At the expense of losing a bunch of range. Remember, Suppression Fire has it's own range bands, which is what makes SMGs so broken.
If you are losing a bunch of range, that's because you were leaving your trooper out in the open, where it could've been picked up by several enemies simultaneoulsy using a Coordinated Order.
It is never at the expense of range, it is only at expense of an order. You can always declare an ARO without Suppression Fire and this will cancel the state and give you back your range.
I probably should have added that you don't care about the range too. Like on a very cluttered table. Though there are times when I just want the -3 to be hit. I know my opponent is far away, has short range weapons, and I have Mimetisim or TO/ODD. I'm willing to let let them try shooting at -12 while he sits there and keeps spitting bullets. Also, I tend to only use Suppression with the last few orders that I feel I can't do much with anyway. "Well I can't get in touch with the objective, so might as well stay in cover and do this."
Just be aware that if your opponent is further away than 24", your declaration fails and your soldier will Idle providing no malus to your opponent.
Depends on the table/opponent, but with Onyx I've had good luck using unidrons in SF. For example, if I really need to hold an area, I'll move a five 'dron link into position, break to put two K1 'drons into SF, and then reform a core w/ the 3 others. If you can get about mid-field it's a very difficult position to dig out, as it's ARO hell with dogged, and a waste of orders to try and break it with hax.
Vassily T2 marksman rifle with his Lt. order - it makes for a nasty road block, and I usually build my lists with at least 5 veterans (usually a Frontovik/Vet Kazak team) and CoC as insurance because Vassily almost never survives the whole game.
Zeroes. -6 to hit after range bands, watching a ~16" firelane are extremely solid roadblocks for their points. Particularly effective vs opponent's which will clear them out trivially otherwise (Warbands / Sensor or Sniffer Bots). I also often co-ord in Puppetmasters or similar that sit in my backline. Not because it's a great option but because if I'm using a Co-ord order anyway it's basically free and it covers vs Rambos or AD.
FYI you don't need to break the link and reform it. Just put them were you want them and putting them in suppression is enough to drop them out. or moving the rest of the team far enough away they they drop out of the link as well.
Didn't we get confirmation on that the intention was for you to not be able to do this without first cancelling the Fireteam?
It doesn't work without breaking the Fireteam anyway. 1. Activate the link 2. Spend regular Order 3. Identify Team Leader, declare Suppression Fire. 4. AROs 7. Resolution 8. Team Leader enters the Suppression Fire state. Team Leader fails Fireteam Integrity and drops from the Fireteam. Fireteam breaks. Suppression Fire is a Support Skill (This classification includes the Skills not specified in the previous classifications) and only the Team Leader applies the effects of Support Skills. So I see no reason why you can't declare it without first dissolving the Fireteam. The only difference is to allow you opponent to ARO vs any model in the Fireteam.... so I don't know why you would.
I think we had a fairly long debate on the topic, fairly heated as well, where I recall the conclusion was that not even if you use Coordinated Orders are you supposed to be allowed to declare this without breaking the team.
We agree that fundamentally you can't resolve it without breaking the team. Practically the best way to do it is to break the team first, so everyone should always do it that way. With co-ords my memory is the same as yours that you can't Co-ord a member of a Fireteam. But the FAQ doesn't say exactly that...
Anyone that does something different than the rest of the team drops out. As long as the leader and the rest of the team do the same thing they just move along. Majority rules as long as you don't have the team leader do something different then it's fine.
That's what we're getting at; it's impossible to get any member into Suppression Fire while others remain in the Fireteam due to how models are activated. Read @inane.imp post above for a detailed explanation on why.
It should be noted that at least on the wiki under Fireteam Integrity, the ruling from version 1.2 is still on the page above the FAQ 1.5 ruling. You could definitely come to the conclusion that fireteam members can be part of a coordinated order if you stop reading at the 1.2 box.
I never said they could maintain a fireteam. Any in a fireteam that does something that is different from the majority of the team and not the link leader will drop out of the team. In Dahshat, I’ve had the Rui Shi move along with the team it’s in but then so far away it’s no longer a part of the team with the next order. If a team model is not within 8inches of the team leader they are no longer a part of the team. Then I may or may not reform the team with another bounty hunter.
Yes, it's only reactive. In active, everyone declares the same skill as the Team Leader and if they can't perform it they perform an Idle instead.