So i been looking at this profile, and i'm trying to understand its value. We had a player use nimbus plus grenades with Tohaa and template weapons to GREAT effect in Australia. That got me thinking and scheming about how this profile works in ISS. Anyone have any experience with it? I ran some stats on dice calculator and it seems a ninja AHD w/Combi is pretty brutal against line infantry link teams, if it's within the nimbus zone. Alternatively, a Dakini HMG(support wear ideally) inside the nimbus zone opening up onto an enemy ARO piece seems to work pretty well due to the 3 v 1 dice advantage. Being a cheap REM, with a Sophetect nearby, you can in theory bounce back from a bad beat pretty well. Though this does chew through orders nicely. Finally being a launcher you can really spray it out, so the above could be applicable to the Garuda
Only ideas I have for making the best use of it are either: A Wu Ming DUO with the Chain Rifle dude to combo the Chain Rifle with the Nimbus. Having it set up Nimbus Zones for a Lu Duan to flame through.
You already have the right ideas, nimbus grenades are used to either attack fireteams more easily or inflict modifiers to opponent trying to dodge direct template weapons (chain rifle, nanopulser, chain colts, etc...). I never tried this particular wu-ming profile though, but if i wanted to I'd probably use it in a full wu-ming core to help the HMG mow down though AROs and the chain rifle blast stuff at closer range. Btw, if your direct template weapon has burst 2 or higher you can split them between 2 targets and still have 2 shots since the nimbus zone burst malus is applied to each shot separately and can't bring it below 1 burst. So, if I'm not mistaken, if you have two targets under your template and you can see both of them you can split your burst between them to hit them both with 2 templates despite the nimbus zone. Another unit I could see benefiting from dirty trick like that is the crane agent. In a core fireream you could potentially dish out 3 nanopulser hit all over the place, though it means your wu-ming can't be in a fireteam himself. Quite situationnal, but it's something I might consider for missions like armory.
You could also combine it with a model with Sensor and use Triangulated Fire where you only get -3 and -1 B, while the opponent gets additional modifiers (nimbus, cover, range)
I'd argue that it helps the pheasant more than lunah because the pheasant might also need it to get into position and not die doing so, but yes using it with Lunah is more likely.
Arguably, I'd rather bring the Zhanying MadTrap with the Wu Ming team for Nimbus grenades and go for the Light Grenade Launcher on the Wu Ming trooper instead for a bit more variety and flexibility in taking down different threats.
LGL Wu Ming is one of the few units in the game that can really take advantage of speculative fire in a reliable fashion, and it's one of the few things that the Wu Ming do that a Zuyong Core simply can't. Taking the Nimbus instead, especially when you have, as Mahtamori noted, the Zhanying available (and likely filling a role in your Wu Ming pain train anyway) feels like a massive waste.
@Sedral Great idea about the multiple templates! I've used Nimbus to great effect with Lunah, i absolutely love that combo. However the Pheasent is a better shot due to his MSV1, which keeps his accuracy at 90% - as well as making him a beast in any saturation zone. However you make an excellent point, that getting him into position is not always easy. I feel Sun Tzu and first turn is the best combo for him, as you get to counter deploy their ARO piece perfectly. @Mahtamori Good point, i guess it all depends how you are going for specialists in your lists, madtraps are great, but having that Zhangying as a Hacker can be pretty important. The other thing is you don't need a 5 man pain train to make this work. Lastly, you don't need to bunch up as much cos the NimGL is good out to 16' and hitting far more reliably than the Zhangying. Might throw up some lists involving some of the the combos discussed in this thread a little later, if anyone else feels like doing the same feel free
Imperial Service ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 10 WÚ MÍNG MULTI Rifle + Nimbus Light Grenade Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 35) WÚ MÍNG Heavy Rocket Launcher, Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (2 | 33) ZHÀNYING Hacker (Hacking Device) Breaker Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 32) DAKINI Tacbot HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 21) NINJA Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Shock CCW, Knife. (0.5 | 40) SUN TZE Lieutenant (Advanced Command) MULTI Rifle, 2 Nanopulsers, Flash Pulse / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 65) LÙ DUĀN Mk12, Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (0 | 21) CELESTIAL GUARD (Kuang Shi Control Device) Combi Rifle + Light Smoke Grenade Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 13) CHAĪYÌ Yaókòng Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8) SOPHOTECT Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 31) 4.5 SWC | 299 Points Open in Infinity Army Came up with this. The combination of Nimbus and Ninja or Dakini is present. As well as the Lu'Duan who can pose as a EVO bot, to suggest the missing figure is indeed a Garuda rather than a ninja, keeping the enemy on their toes. Lu'Duan can also clean up any pesky infiltrating camo markers. Lastly having the Sophetect unsynced is intentional, i find it often sits at the back doing not enough for its point cost, so by having it unsynced means it can partake coordinated orders for suppression/advance.
