacker - This is the generic “camo, infiltrating specialist” for Tunguska. As discussed with the unit profile its a rather poor substitute for just that role. What this profile brings is killing power. Killer Hackers are excellent at well, killing hackers and this one is very reasonably priced. Unlike the other Hecklers he can also re-enter marker state using cyber mask giving him some flexibility. The KHD also comes with some unusual gear...


Assault pistol, yep, the Killer Hacker packs an assault pistol for when you absolutely must kill something (everying?) within 8 inches. It’s an incredibly deadly, although short ranged weapon.


He also has cybermines, which is some relatively new gear, useful for forcing your opponent to make shitty decisions, and giving your Killer Hacker something useful to do against hackable targets. Have you ever had an opponent play against a Moran Massai and said something like this “So… If I dodge I can avoid your Koala, but you can hack me un-opposed, or I can reset to avoid your hacking, but I get hit with 15 shock?” - Yeah, cybermines do that. They cause IMM 1 on hackable targets, but are avoided by reset. Drop a cybermine around a corner then attack with an assault pistol, or better yet a linked hollow man missile launcher.


Red Fury - A good backup hitter, BS 12, mimitism/camo, and an excellent gun for a reasonable price. Need I say more? Yes, forward deployment helps to get the gun into ideal ranges. Finally with all these Hecklers masquerading as passive board threats with Jammers, E/marats, and Killer Hackers, it's easy for your opponent to forget that there is the very real possibility of a potent active turn killer under any given camo marker.


Tunguska Interventor - We know them, we love them, point for point probably the most potent hacker in the Human Sphere, or outside the Sphere for that matter. Interventors have a pretty typical line infantry stat line, but for BTS 9 and WIP 15. Packing a Hacking Device Plus, or a Killer Hacking Device and the Lightning upgrade, they are the bane of most other hackers.


Hacking Device Plus - This is the standard Interventor selection, it comes in Lt or not. Hacking device plus is one of the primary reasons to play any Nomads. (Except Corregidor, sorry Corregidor). White noise which comes standard on HD+ plus turns visors into a liability allowing you to block LoF or impose blind fire mods onto targets engaged through the template. It also comes with Claw 2 program, granting access to some of the better (oblivion) hacking programs to use against hackable targets, and sucker punch for defense against killers hackers. (Break water is better to survive, but it can’t always be declared as a requirement is you must already be the target of a hacking attack). Anyway KHD is great, we know that!


Do I Lt or not? This is a question of risk versus reward. Hackers can easily make use of the extra LT order, but are vulnerable to having their heads explode. Hopefully have other hackers so if your opponent uses a killer hacker against your interventor they only get one shot, but with any dice game, flukes happen. During your turn 1, its common to put the interventor into cybermask, which adds a significant degree of protection.


You can take the Panda or leave it. The 2 points buys most of a Warcor, I generally view it as an upgrade if I complete my list and don’t have anything better to do with 2 points.


Hacking Device Plus with a shotgun - I just wanted to make a special note about this loadout. It does not have a Lieutenant option. You know this, your opponent might too, taking this option telegraphs to knowledgeable opponents that the interventor is not your LT. I sometimes take it if I REALLY need that 1 point, but generally avoid it to keep my opponent guessing, at least during deployment.


Killer Hacker - She’s a budget Mary Problems (Mary’s got lightning, but also lots of other useful tools). Lightning is an incredibly powerful program for killing other hackers, or defending yourself in ARO. Tunguska can’t allow itself to be out hacked, it can become debilitating fast, so if you can’t find the points for Mary, the Killer Hacker Interventor is a good sub.


Puppetactica Company - These guys come in two parts, first you pick a Puppeteer, then optionally, you can add puppets to the troupe. I rather like Puppeteers, Counter intelligence is a useful ability, especially in low order count lists that are not limited insertion, personally many of my Tunguska lists clock in around 11-13 orders if I am not intentionally building for Limited Insertion. The Puppeteer himself also is a relatively cheap order monkey, he comes in three flavor.


Plain - This puppeteer is cheap, and opens up puppets and comes with counter intelligence and a SMG. Nothing special here, though SMGs are a good budget conscious weapon.


Minelayer - This is my favorite option. As mentioned before, Tunguska is light on bodies, and vulnerable to being rushed. For 2 points and .5 swc you get 3 anti personnel mines and one of them starts the game in play. This can do a lot to help defend approaches to your deployment zone. A well placed puppeteer has one mine your opponent needs to deal with to get in, and potentially another from an ARO place mine from the puppeteer. (or more..)


Hacker- This is the cheapest hacker in Tunguska. If you just want a hacker, take him. I think he’s a pretty questionable option in Tunguska, the faction is full of hackers, you’re practically forced to take a number of better hackers, and this guy doesn’t bring extra utility like mines.


The puppet bots are taken separately and are optional. Personally I haven’t fielded them yet. I am gun shy because when they are on the board the Puppeteer cannot spend any orders, including AROs, the Puppeteer is too busy controlling the puppets to worry about his own meat sack. Once the Puppeteer is in a null state, the puppets go inert. This is a really all in approach to your game, a Fiday, Speculo, Oni, or just any ole arial deployment unit can end your troupe real fast if you’re not careful. (and cost you an order and 60 odd points of your list).


On the other hand, if your Puppeteer doesn’t get scalped out, it’s hard to see how these guys don’t cause big problems. They’re essentially a haris of relatively weak HI for 40ish points. That is a lot of wound and firepower for 40 points… Puppets come in three flavors.


Red Fury - I like red furys a lot, a burst 5 red fury with Haris bonus for 16 points and 1.5 SWC seems good. You also have some resilience with your extra wound.


