Starco lists are hard...

Starco lists can definitely fill up pretty quick and they are more flexible in N4! I'm still finding my legs in the new edition but here are my thoughts:

• You have 2 haris teams. The riot grrl haris is really good and the brawler haris isn't as good as it was in n3 since you have other troops that can see through smoke now with their MSV1s like the riots and Knauf. Pick one and go with it. I like the super cheap brawler haris of CSU, Lt, and HRL brawler if you don't want to run the riots, or run the riot CORE team which is also amazing.
• You don't need all of those snipers. Choose 1 and ditch the rest. You could use a high burst bruiser like a Mobile Brigada with the core team and emily. Even a hellcat spitfire, Anaconda, Tsyklon, or something else with a big gun like a linked Alguacile HMG as a backup to the Riot spitfire would be good. I like the cataran the best, but can see the appeal of Knauf, and maybe the Brawler if you take:
• Jaguars & irmandinos - Seriously some of the best things in Starco, especially if you have MSV in the list. I always take a combo of 3-4 of these guys.
• Raoul is awesome...
• Uhahu is also awesome, a strength of Starco
• Emily is different now. The grenade bombing was OK in N3 but unreliable and super boring and has been somewhat nerfed. I think the cheaper breaker rifle version could have some play now as a late game fighter in what is left of your link teams.
• The Starco midfield is actually pretty good with the Al Hawwa, hardcase, and bandits. Lots of cool options there.
• Lt. - I generally just use a Alguacile or Brigada lt, but a lone brawler is OK. If you take him the cheap haris is good.

 

Yeah, I'd definitely go for Riot Grrl Haris or Brawlers, not both. This would free up points and slots for more bodies in the Core Fireteam or some midfield presence.

 

If your opponents are fond of running lots of long-range attack pieces, Raoul can have an absolute field day running around your opponent's backline. He's got the visual mods to punch through most DZ guards, has NWI to tank a template, and can deploy Drop Bears to force bad ARO choices.

As for surprise shot, anything with Sixth sense (aka any fireteam with 4+ members) will ignore it, so keep that in mind. Or you could just null-deploy (aka not leave any ARO pieces out of cover) and ask your opponent what he plans to do with all those snipers and no targets.

 

Knauf and Cateran are no autoincludes in my StarCo lists :) I play lots of Camo markers (2 Bandits, Al'Hawwa Minelayer/Sniper, Hardcases Rifle - all in total cover if I go second), Raoul Parachutist, RiotGrrl Haris (Spitfire, Uhahu + someone tailored to the mission) and some Jaguar Panzerfausts for ARO. Fill that up to 15 orders with CSU Specialists, Transduktors or Alguaciles.

I force my opponent to come forward, wasting orders on the way with trying to remove my camo markers. In my turn I then try to take out his Lt and order monkeys with Raoul and send my RiotGrrl Haris to deal with any leftover threats.

 

Ya lots to punish them with in Starco. Like others have said hide from the snipers and then hit them with Raoul, hellcats, bandits, jaguar smoke, linked hmg/spitfire etc. Don't compete on their terms.

 

I'd take knauf over the cateran. Knauf is now my favorite unit in n4 so maybe I'm biased.

 

I think you've hit the nail on the head! I struggle building Starco lists myself and it's taken this post to realise why.
There really are just so many darn good profiles in here!
In so much I've stopped taking link teams to cram all the excellent solo pieces in there (Hellcats, Raoul, Hawwa, Bandit, Hardcase, Uhuhu, Jags, Irm, CSU)

 

Maybe I should just play Nomads?
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
GROUP 1 8 2
ALGUACIL Combi Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 10)
ALGUACIL (Lieutenant) Combi Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1 | 10)
JAGUAR Light Shotgun, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, E/M CC Weapon. (0 | 11)
JAGUAR Light Shotgun, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, E/M CC Weapon. (0 | 11)
UHAHU (Hacker) Pitcher, D-Charges / Assault Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 18)
KNAUF MULTI Sniper Rifle / AP Heavy Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 32)
TSYKLON Spitfire, Pitcher / PARA CC Weapon(-6). (1 | 33)
HAWWA' (Hacker, Hacking Device) Boarding Shotgun, D-Charges ( ) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 26)
SPECTOR (Parachutist, Combat Jump) Boarding Shotgun, Drop Bears / Pistol, E/M CC Weapon, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 33)
BANDIT Boarding Shotgun, E/M Mines / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 27)
GROUP 2 3 2 1
LUNOKHOD Heavy Shotgun, Akrylat-Kanone, D-Charges, Crazykoala / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 25)
SALYUT (Hacker, EVO Hacking Device) ( ) / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0.5 | 15)
REAKTION ZOND Heavy Machine Gun / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (1 | 25)
HARDCASE FRONTIERSMAN Tactical Bow, Light Shotgun / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 12)
IRMANDINHO Chain Rifle, D-Charges, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CC Weapon. (0 | 8)
ZONDBOT PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 3)
6 SWC | 299 Points
Open in Infinity Army

