Inspired by this thread and working on my fully painted CJC army, just a sketch I did to paint in the gunships/back of the display area.
I couldn't wait for N4 to try something different so I started taking a Jag core to lay ARO smokes before they reach my Intruder MSR. It almost worked in the first game but he got the required crit to stop it.
You know you can throw smoke to block LOS to your Intruder while not covering your Jaguar so it isn't a FtF roll against the active enemy model right?
I don't like the idea of sacrificing orders when they might not even face LoS of my Intruder. I have 2 target 19 dice unless they have a low vis zone and it's not like my entire list is based around it going off. If I do throw the smoke as a sacrifice a counter to it would be to kill off the Jaguars and just avoid the Intruder and that would hurt.
tried Massacre in a Haris, in a armory game recently. did not expect much from him and instead after being able to remove any resistance inside it, was also able to hold it for second and last turns, granting the victory. did realize how much he can do, as by himself as when he get some cover from the rest of the team, in CC. The fact Lupe died without being able to do much, makes me wonder if a second jag could be a better solution, so to invest points somewhere else. all in all it seemed to me the Haris it works mostly around massacre more than an all around as a core could be. In that sense, which could be the uses of a Jaguar core ? And in which scenarios could it be useful to have one ?
I don't think you should bring Lupe unless you need a specialist. She doesn't bring much to the haris that it wouldn't already have with two jags. Yeah, you get one decent long-range panzerfaust order, but you have intruders for that kind of work. I think if you want to run the full jag core you'd pair it with multiple intruders or maybe multiple geckos.
She gives a better 16" range option. Sure you can cover this range with Smoke but BS12 Mimmetism B4 is good enough to reliably gunfight in the 16" range band, which can often be more effective than Smoking and moving up into 8". Yes, Breaker Rifle Massacre also is an option here, but he doesn't have the defensive utility that Lupe has. Admittedly 16" range and better ranged defensive utility are both things that I'm not looking for in Armoury. So I likely don't take her for that mission. OTOH for Supremacy, Unmasking or Supplies she brings a lot to the table (even assuming that you're already running a Daktari in that Haris). // There's a fun Jag Core list that pairs with an Alg Core for maximum orders (flip-flopping Cores), but yes: a mission where a hyper-aggressive Core is a good idea (potentially Front-line) or to support an Intruder based list.
Although I typically like Lupe, especially linked, I end up not clearly seeing the point of her: - In an Alg / MB team, her weapons are nothing special because you are also packing some firepower in form of MBs or Tsyklons; - In a Jaguar team, you typically want to move forward and you have smoke to cover the advance already, so she adds little. Sr Massacre is also good for the eventual 16" gunfight and you are still forced to take him. On top of that, for those 23 points I can get a Bandit FO up the table, a better gunfighter with that Light Shotgun and Adhesive plus Surprise Shot, who can do CC in a pinch and push buttons as well. End of the story, I end up re-considering Lupe and not using her that often. Perhaps she was more relevant when she was one of the few smoke options but now that we have Jaguars...
I use Lupe for Jaguar core and Gecko duo. I will use her with Wildcats Haris once they lose FD1. I just find her super useful at late game AROs and as a specialist. Her smoke adds a lot to a Gecko duo and having smoke with the Jaguars is still nice because it's just a good survival ARO.
this really adds a lot to the Gecko as it makes moving the gecko to it's preferred range bands pretty much trivial.
Also if they both make it late game (which isn't that uncommon for me) they make a nasty combo for that last objective rush. I actually had a game facing everyone on ARO on the last turn trying to hold the objective. They even had an MSV2. AND we have a house rule where taking objectives is a F2F so shooting can stop it. But between smoke limiting the AROs and the Gecko being sturdy and having the unique ability to block LoS and take objectives (even when unconscious) my failure chance was very low using just two units, and it's not nearly as order intensive as clearing AROs. Once my Gecko makes it far enough if you can't outright kill him it's already over. Both of them have DTW for surprise skirmishers getting their shotguns up. She can go in and clear a repeater alone. The Gecko can take a hit from DTW or mines. They can Coord order their panzerfausts. They have 4 attempts and discovers between them because of the DTW, althou the Gecko is better because you are likely to get hit. They just work well together against nearly any trick. Not a good solution for brute force however, but I never like to deal with that from the front, that's what Hellcats are for. If you're playing Corregidor you should make plans that don't involve your opponent getting to shoot anyways.
Adding mimetic, dogged smoke and Panzerfaust AROs to an Alguacile core as well as decent active short range gunfighting when you want to advance it isn't trivial in my experience either. I often use the Tsyklon over the Brigada in that link though. She covers its weak(er) rangebands against light targets well and lets it hide if I go second and don't want to risk it without supportware up. I like that those 20 something pts can easily interchange from Lupe to Bandit to Moran to Hellcat to Tomcat depending what flavour I want in the list too.
The more I play other armies, the more I like my bastard mercenaries from space. Just sore for a loss with White Banner. It feels like CJC has the right amount of tools to do what I want, without many frills. An army for those of simple but refined taste. Therefore, I have decided I will finish painting the troops in my desk for CJC, and hopefully N4 will not invalidate any of them.
I think Corregidor gives you a full breadth of what I love about Infinity and I always go back to them.
Corregidor is great because it -feels- the way the fluff is written: dirty, tough space brawlers making do with what they have at hand. I have absolutely no idea why, but I had overlooked Lupe duo'ed with Geckos until now. This is why forums are super handy! Gonna try that pair out at the first opportunity.
@Savnock agree. I describe CJC as a Shiv: excellent when you stab someone in the back and keep stabbing until they're lying in a pool of their own blood in the shower stalls, but fragile as it'll break if it hits bone.
We might get burnt, but we will trash you good in the meantime! Just showing off a WIP, need to take family pics of my blue CJC one day.