The Nimbus LGL has advantages, but I don't find the Multi Rifle to be a very strong weapon nor do I find the Nimbus to be more than situational. The benefit of the Zhanying MadTrapper is that it's got Nimbus Grenades for situational use, Sensor for detection, and MadTraps to discourage enemies from getting close. I've never actually felt I would have had a use for the Zhanying Hacker. It's good enough in the Hacking game, but it's also vulnerable in a way the Wu Ming aren't. If push comes to show and I really really need the Specialist, I'd opt for the Wu Ming FO instead. It's insignificantly cheaper but more versatile because not only can it push buttons, it can also fight back hard at the same time as it's not dying to random KHDs. I've also found that sticking Supportware hackers into Fireteams is a bad idea - Entire Order skills tends to get your opponent to reveal AROs you didn't think they had... In either case, you're running a Wu Ming link, meaning you're sinking 160 to 180 points into 5 models, 1 model needs to be Sophie, and at this point you're likely over 200 points in and need a further 4 models among which needs to include an LT, a Hacker for Fairy Dust and probably a Lunah. This leaves you with about 33 points and 1,5 SWC left for the last model and I wouldn't get a Pheasant Sniper for that, but I might get a Kanren AHD or a Ninja KHD+2ndYudbot. I can understand the appeal of baking the Zhanying hacker in there, but I still think it's tactically unsound. This list is so fragile it almost makes me cry ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 10 WÚ MÍNG HMG / Pistol, Knife. (2 | 39) WÚ MÍNG MULTI Rifle + Light Grenade Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 39) WÚ MÍNG Boarding Shotgun + 1 TinBot B (Deflector L2) / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 33) WÚ MÍNG (Forward Observer) Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 31) ZHÀNYING (Sensor) Breaker Combi Rifle, Nimbus Grenades, MadTraps / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 28) SOPHOTECT Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 31) YUDBOT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3) YUDBOT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3) CELESTIAL GUARD Lieutenant Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13) CELESTIAL GUARD Hacker (Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 21) MAJOR LUNAH Viral Sniper / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 29) NINJA Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Tactical Bow / Pistol, DA CCW, Knife. (0 | 29) 4.5 SWC | 299 Points Open in Infinity Army Still, though, it's got the tools to get the job done. Can't hide non-marker Jammers behind terrain to take potshots, can make use of Lunah and Nimbus to pop Kamau snipers, has a very good chance of getting models up with the Sopho, and can make decent assassination runs with the Ninja - although saying that I am reminded that I should never field Ninja KHDs again (they have a strong tendency to die to hacking).
I think the Pheasant sniper can greatly benefit from Nimbus. He doesn't have the Mimetisim like Lunah but he does have MSV1. With the Marksmanship LX He can be awesome! BS12+6 (MLX) -3 Nimbus, No cover to shooting or ARM, No Camo or Mimetisim due to MSV = hits on 15. So any returns are at least -3 up to -9 with cover and range.
@Mahtamori Nice list, it is certainly much more resilient and potent than the one I offered. I like the fact you fit in Lunah! She is such a nice combo with Nimbus! Lt assassination is possibility, but hey, gotta have a weakness somewhere. Couple of questions, how do you find madtraps in general? A deterrent or a real threat ? I have used them to mixed results personally. Once I saved myself from Van Zant, another time i nearly counter deployed a Hac Tao ML, but seconded guessed myself and missed him by inches. However I find they are more deterrent than threat. Regarding the Zhangying hacker, having SSL2 means he is a good counter to stealth hackers/HI. The idea of setting up a repeater network with ISS has crossed my mind, via Khuang Shi, but I've never done it. When you use the biolocaters do the KS stay till end of round, or do they turn into repeaters permanently(or until destroyed) ?
MadTraps are very army dependent. Against other ISS or JSA or Nomads who tend to have Perimeter items or Holo2 to trigger them safely, they are a small order sink. Against Nomad Pupniks or CA Taigha they are mostly a waste of time. Against nearly any other army they will effectively discourage SMG or Boarding Shotgun aggression and buy you maybe a full turn of hunkering down as the opponent instead postures and picks objectives. Zhanying hackers are decent, but awkward to maximize their effect. Because they are already paying through their nose for 6SL2, they don't get much benefit from 4+ links. Kuang Shi with active Biolocator just go unconscious. If you want the order next turn or if you want the ARO from them you need to get the Sophotect to resuscitate them, but otherwise they will lie there being a repeater (that you HI are strong enough to pick up and carry around)