Boarding shotgun/FO - This is probably my favorite Puppet. Its cheapest, and has good tools to fix the Tunguska glass cannon. FO comes with the lovely flash pulse, and a WIP 14 burst 2 flash pulse defending parts of your deployment zone seems like a handy tool, and up extra close the shogun can get work done too.


AP Marksman Rifle - This one is more fire-supporty. Marksman rifle ranges are bad up close, so you really want to engage 8-24 inches. AP is useful, but you can also make due without it. Marksmanship level 1 also allows optional use of shock, which can be handy when dealing with punks like Kuang Shi, Pretas, or Devas.


If you do take a troupe make sure to protect the hell out of the puppeteer.


Mary Problems, Tactical UberHacker - Mary is Tunguska incarnate. She has only one load out and it’s full of tools. First, she has an assault hacking device AND an killer hacking device, the only program you really want she doesn’t have is white noise. (and support ware if you like lots of remotes). She’s good at hacking hackables, can spotlight for your objectives, and brings her own repeater net with a pitcher. Oh and she has lighting which is pretty much the only hacking attack better than redrum. Mary has hacking stats to match with wip 14 and bts 6.


Mary is no slouch either in the physical world. ODD, forward deployment, climbing plus, and if you need it, cybermask, can get her to objective to score, or allow her to close the distance to make use of her SMG. She has a Zapper, which is a short range e/marat with EM/2 damage, your opponent doesn't want her anywhere near tags or other valuable troopers/links due to the dangers of immobilized/isolation. Finally she has hyperdynamics so if people do get shots at her from a distance, her dodge isn’t half bad.


Raoul Spektor, Mercenary Operative - Raoul comes in two very different flavors;


Aerial Deployment - AD Raoul is a very potent surprise threat, and probably the best option for it in Tunguska. (And is a specialist to boot) The combo of a boarding shotgun and mimitism allows him to get some very favorable face to face rolls up close, just don’t get out ranged. He has some other good tools, drop bears can cause all sorts of problems, especially to clumped up models. He has EM ccws so is a tremendous threat up close to things like tags and HI, if you’re trying to wound, use your bare hands, crits cause auto IMM/2/isolation and roll for damage, if you use your fists crits go straight to wound, and with his stats critting is rather likely. NWI and a nano pulsar round out his tool set. This option is aggressively costed being irregular.


Fireteam Option - This Raoul is regular and can join Securitate, and Grenzer fireteams. There is also a Haris option for him, Perseus and a FTO stempler. This option trades the boarding shotgun and some points for a multi rifle. He is has not been a auto include for my links, but depending on format is a good upgrade, mimitism and multi rifle alone ups his hitting power over a regular securitate/grenzer. There is a surprising amount of utility adding a close combat specialist to a link, and link bonuses to drop bears. A non hackable specialist is also welcome.


Miranda Ashcroft/Hunting Party- The hunting party is a special unit added to a number of sectorials, it consists of a regular Miranda Ashcroft and regular authorized bounty hunters (for a corresponding price increase). Miranda comes in 2 flavor and the Bounty Hunters come in 5. Miranda is a, non-hackable, specialist operative with ODD, and some pretty good CC skills. ODD, and I-Khol 1 inflict a -9 to people shooting her if she manages to engage them, and CC 18 and a mono CCW is deadly to pretty much anything. The ABH is an extra body with a weapon selected to compliment your intended use for Miranda. The ABH gets a random boon from the booty table, some rolls are meh, some are really good. NOTE: both Miranda and the ABH have stealth, this can help Miranda’s ability to engage in CC by denying change faces etc.


Miranda Boarding Shotgun - The cheapest Miranda, compliments spitfire and red fury ABH’s best, her shotguns plus 6, neatly folds into those ABH’s plus 3.


Miranda Combi - One extra point buys you some range, and a little less up close firepower and no templates.


Bounty Hunter, Combi - If I had 1 extra point to spend, I probably would first upgrade Miranda’s gun first, then look for other upgrades in my list too.


Bounty Hunter, Boarding Shotgun - Cheapest ABH, good at watching Miranda’s back so long as you can keep the firelanes she can be engaged from short.


Bounty Hunter, Sniper Rifle - The best at engaging at long range, even BS 12 can be a pain to shift if you’re opponent is shooting at you in their bad ranges. That said Miranda seems like a more active piece, wanting to move up the board and push buttons, so I am a little leary of this profile, thought as others point out, the duo is optional, and 21/.5 for a sniper rifle bands is cheap by Tunguska standards.


Bounty Hunter, Spitfire - I like spitfires, she has a spitfire, seems good.


Bounty Hunter, Red Fury - I like Red Furys, she has a Red Fury, that only costs .5 SWC! Yes please!


Daktari - Are you playing Tunguska? Do you want a doctor? Well she’s your only choice. Dak’s are the same in Tunguska as elsewhere in the Nomad pantheon. Line trooper stats + doc skill, NOT linkable. I like Docs, and I like Daks, and she provides cheapish orders, but you also find yourself running out of points quickly in Tunguska. Especially if you buy a doc an and engineer and helper bots. Sometimes you just have to make due accepting that guys will die, or taking a chancy option with a securitate paramedic… because you already have him in a link.


Clockmakers - Are you playing Tunguska? Do you want an Engineer? Well he’s your only choice. Clockmakers’s are the same in Tunguska as elsewhere in the Nomad pantheon. Line trooper stats, Wip 15 + Engineer skill, NOT linkable. I like engineers, and I like clockmakers, and he provides cheapish orders, but you also find yourself running out of points quickly in Tunguska. Especially if you buy a doc an and engineer and helper bots. He’s certainly more important depending upon list composition, a list focusing on hollowmen, Sally, or remotes will get far more mileage out of him, than a Grenzer and/or Securitate focused list.


