@Knauf I agree with the previous speakers, IMP-1 has two layers which means a full 12" suicide run with Surprise Attack retained regardless of what equipment you have. Your only hope is body-blocking. Also, while Impersonation is more common now, it's still (thankfully) not common enough that a specific investment against an unknown opponent is generally worth it. Accidental investments like O-12's Alpha is a different matter...
I very much sung the praises of the Bao at first. Especially before the Rui Shi got the ability to be buffed by a hacker, but after that I fell silent. The Rui Shi has almost become too good. If you really want a “Guard” in the back field, you take the Zhanying with Madtraps. Sixth Sense L2 ignores all suprises, not just from Impersonators or Holoechoes. Unfortunately Sensor does not work against Impersonators but is it needed if they are not Surprised? I’m not a fan of they themselves becomeing Wildcards, but i am of others being able to join them, Zhanying, Crane, Hsien. I totally agree on weapons that allow them to be offensive. Spitfire, Marksman Rifle, Red Fury would all be good. Specialsts like KHD or FO would be a great help as well.
I personally have used them against Hassassin Bahram a couple of times and they've been good. I ran an ISS list with Sun Tze and a Bao, deploying them both as my reserve models. Granted, Sunny did a lot of the heavy lifting thanks to his tactical ability, but putting the Bao as a speed bump felt really good. You can deploy them in the way of the Impersonators and if they want to get over him they need to interact with it. And any interaction an Impersonator does with is going to end up badly: they either reveal themselves and trade with a 23 point model, or they kill it and then die to a Kuang Shi chain or Rui Shi shot or whatever, or just do nothing and that's also profit for you. They are not the best profile in the game, sure, but this role is useful and they do their job.
At the Moment I am thinking of my trusty Kanren an his holoechos as a decoy for my (often obvious) Lieutenant against infiltrators/impersonators. If my opponent goes for the Lieutenant kill in first turn, he has a 50% chance to hit a blank and another 25% to hit a less critical model. The Problem with this Idea is that I have to buy 3 additional models for each of my Lieutenants.
Remember that you still have to put a holo echo marker down once your first turn begins so this trick becomes less effective once you've gone.
I don't use Zhanshis as Lieutenants normally, I am more the Hsien type of player. Yes, I know. It's just for countering the dreaded Oni/Fiday first strike. If I go first, I normally disguise the Kanren just as another loadout of Kanren (Hacker as Non-Hacker and vice-versa). Sometimes this tricks the opponent in some bad situation for him.
I used the Bao MSV2 Sniper against my frequent Corregidor opponent to counter his Intruder. Wasn't very great and there was no HaiDao in there then.
In Vanilla the HaiDao is much better (and more expensive, of course). When I started playing Infinity with ISS, I used the Bao Sniper a lot, but this was before Luna. I didn't used him a long time since. But if you really want a MSV2 Sniper in ISS, this is the opportunity to take a Bao.
in Vanilla he truely has competition. If you really want the MSV2 it's worth spending pts on the Haidao. I love Lunah, but i'm learning to like the Pheasant Sniper as well. The MSV1 with Marksman LX can be fantastic. And Knauf is good at taking away some modifiers while imposing his own. ZHANSHI MULTI Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 19) BS11, Cheap CELESTIAL GUARD MULTI Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 21) BS11, Cheap-ish BOUNTY HUNTER Sniper Rifle / 2 Breaker Pistols, Knife. (0.5 | 21) BS12, .5 SWC, Cheap-ish but regular sniper BÀO TROOP (Multispectral Visor L2) MULTI Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 29) BS12, MSV2, Courage MAJOR LUNAH Viral Sniper / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 29), BS12, Ltd Camo, Mimetisim, Viral PHEASANT IMPERIAL AGENT (Multispectral Visor L1, Marksmanship LX) MULTI Sniper Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 32) BS12, MSV1, Marksmanship LX KNAUF MULTI Sniper / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 32) BS13, Mimetisim, MSV1, Marksmanship L1 DĀOYĪNG (Minelayer) MULTI Sniper, Antipersonnel Mines / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 32) BS12, Camo GŬILÁNG MULTI Sniper Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 33) BS11, Camo TIGER SOLDIER MULTI Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 34) BS13, Mimetisim, Combat Jump HǍIDÀO (Multispectral Visor L2) MULTI Sniper / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 37) BS13, MSV2, 1.5 wounds, ARM3 NINJA MULTI Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Shock CCW, Knife. (1.5 | 42), BS11, TO Camo, Infiltration ARMAND (Minelayer) MULTI Sniper, Nanopulser, Antipersonnel Mines / 2 Breaker Pistols, Shock CC Weapon, Knife. (1.5 | 42) BS13, ODD, Mines, 2 wounds, 2ARM, Forward Deploy L1 SUN TZE MULTI Sniper Rifle, Nanopulser, Flash Pulse / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 56) BS14, Marksmanship L1, 1.5 Wounds, ARM2, Total Immunity
