It’s a sad week to be a USA player. Last week, USA was one of the weakest factions. This week, USA is one of the weakest factions, their only real unique strength costs more and is easier to hit by 3, and almost every other faction has gotten a buff to their already strong REMs. I’ve been hoping against hope that we’d keep the ITS13 bike buffs that still weren’t enough to make USA good (we really need more buffs regardless, USA profiles are so far numerically behind other factions with no real trade-off), and was really happy to at least see we kept the mimetism -3. But the +1 point cost to all our bikes that came with it is painful, a huge nerf overall. If I take the bike haris and 2 desperadoes I’m down 5 points, I’ve pretty much lost a whole unit/regular order just for continuing to play USA. The bike haris only ever existed while bikes could trade impetuous for partial cover too, and has taken a huge hit losing that. I’d love to see it be a base rule for bikes, but they should at least use the 2022 fireteam rules to give the maverick fireteam the ability to use partial cover while they’re in a fireteam.
USARF are missing about 10 units compared to other factions. Just a quick count on the Army app shows 21 different units (minus ITS add-ons) for USARF compared to an average of about 31 across all sectorials. They are also missing a lot of skills and equipment completely. I don't play USARF, but I can imagine list building is a struggle for many ITS missions.
Not necessarily difficult, just limited and there are always a few units you want to take regardless of mission. Which does lead to some samey lists unfortunately. I personally would have loved to have seen a USARF version of the chernobog TAG or even just the TAG itself. It’s damn pretty and I need an excuse to buy it. Edit: for units I usually always take I’m adding the beast hunter in here. Having used it recently it’s stupidly points effective for a sacrificial speed bump.
They've actually done a good amount in the ITS rules to alleviate some of the issues. D-charge access was a huge problem, but now the missions that need them also make D-Charge access less problematic. Surprisingly, you can be pretty diverse with lists for USARF despite their low unit count. I've played artillery lists (lots of FO and Muls), mid-field hell (foxtrots, hardcase and grunt infiltrators), bike heavy, even parachutist heavy (which was funny with the N3 parachutist rules all coming on the same 12" strip of the table edge). That said, I really wish they'd do something to the Ohio. Their rules don't match their lore of having the best armor in USARF, able to rapidly redeploy, keeping up with SAS, or being highly independent (don't even have a paramedic to keep them going). I've said it for years, but giving them 6-2, Arm 4, Regen, and Boarding Shotgun with Strategic Deployment profile (or Forward Deploy on everything), would go a long ways in making them a unique unit in Ariadna and USARF, and meaning you might actually use them as a group instead of as a heavy weapon carrier for Grunts and Marauders. You could even go with BS Attack (+1 Dam) to represent their awe inspiring firepower. All of that would drive up their usefulness and cost, which would be good for USARF who sometimes needs help spending points.
Very much this. I’d love the minutemen “Ohio” to have the armour that they’re vaunted for having in the lore. It’s usually why I end up taking other things as their utility is better used elsewhere. I’d happily take the 6-2, arm 4 and strat/forward deployment alone but giving me an option with them with regen too would be excellent. I wouldn’t mind seeing a sapper option too like the zouaves had but this may be a skill better given to a different unit.
yes, there is that. But I would love minutemen to get a look in more than they do. The models are lovely and I’d like to use them more often.
Might your experience of success with USA be a little biased with you being well known as a great USA player :P There are some fun list options, I just find it frustrating how much we have to overpay for basic stuff. I like your ideas for minutemen. IMO two of the big things USA is missing are their unique identity, which went out the window with N4 and the 15 model limit; and good specialist access. We have options, but Rosie's really the only one that's also a useful model on her own. UKR has spec ops but most factions dont have to risk their main shooter running up to push buttons. And our FO options feel so painful to take. The maverick, foxtrot and airborne rangers can all get midfield easily where they want to be pushing buttons, and they want to be guarding corners with templates. But for all of them you either get to have the fun of a BSG where they can do some serious work, or they can push the button and just die with their rifle. Other factions don't have to choose button pusher OR useful profile. Vanilla are taking SAS for the same price and they get to keep their template weapons with FO as a direct comparison. What I'd love to see is something similar for the minuteman, 6-4, FD(+8), dodge(+3), 14WIP and specialist operative on all their profiles. Help solidify USAs identity as a fast glass cannon faction. It's still ~30 points for a low armour 1 wound model which is awful, but at least it gives USA some unique utility for risky button-pushing. I would also like a second FO profile on all the models with their template weapon, even if its a few points more expensive...