Warcor - I don’t like the word “auto-include.” When I play vanilla or other factions I don’t auto-include a warcor, with Tunguska, he is pretty darn close. If someone gets into my deployment zone I would far prefer they spend one or more orders to kill this guy instead of someone else. If he manages a hit or crit with his WIP 13, he may have just wasted 5 or more enemy orders. He also provides an irregular order, which means in a clutch you can command token to change your yellow order green.


Grenzers, Grenz Security Team - These guys are the elite 1 wound fireteam in Tunguska, comparable to but more expensive than Wildcats in Corregidor. These guys can count as securitate, which allows your to upgrade securitate in a fire team with these profiles if your needs fit the profiles. I like Grenzers a lot, but I don’t particularly like using a “Grenzer Core Link.” The main perk is the ability to include an interventor into the link, giving her sixth sense. Sixth sense on a hacker is a powerful ability, allowing you to ignore stealth, but you can get similar results with a linked securitate hacker, but can build a much more flexible link, for potentially fewer points. All Grenzer’s have MSV 1, which means white noise AND smoke can block their LoF, something to be aware of when tossing out white noise and smoke…


Combi Rifle - This is the standard profile, can be a LT/decoy or come with the Haris skill to form an extra link. Grenzers are pretty well armed with, combi, and light flamethrower. They are good at corner guarding, but can be expensive to use as throw away pieces. Rarely you might be attacked up close by something with high arm and low BTS, Grenzers have a breaker pistol standard as a side arm, which may outperform the combi.


Sensor/FO - This option is armed the same as the combi profile, but comes with two extra incredibly useful abilities. Sensor provides a multitude of tools, a passive buff to discover camo, sensor sweeps to AoE discover camo, and assisted fire which is a powerful tool for engaging models that have stacked a bunch of mods. FO is a useful ability too, being a non-hackable specialist. It comes with the tools to forward observe, and the highly touted flash pulse. This guy is an excellent addition to any securitate or grenzer link, and can be a useful solo piece as well.


Boarding Shotgun - This guy is the cheapest Grenzer. We all know how to use a boarding shotgun. Up close BS 13 + link bonus + range can get to a fearsome 22, critting on a roll of 18, 19 or 20. The MSV helps to retain the mods stacked above 20, ignoring camo, mimitism and poor vis. He can be more intensive to leverage as Grenzer are MI, moving 4-2 may take you more orders to get into optimum range. For an extra point you can add a Biovisor. I am not a big fan of it as a piece of kit, it ignores the discover penalty for impersonation 1, and ignores surprise attack/shot from impersonation. These are all useful abilities, but doesn’t help the primary issue with impersonators, which is that they get at least 12 inches of move before you can attack them if everything goes right for you. If you have an extra point, it’s not bad kit, but it’s not must have gear by any means.


Multi Sniper - Grenzer with a multi sniper, as discussed with the Securitate, MSRs are a flexible gun, getting more burst on offense than a Missle Launcher, and more stopping power in ARO than a spitfire.


Spitfire - I like this guy a lot in offensive Grenzer or Securiate links. The MSV helps him to push through against targets that might give others in the link troubles, such as TO models in cover. Burst 5 and BS 13 is no slouch either.


Missile Launcher - I like this guy a lot too. Two Missile Launcher grenzers in a securitate link can be a fearsome defensive link, getting favorable odds against many foes. If you are thinking about including missile launchers in your list give a lot of thought to terrain and the mission. Missions that have large saturation areas penalize linked MLs, taking away their burst bonus, but also serve as a buff to solo Missile Launchers making their burst 1 less of a liability. I would occasionally take this guy in vanilla and leverage poor vis and saturation to be a tremendous pain to my opponent, because he ignores both.


The Hollow Men - Hollowmen are the “basic” Tunguska heavy infantry. They have some similar basic HI stats with a BS and WIP of 13, and basic HI of arm 4, and superior BTS of 6. But they also have some very divergent stats, their CC and Phys are abysmal at 10. If things are going well, the points saved by dumping these stats buy the Hollowmen some other useful kit, but sometimes you really want that phys. If the link has been broken or degraded or you are running solo hollowmen mod stacking can make shooting back a poor option, and in ARO a dodge prone or out of LoF might be a preferable move, especially if you’re trying to keep models on a scoring objective.


The other way Hollow men are divergent from most other heavy infantry is in their maneuverability. They are speed 6-2 with super jump. Hollowmen are fast being able to move 6 inches and still perform another short skill such as shoot. They also can take short cuts going up and over obstructions instead of going around them. Super jump gives you a options that other HI lack, such as slicing the pie in the third dimension. Frequently you can find angles on models that people thought were safe on top of buildings, or deep in their deployment zone, because your opponent never considered LoF from 6 inches above a raised surface. The other option super jump gives you is retreating up. Hollowmen don’t like being engaged up close, CC and direct template weapons can really hurt them. (E/Marat ICK!) One way to protect them from this threat to spend a few order jumping up on top of something, if your opponent is forced to long skill climb to engage them, you can just unload on them. Even just forcing your opponent to use a ladder can cost them partial cover which may be enough to swing an engagement. Avoid rough terrain, being limited to a two inch move/jump is very debilitating.


Nearly universal across Hollowmen is a chain colt. This weapon is the Hollowmen’s answer to warbands or the like, if they can’t reliably out shoot them, a chain colt will at least let you trade hits if you can draw lof. Admittedly this is not ideal, but is a safer bet then dodging on a 10 or less due to mods like MA, or trying to out shoot things that are CC 25ish, especially with mods like camo, ODD, and surprise attack in the mix.


