I do suppose there might be some slight consolidation in the fact that Xeodrons, much like Nomad Geckos, are pretty damn close to being like HI themselves ( Also makes me wonder how the hell the Anathematic didn't somehow turn into a TAG too, sometimes... ), just less mechanised armour and more mechanised armoured suit. That being said I do like ''most'' CA HI ( Until the Anathematic gets a new sculpt in-line with that slick menacing Charontid, I do not feel all that interested in it. ), just that it seems rather difficult for me to wrap my head around making lists with them as a priority, beyond the odd idea of ''MAF double Soggy-Rakty teams.'' Though that TacAware Deflector Suryat looks pretty nice. I mean, a decent no-frills HMG HI that doesn't cut as deep into your order economy AND carries an in-built, if meager, infowar defense with itself? Register me for that. Also helps that every non-HMG profile has Fire Ammo and I am quite fond of burning stuff... not as fond of fire as HI, but it's a close second.
Making lists with CA HI as a core is pretty easy. Get a Charontid, get some smoke, kill everything that can be killed! And if it can't be killed? Then set it on fire and make sure it stays alight for a thousand days or nights or some other nonsense. Also, there is a 1 Anathematic fee for not liking the Anathematic.
Pardon me, for I cannot afford this fee. Powered armour indulgances are not cheap, I fear... But that's only one HI, that just sounds far too low. ...granted come to think of it I think I could imagine a Charontid + Soggy/Suryat/Xeodron list being pretty interesting as an idea to kick abound with an armored boot... Yeah, actually seems like a solid enough idea come to think about it. Combined Army ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 10 2 CHARONTID Lieutenant (Multispectral Visor L3) HMG, Nanopulser / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (2 | 79) SURYAT (Tactical Awareness) HMG + TinBot A (Deflector L1) / Pistol, CCW. (2 | 48) KERR-NAU (UPGRADE: White Noise) Plasma Rifle + Pitcher, D-Charges / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 27) DĀTURAZI Chain Rifle, Grenades, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 14) DĀTURAZI Chain Rifle, Grenades, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 14) MAAKREP TRACKER MULTI Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 33) MALIGNOS Hacker (EI Assault Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 41) SHROUDED (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25) IKADRON (Baggage, Repeater) 2 Light Flamethrowers, Flash Pulse / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 9) IKADRON (Baggage, Repeater) 2 Light Flamethrowers, Flash Pulse / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 9) 6 SWC | 299 Points Open in Infinity Army
Xeos are pretty sweet but they don't much feel Like a HI, 58/59 points, short to medium weapons, dodge on a 7 at best, can't go prone, liable to turn around and shoot your guys instead. Make no mistake I love them to bits (blitzens, super jump, specialist, 3 STR) but the soggy, Kriza or mowang, that is a superheavy supersoldier HI, I find the Xeo to be more a helicopter gunship. Yeeeah the Suryat tac awareness is the best of the bunch. I invite you to the CA side for the many and varied suryat bashing conversations but as a kind of one line synopsis; in points and SWC they tend to under perform in a faction where both are premium, veteran HI is cool but if you E/M them they're just an order, and fire is great until you want a different threat. Overall I personally find them pretty bleh.
The TacAware Suryat is a mixed bag for me. On the one hand, it is very useful in linked teams, but on the other hand, it can't be the lieutenant in MAF for solo runs. However, it does allow running 17 order lists in MAF with 2 heavy hitting pieces, so it does have some great uses.
#CAProblems you've taken a Suryat which gets a free order to not shoot something with your vastly superior Charontid HMG. Something like a spitfire or redfury synergises a bit better for a mid range encounter, your next size up is a xeodron which isn't actually that assaulty a unit without decent support your next level down is an umbra spitfire (either) which is kinda pushing it as HI.
It might just be me or a weird local meta, but having something that has an order that can be used not to shoot with an overall vastly superior shooter... is actually something that comes in rather handy. It's in the idea of ''Yes, I know X will do this job better, but X is on the other end of the board... Y isn't though, and Y, even if worse than X, will still suffice.'' I like to think of it as being able to project a measure of influence across several parts of the board. Have the Charontid on one end to do what he does best, have the Suryat on the other end of the table slowly catch up and apply pressure on that end too, and just squeeze the enemy very gently between two HMGs. At least that's how the plan usually goes. Results tend to vary from ,,All is according to plan, they do not have enough stuff at enough places to deal with both of these.'' to ,,The enemy squashed themselves into one spot on the table so the idea of going in from two different angles is kind of moot now.'' But that is ultimately just my opinion/preference.
Before IA I would have said Military Orders. Even with JSA PanO equaled YJ for number of HI. Now YJ have more and can use them effectively together.
If by "practically the whole army" you mean "around 50%" and "without the drawbacks" you mean "and without all the benefits", then yes, Tohaa.
I dont understand the question, because there is only one faction with the Su jian and he is the best, per definition.
Okay, that did get an amused smirk out of me, I will admit. But you know, only one faction has a Kriza Borac too, so there's that too, I suppose.
Your absolutely correct. Only 50% of the army is HI? Pffft, mean shite pleb HI faction confirmed. And I forgot that we miss out on the ability to die to hackers. My bad. Artichokes are definitely a scrub tier HI faction for sure.
Paying significantly less points per wound and not being hackable are two huge benefits that a very sizeable chunk of Tohaa gets. What benefits of being HI is Tohaa missing out on besides overcosted ARM?
Fashion. I like my spare wounds, but I will never sincerely enjoy a faction that wears a vegetable as a hat. Plus, that Fire weakness thing, on the 2/3 models it is relevant.
@Maksimas I say Yu Jing & Nomads for HI. Form the lists shown here I prefer the Nomads lists to the Combined ones. You are able to run multiple HIs in Nomads where as in Combined that is not the case. You have fewer options and ways of running HI in Combined as Vanilla lists seem to come down to using the same units over and over again to make it viable/work. I could be wrong about that but that is how I currently see it. Whereas @DaRedOne's "Sucker Punching Ponies" list looks much more inviting to try out than the Combined one. Maybe it's just me but I find Combined currently boring in choices as (repeating myself here) the same units being used over and over again. Those units are good or great at what hey can do but once you ran those options a couple of times, "familiarity breeds contempt". Which is what happened to me with my Combined HI listbuilding.
No, 50% of the armour have Symbiont Armour. And having Symbiont Armour doesn't equal being a HI. Perhaps you should take a look a the results of this poll and consider that there might be a reason why Tohaa have received just one vote. Higher BS, PH, ARM and BTS in both its wounds. Tohaa models with Active Symbiont Armour have lower stats in those cathegories and even lower stats when the Symbiont Armour turns off after suffering its first wound. Did you really needed me to explain this, couldn't you care to take a look at the profiles by yourself?
Yes, please, but do it roleplaying a Taquel explaining it to a group of Yu Jing HI consisting of a Hulang, Zhencha and a Haidao.
Why should I? After losing its first wound the Taqeul is a BS13 guy with Regeneration and pretty average stats: PH10, ARM 0, BTS0...
Because neither of those HI have two wounds nor increased stats across all of those areas you pointed out. You're arguing old wisdom that is no longer necessarily true. The only unifying quality for Heavy Infantry now is vulnerability to hacking (unless special exception) and vulnerability to E/M. And I mean... Moblots are still HI...