The spitfire Caliban is a beast. Marker state is great for getting around (+ surprise shot) and I've found the MSV1 version is usually worth the extra points.
I'd say it essential to fireteam because of the Frenzy. As soon as he wounds, it looses cover. The Haiduk even without the foxhole, isn’t bad. MSV2 with Marksmanship L1 is pretty good. So the marksman rifle is AP+Shock for 22pts. He can at least start out the game in the fox hole but after he’s out he may no longer get it again since it costs an order. The Sniper is not bad at all for the cost. Hast is also good, especially in a link. Surprisingly the Noctifer is not that bad with a spitfire. He may need to move up to use it but the TO camo makes it a little easier.
Everything that has ODD. No, really. That -6 swing makes things immensely strong. Gwailos. Especially if he can abuse his albedo. Q-Drone. Mm2 Q-Drone is absurdly strong both offensively and defensively. And you get 2.
I think the fact that Shas can have 2 Q-Drones is huge. Shas can also take the E-Done and another cheap hacker to buff them.
For my go to Nox core leader, I’ve been using Corax Hasht as a budget Sheskiin (mostly because I just can’t bring myself to take her), and I’ve had a lot of success with him. The 4-4 move medium infantry is nice and he’s can position well with the nano-screen. Caliban MSV1 spitfire, I find the extra 4 points are usually worth it in my local meta. What’s better than him? The boarding shotgun+light rocket launcher variant is also a sleeper hit imho. Two different kinds of templates with surprise shot in 0-24 inches that your opponent most likely won’t guess you have is nice. Same as the helot smg+lrl, I’ve found people are usually caught off guard by it
Absolutely, he’s great for unexpectedly stacking an ARO if your opponent rounds the corner and assumes he’s just a combi, smg, or whatever. Just another solid option for the mid field, which I find myself putting most of my points into in lists. And I know this is about gun fighters, but I always find one of my calibans can get good mileage out of protheon. And what’s scarier than a one armor tag with a fire template?
Gwailo, Cadmus RF, Jayth RF, Calibans (loadout depends on the situation). Noctifier with Spitfire, Hasht and Q-Drones are good backup pieces.
I dunno about the Caliban. The MSV1 Spitfire can definitely gun fight, but then Sheskiin is only 13-14 pts more expensive and she's a total beast who can link to boot. Find him a bit hard to justify, though I love the idea of him. Also love the CoC and the Engineer. But the short range on the SMG combined with FD2 instead of full infiltration (and no multiterrain) means he needs to get deployed very well to start in a good spot to pick gunfights and not be outranged. Trying to get him to work but haven't really managed it so far. Wish Shas had a camo Doctor profile like him!
One thing I like about the Caliban is that he (it?) is more likely to be near ideal Protheion targets, and doesn't have to worry about shocking them off the table. I think Sheskiin probably disrupts that internal balance a bit, but I think the Caliban can bring enough unique capabilities that it isn't completely irrelevant as a unit.
I felt this way initially, but I've come around on the Caliban for two reasons, both camo-related: Shasvastii, even Sheskiin in a link, feel fragile to me in the reactive turn. At least Discover usually takes another order. Shell games. I played 3 Caliban last night, went first. How do you counter-deploy without knowing who/what a possible attack piece is?
Its a good point. I think Shas do rely on marker state, shell games and misdirection to the point that links can feel like a trap. The msv 1 guy is squishy for those 40pts tho! Until he can eat someone at least, which luckily hes pretty good at hunting midfield. I really like the idea of some of the smg profiles (engineer, CoC), but I wonder if a Malignos for a few pts more might not pull the shell game thing off better as a short range gunfighter. More options where to put him and hide him, plus a surprise shotgun on 18s can really flip the script....
No more squishy than my poor Umbra (with all the midfield Shock around)! At least he starts in marker state .
I’m doing so poorly with Shas right now, I think I need to move to Vanilla with Shas. I can’t seem to utilized them well and even been wiped off the board by 2nd turn. BTW the Chimera’s pets has Total Immunity as well! No Protheon for you! Anyway, I feel like I need to go Vanilla to give them a little more punch. There were so many times I was just outgunned and I really don’t want to play Sheskin! I don’t want this to be the Sheskin faction!
