As a USARF player, going into tournament play where I might or might not be paired up against a Kamau sniper, it seems like my only solution is to run the Marauder core fireteam. There are other scary AROs - like the Dakini core w/ marksmanship, a regular-grade MSV2 sniper - but those can be solved with other means, like bypassing it with smoke grenades in the case of the former, or just using a high-burst weapon in the case of the latter. Given that, in any given list, by not running a Marauder fireteam, I run into the circumstance of being forced to surrender a good portion of the table to a VIRD opponent, which as we all know can result in a massive uphill battle. Different sectorials have different ways of approaching this problem, but Ariadna in particular has it fairly rough.
Coordinated order Grunt MMLX snipers. Kamau dies. USARF is probably the least affected Ariadnan faction because of their grunts. You either deploy a flamethrower right in front of the Kamau or snipe it off the table with coordinated MMLX. If you really want to get creative you coordinate Forward Observe with the multitude of disposable 18pt Foxtrots FOs, then fire ze missiles. Vanilla YJ has a harder time with it tbh.
Depends. The value on the coordinated orders goes up the cheaper the crap you throw at it. Disposable 18pt Foxtrots that have AVA 4? No brainer, easy go ahead. 27pt Guilangs that are precious at AVA 2? Harder decision there, throwing one of these away might mean you can't do your objectives. Is your list a single combat group with several 35+pt pieces that would need to participate in the coordinated order and put themselves at risk of just being traded for and shot by the Kamau? Even less attractive. The more valuable your stuff is in either points or scarcity the more likely the Kamau opts to trade instead of feeling like they have no worthwhile option but to dodge.
USARF has brute force in spades, you just have to be able to bring enough of it to bear, and ignore the statistics. Use the marauders as a Harris road block, or just stack all the bonuses you can and let the dice fall. Getting stuck at the list building stage on the possibility that one profile from one sectorial might limit you is going to mean you're only able to deal with that one model and something else which is way more common will bite you in the ass...
Ignoring the statistics is never a good plan. The dice aren't a black box. And still lose, because that's how math works. Well it's one of the few models in any sectorial that you have to approach from the listbuilding stage, specifically.
A linked Grunt shooting with MMLX is just slightly above even odds against the Kamau too. Though the single shot means just unconscious for possible recovery.
Apply Van Zant to the the Fusilers backing it up, run a Hardcase or Ranger in there for similar effect both of which are cheaper and more disposable than VZ.
One option is to use a camo unit approach. This forces the kamau to delay and let you approach within optimum range bands or suffer normal rolls on discovering you first.
I think trying to brute force your way through the Kamau is a bad call. He is just there to eat up your orders so throwing grunts or other models with low percentage of success at him is not a good idea. Your only two viable brute force options are Wild Bill link or HRL Marauder link. Everything else its not worth risking in this manner. The coordinated order sniper tactic is a valid one. 4 dudes hitting on 14 is bound to get some success through and you are far more likely to survive it then he is. Linked Grunts with a LGL can also get in range for spec fire thanks to FD and with a link even at the -3 range band you are hitting on 5s, which is doable. His ph and arm are weak. Don't under estimate the power of a camo token. A foxtrot with a mine moves 8 total inches. Let him discover you and simply hop from terrain piece to terrain piece. If he succeeds just recamo and use things like cautious move to your advantage. Get in range of him and then drop a mine for him to eat when he ARO's you.
Run a mine up into their face before shooting to force a dodge first. Coordinate shots and throw something under the bus. Spec fire grenades from a foxtrot to strip link bonuses. They’re annoying but I’d rather face one than a Q-Drone a lot of the time.
Infiltrating grunts seem to me like a great cure for most fireteam ills one tactic I like to use in vanilla is to coordinate 4 flash pulses, at least 1 always goes through. doing the same with grunt snipers seems to me like it will achieve even better results
Flash pulses against a BTS 6 dude in cover? Another thing with the grunts, though, is how do you get them in position? MMLX is a full order. Now, the 4 grunts coordinating might do the job (even if it's not as cool as 4 Daylami doing it) without MMLX, but it is a bit less reliable.
Can you show your math here? It looks like you may have forgot to put the Kamau in DA mode. Here's what I'm getting. Those aren't odds I want to take, that's an average of 3 orders to down the Kamau and a more than 50% chance to be dead before then.
Probably devil dog or desperado or hardcase or 6th airborne taking out the back guys/main guy with shotguns/chain rifle is the best option. Fairly cheap and the DD can do a lot on the way there like discover TO and Camo. To be clear you don't want to shoot the best ARO piece in the game with US 'cheap but fair' Ar. You're just wasting guys and orders throwing them against a sniper unless you manage to get some good bands.
@Toalpaz I'd think the warbands would just get shot by the sniper. Camo still has some game since he has to discover them like everyone else, even with his MSV2.
Never used it against a kamau to be honest, didn't know they had such high BTS, guess that's out As for how, if you deploy second and go first (highly unlikely) it shouldn't be an issue. If you deploy second and go second make sure you have the grunts linked and all looking at the kamau, 8 ARO shots should do some work. If you deploy first and go first then try to mindgame him into deploying somewhere disadvantageous, if he does then you pick off the rest of the army or run some templates up (mines/flamethrowers/chainrifles) or get someone into CC
Skirmisher Spec fire, infiltrated DTWs, Disposable DTWs, Warband Esque Camo troops, BS16 AP HMG, and the abillity to walk on behind the opponents lines. And all that is only if you do fight the kamau, often enough you dont have too and probably shouldnt. It really does make you adjust your thinking sure, but thats the game and tools and units that force you to learn new tactics are only a good thing