Hollowmen are also remote presence, they have structure instead of wounds, so clockmakers can both heal them and fix any states like isolation, and can spend command tokens to reroll. You can safely skip packing a Dak if you are focusing on Hollowmen. Remote presence includes a nested valor, so you can always pick to stay or retreat when guts checking. Lastly Hollowmen have 2 levels of unconscious, this is both a blessing and a curse. Individual Hollowmen are less likely to actually “Die” so if you are planning on patching them up its more work for your opponent to keep them down. That said if your plan is to refill your main group with orders from another pool, you may find your main pool full of unconscious models preventing you from moving guys over because of the ten man limit in a command group.


Overall Hollowmen are somewhat of a glass cannon for a HI link. Their poor dodge, and propensity to trade hits with direct template weapons can in practice cause the link to degrade quickly when caught in a bad situation. (even more so if you choose to include the Stempler FTO instead). If you can successfully use super jump to scalpel out unsuspecting threats, and retreat to safety, you will may find a link of them completely dominating your opponent.


Combi Rifle - Standard load out comes with a chain colt. Can’t be a LT. I don’t intentionally take one of these, but sometimes you have to make compromises due to points etc. For an extra cost, you can add a tinbot and even the Haris skill. These are more appealing giving the link more defense against hacking, or letting you run a core of something else and a Haris of Hollowmen.


Multi-Rifle + Pitcher - This guy has an appealing load out. Multi rifles are a lot more deadly than combi rifles, pitchers are very handy for getting a hacking network out, with link, and good range, you can drop two repeaters within 16 inches on 19s, not bad for a short skill. Also has a chain colt. He’s an excellent solo or linked dude.



Missile Launcher - My missile launcher infatuation continues with this guy. He’s significantly more durable and mobile than a Grenzer ML. He’s a slightly worse shot because he is affected worse by vis mods then the Grenzer. Be on the watch for using super jump to snipe unsuspecting targets at extreme range. Also has a chain colt for point defense.


Spitfire - This guy is an excellent choice as a solo hunter or as a primary point man for your link. Super jump lets him pick targets, and gun them down. Also has a chain colt for point defense.


Assault Hacker - This guy is one of your specialist options for the link. Each specialist option for hollowmen makes some concessions. Hollowmen by virtue of being HI are already hackable, but adding a hacking device to this guy renders him vulnerable to killer hackers too. He has some decent guns, same load out as the combi, chain colt, and his KHD vulnerability is somewhat mitigated by the tinbot he packs.


Boarding Shotgun - This guy is a specialist operative, so no extra utility over pushing buttons, but sometimes that is all you need. This hollowman is exceptional in that he is lacking the chain colt. Yes, he has a shotgun so link and close range can make him hard to kill up close… until an oniwaban uses martial arts, TO camo, and potentially surprise attack if you link is busted…. Anyway my point is that I would gladly pay for a chain colt on him as well. If you manage to leverage him well he can reach BS 22 with link and range bonuses.


Kriza Borac, Special Crisis Unit - These guys are awesome. Kriza are the premiere Nomad HI. They feature the new, rare, and powerful full auto level 2. Full auto level 1 adds an additional burst to your weapon in active turn (can’t stack with other burst bonuses). Full auto level 2 adds a negative 3 penalty any time an opponent contests a Kriza’s BS attack in a face to face roll (doesn’t stack with suppression fire). The effect is that these guys walk around solo with bonuses comparable to a full core fireteam, that’s really powerful!


Kriza have good stats, for Nomad HI, BS 13, phys 14, wip 13, arm 5, bts 6, multi terrain, and valor. So what’s the catch? Kriza are expensive, and more importantly, Kriza have a very narrow focus. They are amazing at F2F ballistic skill rolls when they can engineer the engagement terms… they’re not good for much else. Unlike Task Masters in Bakunin, Kriza don’t have other utility kit, no stealth or martial arts, no direct template weapons, or impact template weapons, or crazy koalas. Yes, winning BS attacks is a large part of this game, but if that was all you needed to win, Pano wouldn’t have been so salty all these years.


Making use of these guys requires you to accept that they have limits, and to keep them from getting over exposed. As soon as your opponent can engineer non BS face to face rolls, of just overpower them in active turn, things can go south. One note about Kriza’s weapons, all loadouts include a heavy pistol, most of the time this is your go to for ARO within 8 inches, and for the HMG it can also be a good fixer up close, three dice at +3 can be more effective that 5 and -3.


HMG - This is the profile I take most often. The Kriza HMG is in most circumstances Tunguska most reliable fire support option for longer range fire fights. He clears lanes, and murder most things from 16-32, and even closer he’s still good thanks to full auto, and the heavy pistol. I frequently will use the LT option. He can make good use of the extra LT order, and during your active turn, he shouldn’t be engaging in any firefights your expect to lose. Since he’s primarily a longer range piece, he shouldn’t be straying far from your deployment zone to attack things, and it’s not a bad idea to reserve orders to retreat into cover or total cover after your attack, or to move forward other models protect him from retaliation. Either way, if you feel the need to use him to aggressively push into your opponent’s side of the board, don’t be surprised if he dies quickly once your opponent's active turn rolls around.


Mk 12/SMG - MK 12 Kriza has a variety of weapons that make him very powerful short to mid-range. Between the SMG and MK 12 he has an uninterrupted +3 to 24 inches. The addition of AP to his repertoire ups his threat up close, and the SMG is very powerful in suppression as well. He also has extra kit to help him survive up close. Unlike his HMG analogue, the MK 12 kriza has a 360 visor, he can’t be flanked. Putting him in suppression goes a long ways towards helping to keep him around for next turn.