Unless I'm missing somethng TI doesn't protect against Protheion. It's not a special ammo. What units and tactics opponent uses against you? Which ones give you the most trouble?
It sounds like you may be having some trouble with your list builds/tool layouts. Were there specific units giving you trouble? I played the faction fairly successfully for about two years (All Camo all the time!). One of the big problems I had with the shift initially was under committing. If you take only a handful of non camo units its easier for your opponent to just grind down the exposed pieces. If you take too much camo without committing hard Sensors/MSV can absolutely massacre you.
I wrote about my last game here. Riot Grrls are already hard to fight but the Chimera and company took me apart. Shasvastii Expeditionary Force ────────────────────────────────────────────────── GROUP 1 10 E-DRONE Combi Rifle / Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 28) CADMUS-SOLDIER Hacker (EI Killer Hacking Device) Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, CCW. (0 | 24) CADMUS-SOLDIER Red Fury / Pistol, CCW. (1 | 27) NOX Combi Rifle + Light Grenade Launcher (Normal and Nimbus plus) / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 17) NOX HMG / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 21) NOX Lieutenant Combi Rifle, Zapper / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14) CALIBAN (Forward Observer) Boarding Shotgun, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife, CC Weapon. (0 | 30) SHROUDED (Minelayer) Boarding Shotgun, Dazer / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 24) SHROUDED Hacker (EI Assault Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 30) SPECULO KILLER (Minelayer) Combi Rifle, Smoke Grenades, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Monofilament CCW, Knife. (1.5 | 39) GROUP 2 3 2 2 SEED-SOLDIER (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, D.E.P. / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 17) 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) TAIGHA Chain-colt / DA CC Weapon. (0 | 6) TAIGHA Chain-colt / AP + Shock CCW. (0 | 5) 5.5 SWC | 300 Points Open in Infinity Army
Your list is definitely not my speed thats for sure so I'm not sure how much good advice I can give you. But just taking a look there I think what I was talking about is accurate. Right now you've got: 1 Impersonator in your opponent's face. 2 Models that will Impetuous into the midfield. 3 Camo Markers in the mid field. 6 revealed models that will mostly be cowering in the Deployment zone. 2 Models off the board. It feels like I it should be a simple list to take on. If I go first I'm looking to apply pressure to the Impersonator to remove the principle threat and then I get a choice. I can push up with a sensor to clear the midfield and or I can try and bypass the camo to start grinding down the exposed troops in the back. If you go first, I know I'm setting up defensively to handle an Impersonator and probably some AD. If those two things get handled I shouldn't have major concerns any more. Have you thought about trying to bulk up the Link and then dropping in units like the Jayth/haiduk/Gwailo/Q-Dron? Something like this: Shasvastii Expeditionary Force ────────────────────────────────────────────────── GROUP 1 9 SPECULO KILLER (Minelayer) Combi Rifle, Smoke Grenades, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Monofilament CCW, Knife. (1.5 | 39) CADMUS-SOLDIER Hacker (EI Killer Hacking Device) Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, CCW. (0 | 24) NOX HMG / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 21) NOX Combi Rifle + Light Grenade Launcher (Normal and Nimbus plus) / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 17) NOX Paramedic (MediKit) Combi Rifle, Zapper / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 16) NOX Lieutenant Combi Rifle, Zapper / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14) NOX Combi Rifle, Zapper / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14) SHROUDED (Minelayer) Boarding Shotgun, Dazer / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 24) Q-DRONE HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 26) GROUP 2 4 2 2 CADMUS-SOLDIER Red Fury / Pistol, CCW. (1 | 27) M-DRONE Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 17) E-DRONE Combi Rifle / Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 28) HAIDUK AP Marksman Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 22) TAIGHA Chain-colt / DA CC Weapon. (0 | 6) TAIGHA Chain-colt / AP + Shock CCW. (0 | 5) 6 SWC | 300 Points Open in Infinity Army You're relying less directly on Camo, you're bringing bigger guns and better defensive tools to help mop up whatever gets flung your way.