It's also pretty good on a Sphinx. Combined with TO and Cover you can even make many linked Light Infantry MLs unable to hit you (if you use marker state to get within 24"). Bit fiddly to set up sometimes.
Yes, but if there are two models you can get under the template, you can "split burst" and still put two hits on each. ;)
Do you find use for the Mentor with Shock Marksman rifle? I adore the sculpt but I'm struggling to find a role for it.
I suppose in that case it's either this or the hacker/BSG and not both? I like the idea of LT shell game with 4 camo tokens, but this guy is 27 points and you'd pay twice for Counterintelligence.
Honestly, it gets more use from me than the boarding shotgun variant. For a little more points you get a much more effective weapon at range, but still have the Lt/camo/mine shenanigans that Decoy offers. As a final benefit, suppression fire from a unit with visual mods is a great roadblock for anything short of a full link team, HI or a 'proper' TAG.
I usually have enough shotguns on other troops, and prefer to have a bit more range on unit that will spend most of the game in my DZ. It's more likely to have range to something I want gone on turn 2-3.
They themselves haven't really changed too much, but the new rule environment mix's things up a bit. I haven't played any N4 yet sadly but from pure theory crafting stand point I feel that we'll rely more on Camo then before (which is kind of our thing anyways). Cheaper shrouded with better hacking is hard not to take, especially considering they can take both kinds of devices making the shell game a bit more feisty for our opponents. Caliban's also appear to be better then before which is great because they're great, better cc bonus' and being able to reliable slap people (and tags) with ap+exp and from what I understand he gains protheion wounds as well from the d-charge against infantry. Also some cheaper Malignos profiles and panzerfaust seed soldiers is pretty slick.
Honestly, in a tactical window environment I feel shas can legitimately do a camospam game at the same level as ariadna. Less bulk camo markers but with other good options such as hacking, noctifier, TO in general or the caliban. Lists I've made in that vein with Calibsn spitfire, four shrouded inc hacking device to have game vs TAGs, and so on have felt great. Dunno what I think of the link options though. Not all that much to go on here. Now are pretty basic and expensive. Jayth are wildly expensive and bring similar tools to Sheskin all by herself. Particularly I wonder if anyone uses Jayth, because damm they are cool but 30pt 1w models seem so bad...
If links are not lighting the world on fire in N4, that's simply a continuation of how they were in Shas in N3. I never felt like I needed links in Shas, and I'm not seeing anything in N4 that would change my mind. It is a bit awkward, since links are the primary reason to pick a sectorial over the vanilla faction, but there it is.
I've also gotten a lot of mileage out of the Gwailo. I guess I should say that links are the primary reason to pick other sectorials over vanilla, so it can be a bit awkward if you are just getting into Shas and are not that impressed with their link options. I guess I should also say that there is almost always a haris in my lists, so it's really just the Core links that are underwhelming.
The old N2-style SEF played like that - the only good fireteam were the Gwailos, and using them both diverted from the camo nightmare playstyle, and took away almost half of the army points. They were doing a good job, but they made for a very specific type of list. Now it's very different. Nox are good and very customizable, thanks to the number of various wildcards. We still don't rely on links, but can use them to good effect now.
I picked it up for use as a Marksman Haiduk. My thoughts are; - Sheskiin took a hit due to Fat2 changes (also some grey area around HI version being linkable because Fireteam options is non-specific and Army has no Wildcard note) - Jayth picked up some rules but lost others, resulting in an overall increase in cost that probably makes them unviable compared to spending equivalent points in Caliban - Sargosh in the same vein as Jayth, he kept his Shock Immune but 37pts makes him an expensive glass cannon - Agent Dukash added, but he's basically just a bargain bin Sheskiin - Cadmus took a hit with Decoy/AD changes, and no ability to walk on reduces their effectiveness - Addition of Oktavia is also a bit of a non-event; you're better of spending the extra pts for a Noctifer - Changes to Terrain and Dazer make them much less relevant - Speculo got a bit of a sideways nerf by virtue of other Impersonators getting cheaper and better whilst she remained basically identical - Regeneration changes are a good change for Shas - Some minor MSV1 wins, too
Does anybody note that the Malignos MSR now only costs 35P? That good news form me... only 3P more than a Nocficer... I have to say, that I`m not the biggest fan of the Noctifer. Oftend the range band of the Missle is the problem and the MSR are much better! Yes no template, and dogged, but instead DA, Regeneration and Infiltration makes him a lot more flexible... think I will give the Malignos a try...
Could be more useful depending on the board too, a nice tower in the midfield would be great for aro and active too. Especially if you're opponent is worried about the surprise shot from your deployment and not the board edge. The shrouded sniper is also 25 points which is enough of a bargain for me to consider taking one outside of liking his funny model.