Multi Rifle - This is budget Kriza. The multi rifle is a very powerful gun within 16 inches paired with full auto. That is also the problem, because budget Kriza doesn’t have anything to help him close the range, nor does he have kit like the 360 visor to help him survive once he gets there. If you want to run a Kriza duo the Multi Rifle and HMG compliment each other’s ranges.


Szalamandra - Sally is a big bad tag. Her only profile is armed with an Hyper-rapid Magnetic Cannon (HRMC), which is her defining feature, and arguably the most powerful gun in the game. HRMCs add an additional burst, and a +0 range band beyond 32 inches better than a multi-HMG. (In trade they only have double action, not EXP ammo for their anti material shot). In some ways the Kriza steals some of Sally’s thunder, the Kriza’s HMG, while having a lower native ballistic skill, is still more reliable in fire fights due to the debuff full auto inflicts.


So if the Kriza is better at shooting, why should I pay nearly twice as much for Sally? This is a legit question, and one you need to consider when list building…


First up, the HRMC is a multi weapon. Against high armor targets, Sally is far more likely to score wounds even if she is less likely to flat out win the face to face roll. She also has shock for when the target is shock vulnerable. In ARO, she can use double action, or stun ammo. Stun is a godsend against things like dog warriors who ignore all your other ammo types that would mess them up. Of note too, in the last few ITS seasons, tags get plus 1 damage on their guns that need to roll to hit, so the HRMC is damage 16 base. Sally’s a better firefighter at extreme range due to the virtue of the HRMC’s +0 beyond 32 inches.


Sally also is multi function, she has a heavy flamer for secondary armament which helps to end things that can mod stack her HRMC (or the Kriza) into crit fishing. Sally is faster than a Kriza at 6-4 move, S7 lets her vault over many more things at no move cost. Her pilot is a killer hacker, serving the dual role of specialist, and plan C for when there is a repeater network opposing you and all other hackers have failed. Some ITS missions give points out for tags completing objectives as well, no Kriza can do that.


Sally generally is more durable than the Kriza. Sally is arm 8 and BTS 9, she can tank most hits most of the time. Sally’s arm and BTS in the open are the same as the Kriza’s in cover, get Sally into cover! She has an extra wound over the Kriza, and potentially a fourth wound with the pilot, which can be an issue depending on the mission.


Where I am going here is that the Sally is not an outsized avatar of death. TAGs, even the Combined Army Avatar, require careful consideration of the mission needs, and list construction. When playing Sally, make sure to budget retreat and suppression fire orders, and have a plan for how you want to use her. Make sure that wherever you leave her at the end of your turn, has a good path of retreat so she can bug out in a guts check if the engagement isn’t going her way.


Tysklon Sputniks - These guys are Nomads main combat remotes. They have 360 and X visors so they cannot be flanked, and their range bands never go below +0. They have good arm and BTS for a remote, but the primary thing of interest they bring is climbing plus. They’re highly maneuverable able to find unguarded angles to engage targets. These guys are also good for developing your repeater network, they carry integrated repeaters and have a pitcher as secondary weaponry. Unique to Tunguska, both types of Tysklons can be upgraded with forward deployment 1 for 2 points.


Spitfire - This guy is a highly mobile spitfire, with the potential to be buffed with assisted fire to grant shock ammo and ignore parts of the cover rule. He a good attack and utility piece, though a tad on the expensive side. Forward deployment helps him start with your opponent in his good range.


Feuerbach - The Feuerbach is a good gun, but it gains a lot from being linked. I’ve taken this profile in vanilla before, but I’m not sure I’d want to take him in Tunguska, especially when I can link a Securitate, which has similar performance before link bonuses. I’m also skeptical of the forward deployment option for this gun, Feurebach’s good range bands don’t start until you’re 16 inches away, starting closer seems dubious. (Though having additional deployment options might permit the Tysklon to start on some sort of advantageous terrain).


Lunkohold Sputniks - I love Lunkoholds. The crazy koalas help to lock down your deployment zone, which is most welcome. Generally I prefer the heavy flame thrower as a short range fighter extrodinare. With the high cost of units in Tunguska I generally view this unit as a luxery, which sometimes has to get cut, but I feel far more comfortable playing with this protection than without.


Stemplar Zond - These guys are your standard work horse FO bots, with the perk of climbing plus... which is amazng.

Tunguska also get a FTO version of the stemplar which gains super jump, a useful skill that pairs well with climbing plus for some rediculous maneuverability. The FTO can be dumped into a Hollowmen link or a special Perseus +Raoul link. I've used it sucessfully in both options.


Reaktion Zond - Rather standard TR bot here, with the addition of climbing plus. You probably will have plentiful hackers and repeaters making it easy to put assisted fire on this little guy to make him punch above his weight.

Of note I especially like him in missions like power pack where he can guard your deployment zones and the space inbetween.


Vertigo Zond - Standard smart missle launcher here. Tunguska missed out on wildcard or of regular ML versions of these guys. Generally to make good use of SML bots you need to design your list around them including either cheap expendable FOs to mark targets, or EVO, spotlight and sufficient orders to to fuel repeated spotlight attempts and guided missles. Generally I think Tunguska isn't a nartural home for this strategy.


Transductor Zond - Mimitism Flashpulse bot here. These guys are pretty essential to pad Tunguska's order pool, being the cheapest regular orders available. (You're not even really paying a hacker tax to access them since you were taking hackers anyway...) The combo of mimitism and flush pulse make them ideal for helping to defend your deployment zone from AD or other threats. You can also make them pull double or triple duty by deploying them so their repeaters provide a degree of area denial, and their sniffers can potentially aid against camo.