I've found FO+Rifle mavericks to be superstars, they're both good skirmisher hunters and fast specialists. I don't like getting bikes into template range so I'm not keen on shotgun bikes (unless they're dirt cheap like a Desperado) but flanking a midfield skirmisher like a Shrouded/SAS/Guilang/Zero/etc. and they'll melt away letting the Mav push the buttons or grab the supply box. My philosophy is that Bikes are fast enough that they should only be picking fights where they can deny their enemy cover, especially bikes that can create their own smokescreen.
I actually found that 15-16 models was the sweet spot for USARF back in N3, so I wasn't as bothered by the change. Not saying more orders is bad or anything, but I tended to find that over 15 and I was sacrificing quality for quantity... and sometimes you need quality. While I love the UKR, being the only model at it's power level in USARF has turned it into kind of a crutch, I hope that improving the Ohio would take some of the pressure off of the UKR. I've never been a big fan of the Maverick FO, usually a large portion of my specialist work is done by Foxtrots, as it was in N3. I do think there's some secret sauce with the Airborne Rangers now though, especially the FO. CC22 MA2 with a D-Charge is a huge improvement over their melee in N3, also Parachutist is now equivalent to N3's Airborne Infiltration, which I think is an easy to look over change. I definitely won't disagree about SAS, it is an incredible tool kit, but the main advantage of the Foxtrot has pretty much always been that it's the cheapest infiltrating camo specialist in the game... which I totally know is not exciting, haha. It would be nice to get some traction on an Ohio update, I think that: 6-2, Regeneration, BS Attack (+1 Damage), Arm 4, and Strategic Deployment on the Boarding Shotgun would make them so much fun, without changing their ranged fighting odds. X-Visor could also be neat, as they all have those binoculars on their helmets, but I don't want to get into the territory of increasing their shooting capabilities (beyond a point of damage, which is more there to represent having the best gear available). Mimetism, MSV, NWI, Tactical Awareness, Dogged are all things I'd want to avoid, just due to being common solutions to problem units. Part of USARFs appeal to me is kinda their straight forwardness, everything basically has one job. Foxtrots do the foxtrot thing, grunts do the grunt thing, Van Zant Van Zants things, I think those Ohio changes would still keep them simple in purpose, while having some unique ways of expressing it. Funny enough, it's Airborne Rangers, Devil Dogs, and Beasthunters that seem to be the toolbox units. Really solid point, it's still a MSV1, BS12, Mimetism -3 Rifle... I might have to give them another chance.
FO rifle mavericks are great. They do solid work as you’ve noted here. Popping smoke and moving up, dealing with midfield skirmishers and doing some button pressing is why I usually take two of them. I would like to know others takes though on the AP spitfire profile as I’ve never run it, I may have to give it a go. They are quite fun to use, until the dice gods betray you and suddenly your mavericks can’t outshoot anything or even dodge… only happened the one time but it was grim. I can certainly appreciate using the foxtrots to do your specialist work though, they’re a solid profile for it.
(partially posing in the hopes of drumming up some more USA discussion) I had a lot of fun with the list below at an event on the weekend, playing Unmasking. The bike haris is really fun, being so quick and easy to get into good rangebands for the rocket launcher to clear things out. Although I really struggled against Spiral Corps, I don't know if it's me as a player or the faction but I tend to get stuck easily with USA when people bring really a strong ARO game and they aren't null deploying. All the fast, awkwardly big models I bring like bikes and devil dogs just can't go anywhere, and they cant reliably win rolls against strong ARO pieces. I managed to score all the objective buttons in just a few orders with safe camo'd move-move coordinated orders into the exclusion zone on the foxtrots, with the beasthunter joining to flamethrower the HVTs. I've not used Wild Bill much before, and I never see his contender profile in lists, but I've really warmed up to him. 22 points for ~2 wounds is far above par for the faction, and he did a lot of work guarding the fireteams flank for burst 2 DA+shock AROs up to 16 inches. I don't feel the need to pay the extra 3 points for the rifle, since he's not there to take over active turn shooting at 8-16 inches, there are just better options. Once the fireteams in the thick of it, though, his B3 multi pistols hitting on 19s absolutely shred. If your target isn't shock immune (which they almost always are, to be fair...), DA+shock is almost as deadly as EXP. USA unmasking ────────────────────────────────────────────────── GROUP 1 8 2 3 FOXTROT (Forward Observer) Rifle, Flash Pulse, Shock Mines / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 18) FOXTROT (Forward Observer) Rifle, Flash Pulse, Shock Mines / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 