So with the image of our dashing, smug Chief of security all painted up in that new dire foes box floating around the place, I've been looking for ways to incorporate Arslan into most of my lists. The only problem I have with that is I'm not too sure how I should be going about using him. He can be a lieutenant, but then I feel you have to be quite reserved with his mid-field play. He'd of course benefit from being in a core link, but then the HMG Druze might make our cheif somewhat redundant. Running him in a Druze haris could be the way to go, but I'm not too sure. I suppose my question and thread topic is: How do you design a list around Arslan and what is the most efficient way to use him?
Personally, I may end up using him as a solo piece, and definitely not the lieutenant. The core doesn’t need him, he’s fairly tough, and armed well enough to operate on his own.
Duo with a Druze Killer Hacker. I do take him as a Lt. No risk no fun, he can make use of the Order quite well. And the two act as understudies for the main link, but also can go after objectives.
I like taking him in a Duo or Haris with a hacker and they are my mid-board button pushing, camo killing team. Arslan is really good at killing camo models that light shotgun really gets a workout when I play him BS13 and MSV1 and Fatality is a great combo when you're firing 3 Dam 14 shots that hit on, usually, 16 or less. I rarely take him as Lt though as I play very aggressive with him, my Lt is usually hiding in my defensive core team.
When i take Arslan in my LI lists he is always the lieutenant, again, when you have a almost full Druze list, LoL doesnt matter. Then, he is always with a Specialist, normally a Hacker Druze in duo, or if i feel like powering him up, with an Haris Druze and the hacker/medic druze.
He was an auto-include in any scenario that needed anti-Material (multi-Rifle). But that was in season 9(?) and now its not that useful. All the current anti-material requirements are CC based.
Personally I found the best use of him was in scenarios where you need a LT who's tough to take down. He's kind of expensive for what you get, but he's an offensive toolbox (even more than the Druze shock teams because of the lsg and msv) and can often cancel enough dice in the reactive to have his Armor and NWI keep him alive. Arslan kind of competes with Saito for space in a list because of his similar cost, and he's best in a 5 man link because the extra bonuses really make him much more survivable. His stat line is considered by some I think to be a low cost pseudo-HI, but he's not really tough enough for that role on the table. Take scarface for that and leave Arslan for hunting in the link or tough guy Lt; probably both. DBS doesn't have CoC, but veteran does a lot to mitigate late game LoL.
Missions that have the option (or requirement) to destroy scenery, and do not need to be done in close combat: The Grid (p40) Supremacy (pg59) The Armory (62) Druze loadouts have an abundance of D-Charges, but very little in the way of ranged anti-material. For the matter alone, i'd take Arslan in any of the above missions. I concur that he makes an excellent anti-camo gunfighter, and I tend to put him in links even when using the Lt profile (as the link is most likely going where he wants to go - midfield).
Given he has MSV1, a pseudo-boarding shotgun, and hyperdynamics, he's pretty good at storming the Armoury. And, if he gets to the panoply, he might just get twin shotguns or multi-rifles...
that is kind of the point of the "Dire Foes" boxes. They come with some narrative element that pits the two special profiles against each other. I believe this is just the first box where we have the story in advance.