Zondbot - These guys are great, allowing your Dr or Engineer to be in two or more places at once. But wait thats not all!

Zondbots can provide a range of other helpful services,
1. They can simply block access to an area by occupying space, forcing your opponent to kill them first (potentially forcing them out of a marker state)
2. They can provide discover or warning AROs, and if they die, well you're not out much
3. They can provide burst bonuses in melee, or with some luck IMM something with electropulse

Being disposable is a rare asset in Tunguska and zondbots certainly help fill that role.


Salyut Zonds - Standard human sphere baggage bots, they come in three standard flavors.

Standard - These are the other cheap order in Tunguska. Generally the Transuctors provide more value and are more survivable with smaller silhouettes and mimitism. In certain sencarios the baggage skill can win you the game, and don't forget the minesweeper ability.

EVO - EVOs provide a range of passive buffs
1. Reroll a hacking die for a command token
2. Remove stat lock penalties
3. Passive AD buff
4. Spend a command token to have an EVO program up if you go second
5. Permit coordinated hacking orders

My general rule of thumb is EVO might be worthwhile if you plan on using at least 2 of their passives. One thing to keep in mind is that Tunguska can easily build very remote heavy lists, so its not hard to make use of the EVO programs that tag every remote with a repeater.

TR Combi - These guys seem pretty niche, I don't see them feilded very often. They're good at defending a short lane, but I'm not sure they are worth the cost, say when compared to something like a heckler with a jammer or emarat for instance.


Spektrs- I love Spektrs, they're pretty standard as far as TO camo infiltrators go. While they don't have any or stats or abilities of note, that doesn't mean they're bad, much like the humble Zero, they fulfill their roles admirabily.

Combi - This guy doesn't have too much to say for him, for an extra point you can upgrade to an FO, who is a specialist, and comes with flash pulse which is VERY useful.

Boarding Shotgun - Template weapons out of hidden deployment are terrifying. A well placed spektr can destroy a link as it closes on an objective, or advance to within 8 against a scary HI or tag. Hes a reasonably priced TO rambo that can give your opponent a headache.

Multi-Sniper - I really like TO snipers, they are a very powerful ARO piece, and still respectiable on offense. Positioning is key, snipers live and die by their range mods, TO just lets you stack those mods better. There is a degree of safety deploying this hidden inside range of your repeaters, white noise can help counteract any visors which might try to undo his mod stacking.

This load out is expensive and fragile, but can also dominate a large section of the board when played well.

Assault Hacker - The good is this guy is an infiltrating specialist. The bad is that generally I like other assault hacking options in Tunguska, and other spektr specialist profiles better. (also this profile doesn't have mines, weak sauce).

Forward Observer - The cheapest spektr specialist profile, good, non-hackable, BETTER!. As stated Tunguska relies heavily upon hackable specialists, having a few good non-hackable ones can help open up options. (Either when hacking dice haven't gone your way, or to conserve orders by not needing to deal with it). He's a solid profile and unlike the AHD, comes with mines.

Deployable Repeater - Deployable repeaters and E/Maulers are useful tools to mess up hackables, or at least isolate things. Its an interesting profile that I should probably try to use more...

Killer Hacker - This profile is a perk of playing Tunguska. Killer hackers are arguably the most cost effective hackers and putting that on a spektr is appealing. The cybermines are also a nice twist, a killer hacker that also poses a legitimate threat to other hackable targets is an ability few killer hackers get.

Perseus, Rogue Myrmidon - Perseus is probably my favorite thing about Tunguska. He is an above average Myrmidon Officer, with elite by myrmidon standards of BS 13 and CC 22. What truely makes him probably the 2nd best Myrmidon (Sorry, Maceon takes #1) is that he is core linkable in Tunguska. That +3 BS/Phys makes smoke super reliable, and his breaker combi a monster against targets who don't have visors, even outside 16 inches.

Oh and if the target does have a visor, well you likely have a repeater in tow, and a hacking device plus somewhere else on the board to provide white noise. He slots very nicely into a securitate link you plan to use aggresively.

Battle Reports
​

The forumite @WiseKensai is a regular opponent of mine, he likes to write battle reports, here is a collection of games we've played:

CAPTCHA and Regret
Raucous August Tournament Report
Ariadna is a Critical Hit!
Rooftop Table Beta Test
Hulang Holding Action

And a Bromadacademy report I wrote with some Hollowmen Play

Bromad, deadly dance showdown

Lists
​

As requested I'll post some lists I've used. I'd like to say that this certainly isn't the only way to play. I'm the first person who would jump up and say there isn't a perfect list. (also we cycle through ITS options and no options so sometime things are LI or soldiers of fortune).

Also maybe hunting party?
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GROUP 1 10
MIRANDA ASHCROFT Boarding Shotgun, Nanopulser / Pistol, Monofilament CCW. (0 | 23)
BOUNTY HUNTER Red Fury / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 21)
KRIZA BORAC Lieutenant HMG / Heavy Pistol, CC Weapon. (2 | 54)
CLOCKMAKER Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 18)
ZONDBOT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
PERSEUS FTO (Fireteam: Haris) Breaker Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades / 2 Pistols, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 33)
GRENZER Spitfire / Pistol, Breaker Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 30)
SECURITATE (Repeater) Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15)
SECURITATE Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13)
SECURITATE Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13)
PUPPET MASTERS (Minelayer) Submachine Gun, Antipersonnel Mines / PistolKnife. (0.5 | 14)