 

It's always an option
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

GROUP 1 9 1
MODERATOR (Lieutenant) Combi Rifle / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-6). (0 | 9)
MODERATOR Combi Rifle / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-6). (0 | 9)
JAGUAR Light Shotgun, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, E/M CC Weapon. (0 | 11)
JAGUAR Light Shotgun, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, E/M CC Weapon. (0 | 11)
REM RACER (Hacker, RemDriver [+1 BS], Hacking Device) Submachine Gun ( ) / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0.5 | 21)
KNAUF MULTI Sniper Rifle / AP Heavy Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 32)
VOSTOK (Albedo) Red Fury(+1B) ( ) / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (1 | 40)
ZERO (Hacker, Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Shock Mines ( ) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 24)
HELLCAT Combi Rifle, Adhesive Launcher / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 25)
BANDIT Combi Rifle, Shock Mines ( | Deployable Repeater) / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 28)

GROUP 2 4 1
MORAN (Surprise Attack [-3], Camouflage [1 Use]) Combi Rifle, Flash Pulse, D-Charges, Crazykoala / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 18)
SALYUT (Hacker, EVO Hacking Device) ( ) / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0.5 | 15)
REAKTION ZOND Heavy Machine Gun / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (1 | 25)
LIBERTO Submachine Gun, Chain-colt / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 8)
CLOCKMAKER Combi Rifle, D-Charges ( | GizmoKit [+1B]) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 18)
ZONDBOT PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 3)
ZONDBOT PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 3)

6 SWC | 300 Points

Open in Infinity Army

 

Any good guided missile combos for starco so far?

 

Tsyklon puts pitchers out to 24" on 12's? Uhahu can haris for B2 pitchers? I don't think guided missiles are worth the investment in StarCo honestly.

 

For GML spotting/repeater network your best options are:

The Bandit with deployable repeater has always been my favorite way to get a repeater out for GML spotting with good certainty. He also has a combi and mines, way better than the other non-Specialist Bandit profiles IMO.

You can also add Uhahu into whatever your aggressive links are and chuck Pitchers. This has the advantage of not adding a lot of cost, if you were already using Uhahu with a linked Tinbot trooper.

- Riots are great for castling just like in Bakunin (that missile launcher is often my MVP), or for aggressive advances with the Spitfire (though that means an advancing Core link usually, as you definitely want Spitfire, Tinbot, Avicenna before you even add Uhahu… unless you also have a Daktari with Zondbot following the link anyways).

- Brigada are a bit pricey for just embedding Uhahu, but they do hit hard. I prefer the Riots though for price and that awesome Dodge.

Lastly there’s the direct routes for hacking:

- Brigada hacker is an amazing value for the price. Fast, decently armored, built-in Tinbot -6 (!!), and D-charges to boot. She’s great solo in vanilla, or solo in StarCo if you’ve already got your links and need an aggressive hacker. Great for Exclusion Zone missions.

- Al Hawwa is just an okay infiltrating camo hacker. If you can afford Bandit DepRep and Uhahu combo, do that before you take an AlHawwa.

 

Isn’t GML kind of a Plan B in most builds? It seems to be taken to make opponents more careful about avoiding repeater networks, more than as an active turn threat IME.

I only use it when it’s the best tool available, which usually means I am somewhere halfway up sh!t creek… or got very lucky with a reactive Spotlight that the opponent failed to Reset out of.

 

Oh, and: keep a Salyut/baggage bot near Uhahu if you can. Those pitchers run out fast when you’re shooting 2 at a time. If the Salyut’s in your Group 2 and you don’t have dedicated uses for those orders yet, spending 2 orders to reload and then shoot even more pitchers out is a pretty good investment.

 

B2, Technical Weapons don't get Fireteam Bonuses.