I now got all three of our mercenary infantry units painted up so here's the reason I created this thread in the first place. But, since it includes KTS, Brawler, and a Druze, let's make a discussion out of it. So, what's your favorite unit out of three of them, why, and how do they compare to each other? What factions make the best use out of them? Here are my thoughts: KTS The most efficient unit as far as direct active-turn gunfighting is concerned. I'd often take the lone Spitfire KTS in my Qapu Khalqi lists as the second-turn killer. In WhiteCo they got some insanely cheap link options for only 51 pts. This leaves them with the ability to form a long-range MULTI-sniper Haris that can leverage the distance and the Mimetism MODs for outshooting TR bots and other stuff. Linkability with Wild Bill is also a nice bonus since Wild Bill requires an extra burst and a long-range weapon in the link that would carry him outside the DZ into the midfield where he's at his best. It goes without saying, but they are also neat specialists, albeit rather pricy. Brawlers As a Dahshat player, I auto-include Brawler MSR in 90% of my lists. Their defensive capabilities are top-notch and with the right positioning, you can outrange anything and anyone, and constantly shooting on 15s while having other guys shoot you with -6 MODs for range and the cover is a blessing. Sadly, I could not find any other use for the rest of the profiles. Hacker is pretty cheap, but Ghulam Hacker in Dahshat is still cheaper. Overall, those profiles are overshadowed by the alternatives in DahshatCo, but I am not that sure about others. The Hacker profiles used to be the Killer Hacker magnet back in N3 from what I heard on the Druze forums, but Engineer and Doc profiles are pretty meh. The HRL is a very cheap ARO piece for Turn 3 once all the Mimetism enemies are gone. Druze Shock Marksman Rifle is actually a nice profile that I'd use for a Haris team (with some wildcards if possible). It leverages the unique range bands while negating the -3 penalty thanks to X-Visor, and having it at +1 Damage is nice. Outranging the enemy from somewhere around 32-40" is a nice boon. Although, at this point, even the HMG profile has it now, so you can shoot as far as 48" without negative MODs, but that's paying an additional +1.5 SWC. And yes, there is LGL whose 0 range is now even farther than before, but this makes them depend on Spotlight even more. They are the priciest mercs out of all three, and ultimately their main issue is that you either go for a cheap Haris (which not everyone can get) or a specialized Core with the rest of your list built around its main gimmick: outranging and speculative attacks. And you're committing a lot for a unit that has no MSV or Mimetism perks (Druze MSR option notwithstanding).
As a collector I like to buy the models I enjoy, but the wannabe gamer inside of me is struggling to find reasons to pick up the boxes of Druze and Brawlers. I managed to get the 2 blister Brawlers and hacker Druze so I just feel I need a proxy for a Brawler sniper leaving me little to no reason for the rest of the models despite how nice they are. So I am keeping an eye on this thread to see how people end up using them in N4 and whether things might change my mind :)
I am pretty new myself. But I think every merc MI has its special merits. In my experience brawlers are in the most factions they are in a type of filler or a trooper that brings utility to an otherwise impotent link. In ikari the MSV sniper in a keisotsu core, ore as a Doctor in a druze Haris for additional resilience. Druze and kaplans are more the active turn shooters. Druze more with brute force and range with the x-visorand fatality. Kaplans with mods, and shorter range or as sniper. And they are good specialists too. I like them all all their models are great. Will get and paint all of them.
I think you are underselling the Druze. Yes they are expensive, but you get a lot for the price. One of their biggest advantages is having a weapon for every occasion. They probably have some kind of longer range, super killy gun, but they also have viral pistols and chain colts. This seems to always surprise my opponent when they get close to a Druze and suddenly have to take two BTS rolls or their camo CC killer suddenly has to take a damage 14 armor save. Their armor 3 (6 in cover) is even better now that armor is worth more. So yeah, I'm paying more for the Druze, but I think they are totally worth it.
I totally agree that their kit is packed with weapons for every occasion, and for that reason, I consider Shock Marksman Rifle to be the most well-rounded loadout out of all back in N3, and I got one dead Hac Tao with viral rounds in his cranium to prove that. Haven't tried them out in N4 yet, but I will certainly try them out once Qapu Khalqi hits the theater at the end of this month.
Druze are best used for a key profile and then fill the rest of the link with Wildcards or Brawlers. Kaplans might be playable in something like QK. Brawlers are fine for what they do, which is Lt, MSR, basic profile. Their specialists are way overpriced for WIP12.
Gonna give a quick shout-out to my homie the HRL Brawler. He's not the best shot but 16 points for an HRL and an Assault Pistol can be pretty fantastic if you have SWC to burn.
So true, though I rarely have the 1.5 SWC these days in Druze with the options of Spitfire Bulleteers and TAGs worth using.
For ForCo, i like to use a haris of Kaplan. The mimetism spitfire is a great piece, but they are more of a vehicle for specialists, whether its their own doc/engineer or they decide to bring Avecinna along.
This is precisely why I actually run Druze in my Druze lists, haha. A lot of people relegate them to a few special profiles, but I've had a generic Druze save my ass many games, exactly for the reason of having a Viral Pistol or Chain Colt right where I need it. Now that Druze don't pay a SWC tax for the Haris profile either, I see myself taking that much more frequently with 2 Druze and a wildcard. I think it's between the Shock Marksman and the Panzerfaust for me (1 point over the base profile, yes please). The Shock Marksman is great, but for two less points that Panzerfaust can really be a nightmare if it catches someone in the open, or even as an ARO.