GROUP 2 3 2 2
YUAN YUAN Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, Shock CCW. (0 | 8)
TRANSDUCTOR ZOND Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
TRANSDUCTOR ZOND Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
MARY PROBLEMS Hacker (Forward Deployment L1) Submachine Gun + Zapper, Pitcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 30)
YUAN YUAN Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 9)

6 SWC | 300 Points

Open in Infinity Army


Engineering deck
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

GROUP 1 10
MARY PROBLEMS Hacker (Forward Deployment L1) Submachine Gun + Zapper, Pitcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 30)
HECKLER Combi Rifle, Jammer, 1 FastPanda / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 23)
PUPPET MASTERS (Minelayer) Submachine Gun, Antipersonnel Mines / PistolKnife. (0.5 | 14)
PERSEUS FTO (Fireteam: Haris) Breaker Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades / 2 Pistols, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 33)
SECURITATE (Repeater) Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15)
SECURITATE (Repeater) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 16)
SECURITATE Paramedic (MediKit) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15)
GRENZER Spitfire / Pistol, Breaker Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 30)
KRIZA BORAC Lieutenant HMG / Heavy Pistol, CC Weapon. (2 | 54)
TRANSDUCTOR ZOND Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)

GROUP 2 2 1
INTERVENTOR Hacker (Hacking Device Plus) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 25)
SPEKTR Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Cybermines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 34)
WARCOR (Aerocam) Flash Pulse / Stun Pistol, Knife. (0 | 3)

5 SWC | 300 Points

Open in Infinity Army


Quad Control
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GROUP 1 10
SZALAMANDRA Hyper-rapid Magnetic Cannon, Heavy Flamethrower / . (2 | 90)
SZALAMANDRA PILOT Contender / Pistol, Knife. ()
VORTEX Spec-Ops (12 XP) (Engineer, CH: Mimetism) Combi Rifle, MULTI Sniper / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13)
GRENZER Spitfire / Pistol, Breaker Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 30)
SECURITATE (Repeater) Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15)
PERSEUS FTO (Fireteam: Haris) Breaker Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades / 2 Pistols, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 33)
SECURITATE Paramedic (MediKit) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15)
HECKLER Boarding Shotgun, E/Marat / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 19)
HECKLER Boarding Shotgun, E/Marat / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 19)
HECKLER Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Cybermines / Assault Pistol, Knife. (0 | 24)
PUPPET MASTERS Submachine Gun / PistolKnife. (0 | 12)

GROUP 2 1 1
INTERVENTOR Hacker Lieutenant (Hacking Device Plus) Combi Rifle, 1 FastPanda / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 27)
WARCOR (Aerocam) Flash Pulse / Stun Pistol, Knife. (0 | 3)

4 SWC | 300 Points

Open in Infinity Army

FrostByte
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GROUP 1 10
HOLLOW MEN Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Chain-colt + 1 TinBot A (Deflector L1) / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 37)
HOLLOW MEN Spitfire, Chain-colt / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (2 | 36)
HOLLOW MEN Missile Launcher, Chain-colt / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (2 | 35)
HOLLOW MEN MULTI Rifle + Pitcher, Chain-colt / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 35)
STEMPLER ZOND FTO (Super-Jump) Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 18)
TRANSDUCTOR ZOND Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
TRANSDUCTOR ZOND Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
PUPPET MASTERS (Minelayer) Submachine Gun, Antipersonnel Mines / PistolKnife. (0.5 | 14)
SALYUT (Minesweeper, Repeater) Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
MARY PROBLEMS Hacker (Forward Deployment L1) Submachine Gun + Zapper, Pitcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 30)

GROUP 2 3 1
HECKLER Combi Rifle, Jammer, 1 FastPanda / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 23)
INTERVENTOR Hacker Lieutenant (Hacking Device Plus) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 25)
HECKLER Boarding Shotgun, E/Marat / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 19)
WARCOR (Aerocam) Flash Pulse / Stun Pistol, Knife. (0 | 3)

6 SWC | 299 Points

Open in Infinity Army

Aquisition LI
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10
PERSEUS FTO (Fireteam: Haris) Breaker Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades / 2 Pistols, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 33)
STEMPLER ZOND FTO (Super-Jump) Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 18)
SPECTOR FTO (Regular) MULTI Rifle, Nanopulser, Drop Bears / Pistol, E/M2 CC Weapon. (0 | 36)
MARY PROBLEMS Hacker (Forward Deployment L1) Submachine Gun + Zapper, Pitcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 30)
INTERVENTOR Hacker Lieutenant (Hacking Device Plus) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 25)
HOLLOW MEN (Fireteam: Haris) Combi Rifle, Chain-colt + 1 TinBot A (Deflector L1) / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 32)
HOLLOW MEN Spitfire, Chain-colt / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (2 | 36)
HOLLOW MEN Missile Launcher, Chain-colt / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (2 | 35)
HOLLOW MEN MULTI Rifle + Pitcher, Chain-colt / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 35)
STEMPLER ZOND FTO (Super-Jump) Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 18)

5.5 SWC | 298 Points

Open in Infinity Army

Generic ITS Securitate Core + Grenzer Haris
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GROUP 1 10
GRENZER (Fireteam: Haris) Combi Rifle + Light Flamethrower / Pistol, Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 26)
GRENZER Missile Launcher / Pistol, Breaker Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 29)
INTERVENTOR Hacker (Hacking Device Plus) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 25)
PERSEUS FTO (Fireteam: Haris) Breaker Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades / 2 Pistols, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 33)
SECURITATE (Repeater) Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15)
SECURITATE Paramedic (MediKit) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15)
SECURITATE Paramedic (MediKit) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15)
GRENZER Spitfire / Pistol, Breaker Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 30)
HECKLER Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Cybermines / Assault Pistol, Knife. (0 | 24)
KRIZA BORAC Lieutenant HMG / Heavy Pistol, CC Weapon. (2 | 54)

GROUP 2 2 1
PUPPET MASTERS Submachine Gun / PistolKnife. (0 | 12)
HECKLER Boarding Shotgun, E/Marat / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 19)
WARCOR (Aerocam) Flash Pulse / Stun Pistol, Knife. (0 | 3)

6 SWC | 300 Points

Open in Infinity Army

 

I wouldn't go so far as to say I don't care about LoL. From lists I see you post for Bakunin I think we have slightly different list style preferences. I enjoy the high tech elite toys aspect of the game and when I play vanilla its normally 10 order + some morlocks and maybe a support piece. In Tunguska I generally fall into the range of ~12 orders.