18) FOXTROT (Forward Observer) Rifle, Flash Pulse, Shock Mines / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 18) BEASTHUNTERS (Surprise Attack [-3], Camouflage, Forward Deployment [+8"]) Heavy Flamethrower, Panzerfaust, AP Mines / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 15) FOXTROT Sniper Rifle, Shock Mines / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 20) MAVERICK Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, AP CC Weapon. (0 | 21) MAVERICK Submachine Gun, Light Rocket Launcher / Pistol, AP CC Weapon. (0.5 | 22) 112 MOTORIZED Light Shotgun / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 19) DEVIL DOG Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / AP Heavy Pistol, AP CC Weapon. (0 | 23) K-9 ANTIPODE AP CC Weapon. (0 | 6) VAN ZANT AP Rifle / Heavy Pistol, AP CC Weapon. (0 | 34) GROUP 2 5 ROSIE Light Rocket Launcher, Light Shotgun, D-Charges / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 22) WILD BILL Contender / MULTI Pistol(+1B), CC Weapon. (0 | 22) MINUTEMAN (Lieutenant [+1 Command Token]) Rifle, Light Flamethrower(+1B) / Heavy Pistol, AP CC Weapon. (0 | 24) GRUNT (Paramedic) Rifle ( | MediKit) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 12) 112 FTO Light Shotgun / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 12) 1 SWC | 300 Points
I'm a big fan of the Maverick Spitfire. Move them up into cover (in ITS13, in ITS14 put them in a duo or haris to negate Impetuous) and put them into suppressive. That's -3 for cover, -3 for Mim and -3 for suppressive against three Spitfire shots with MSV1, makes for a painful wall to breakthrough. And if/when they break through that they'll face a link with Wild Bill and/or Rosie and/or Unk. Ranger (also Mim -3, MSV1) I've used the Maverick SMG/LRL less, but could see the utility of it: same suppressive penalties, which is the goal, and if something looks like it's at bad ranges you can always "fall back" on the LRL in a pinch.
It's a good profile. I haven't really used it much since I was new to the game, I'd take it every list but I could never get a bike to live past the impetuous phase. I should try it again in the fireteam. On paper my preference for the LRL is how much killier it is - against cover a 13 damage impact template is effectively 16 damage. If you can win the F2F, the chances of dealing two wounds with continuous damage is scarily high. And also being 6 points cheaper, 6 points can go far in USA. Oh bearing in mind you can't take cover with bikes in ITS14, impetuous/fireteam or no. It was an ITS13 specific rule. The motorcycle rule prevents cover regardless.
2 problems with that. Duo doesnt help with cover. Motorcycle rules also prevent trooper to gain cover. And even if it did work, you can't go into SF and stay in duo.
For detail: - Duo prevents them from being Impetuous for turn (because they're in a Fireteam) - When they reach cover they can dismount to get cover - Drop them out of the duo to go into SF (with a coordinated order) -- this last one I'm not sure about now... while in the Fireteam they're not Impetuous, but they have to drop out of the Fireteam to go into SF... when do they become Impetuous again? Immediately or start of next turn, or next States phase...?
It’s immediate, but dismounting would lose them mimetism so it definitely wouldn’t be worth the order. It’s a nice idea though, really we just need the bike impetuous/cover rule back as a permanent rule
Couple of nice little buffs for us in the FAQ (though we still need minuteman changes...!). Jump can be measured from any point of a silhouette, and still ends at the base. I hear TAGs will gain a lot from this, but I'm pretty happy that Devil Dogs will be getting essentially +2 inches to their super jump, will make it far easier to assassinate targets that should definitely have been safe holed up on a roof. You can "vault" over parapets as well, which depending on your scenery could add an extra 2 inches. I also use super jump loads on the beasthunter. Being able to jump 8 inches (now a bit over 9) over a wall into a really favourable position, drawing 5+ AROs and having zero consequences is so strong. Your next move is almost always going to be move into a heavy flamethrower template against a juicy target or three so being successfully discovered doesn't hurt you. And thank god we get the bike cover rule back. It actually replaces the line saying bikes cant take cover, so non-impetuous 112 bikers can now take cover by default.
Today I had unexpected purchase. I’ve got USARF Army box, one foxtrot with a shotgun and Minutemen box. I guess, it would be good for the start. (Plus there are not much in stock in local shops. So I am happy to get at least this!) So, I am trying to understand this faction. I like it due to the lore, but in gameplay it’s all only theory. We have enough of TAK players in local community. Would be good, if I would try them as soon as possible. Ah, enough with emotions (I am happy), but should I expect some pain in the future? I’ve red some messages above... And my next plan is to get 1. Marauders box, 2. Blackjack , 3. Unknown ranger, 4. Grunts box, 5. Airborne And what else? Your opinion is welcome.