There are only 4 LT choices in Tunguska, I personally disfavor the Grenzer, I rarely run Grenzer links. I occasionally run Securitate lt, but I like to be very aggressive with my securitate links most of the time to push forward Perseus and repeaters, attrition tends to be high... and I don't like to buy extra securitate/decoys... generally.

So that leaves interventors and kriza as my main LTs. Both make good use of the LT order, but can be vulnerable. The veteran helps to mitigate the risk of using active LTs a lot, having 4ish regular orders to push a link around before spending command tokens is a god send.

 

Sure I'll get around to posting some lists. I don't really believe in netdecks, at least in the infinity context. What works for one person may not work for someone else.

I don't typically play limited insertion lists, though I don't rule them out either. We just have a pretty regular tournament scene and tend to cycle through ITS missions and options. Some of those games were played to help friends prepare for the Emerald City Incursion, a large tournament in Seattle, which was a LI event.

I feel most comfortable playing mid sized lists, something like this is rather typical for how I play.

Engineering deck
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

GROUP 1 10
MARY PROBLEMS Hacker (Forward Deployment L1) Submachine Gun + Zapper, Pitcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 30)
HECKLER Combi Rifle, Jammer, 1 FastPanda / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 23)
PUPPET MASTERS (Minelayer) Submachine Gun, Antipersonnel Mines / PistolKnife. (0.5 | 14)
PERSEUS FTO (Fireteam: Haris) Breaker Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades / 2 Pistols, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 33)
SECURITATE (Repeater) Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15)
SECURITATE (Repeater) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 16)
SECURITATE Paramedic (MediKit) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15)
GRENZER Spitfire / Pistol, Breaker Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 30)
KRIZA BORAC Lieutenant HMG / Heavy Pistol, CC Weapon. (2 | 54)
TRANSDUCTOR ZOND Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)

GROUP 2 2 1
INTERVENTOR Hacker (Hacking Device Plus) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 25)
SPEKTR Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Cybermines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 34)
WARCOR (Aerocam) Flash Pulse / Stun Pistol, Knife. (0 | 3)

5 SWC | 300 Points

Open in Infinity Army

 

@thirteenpixels and @Tom McTrouble are spot on.

Units like those are really hard to stop before they get something good. There are certainly preventative measures you can take which help to minimize damage.

Truth, all ITS missions are actually four rounds. Don't rush through deployment, how you deploy sets the tempo for the rest of the game. Take your time and think about;
1. Where can your opponent approach you from? What lanes enter into your deployment zone, what routes does your opponent have to take to get there. Bog these down with jammers, repeaters, mines, and koalas. Finally put expendable bodies that must be dealt with watching points of entry, such as warcors and transductors, or even a puppeteer who can lay extra mile mines in aro.
2. Tunguska can't ceede the whole board and hide in total cover. You pretty much have to plan to play a conservative BS aro game turn 1. Watch short lanes into your deployment, plan routes of retreat to burn enemy orders.
3. If you're playing against something like JSA, you know there will be crap like oni. Do not deploy units like Kriza near the edge of your zone. Deploy them deep, and force ninjas to pass multiple discover attempts etc.
4. Overlap your fire lanes. Deploy models to take potshots at models as they engage other models, use tools like prone, and expendable helper bots to force melee models to take routes exposing them to fire if they want to cc.
5. Deploy interventors in buildings when you fight IA or Yu Jing....
6. Be prepared to take losses and triage damage. What is worse than having an oni kill an important model? Having him kill 2. Use your tools like Persues's nano pulsar, chain colts on hollowmen, or just unloading with a whole link BS shooting to remove threats before they get even worse.

Really every factions is susceptible to an alpha strike, if you spam 20 orders you probably have 3 guys that are any good any anything, if they're removed your hurting bad. In Tunguska you have a lot of models that can fight, even a securitate link that's been reduced to 3 is really dangerous if you have a swc gun or Persues remaining, just don't loose too many orders, because that can hamstring you. Even less combat oriented models like Mary Problems or a Spekte KHD can run the board against a lot of A level or weaker combatants given the opportunity.

 

First, Aleph is my other faction. I think you would be hard pressed to find any aleph player who would claim that post humans are the poster child of a balance unit. To an extent I don't think comparing them to post humans is fair.

That said they do have some advantages over post humans;
1. They're linked so you can pull more models around with 1 order, which can help optimize use of specialist skills or the corret weapon for the situation.
2. They're haris linked, so you get extra burst, post humans have a burst 4 spitfire/HMG/SMG, puppets have a burst 2 flashpulse, burst 3 shotgun, burst 4 AP+shock marksman rifle and a burst 5 red fury.
3. The most common post humans rely on NWI for durability (typically I see mk 1, II and Vs), low tech A although it degrades, still requires your opponent to go through both wounds, and as stated they actually have unconcious states so can be repaired.
4. As stated S1 and 6-4 move are nice perks.

So although the rule shares a common fluff theme, in some ways it really is apples to oranges.