For an upcoming tournament, we are doing 200 points. Missions are:: Firefight, supplies and Quadrant control. I'm kind of struggling to write a decent 200 point list as I rarely play below 300. It never feels like I have enough ARO or board presence. How do you guys feel about games below 300? what would you include? any must haves? Heres what I got for firefight/ Q control. Japanese Secessionist Army ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 9 1 NINJA Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Tactical Bow / Pistol, DA CCW, Knife. (0 | 29) KEISOTSU Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 9) KEISOTSU (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10) KEISOTSU Missile Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 14) KEMPEI (Multispectral Visor L2) Shock Marksman Rifle / Pistol, CCW, Electric Pulse. (1 | 25) KEMPEI (Chain of Command) Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, CCW, Electric Pulse. (0 | 21) TOKUSETSU EISEI Doctor (MediKit) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14) DAIYŌKAI Red Fury, Panzerfaust / Pistol, DA CC Weapon, AP CC Weapon. (1 | 49) DOMARU Lieutenant Chain Rifle, E/M Grenades / Pistol, E/M CCW, Shock CC Weapon. (0 | 26) WARCOR (Aerocam) Flash Pulse / Stun Pistol, Knife. (0 | 3) 3.5 SWC | 200 Points Open in Infinity Army
200 point lists always feel bare and uncomfortable. Everyone else is feeling the pinch too, I assure you. Your LT can link up with the Keisotsu and Kempeitai - is that the plan? If so, I'd drop the CoC Kempeitai (because the LT is pretty well protected) for Yojimbo. You get (hard to control) smoke and serious murder potential.
The idea is that the LT Domaru special duos with the Daiyokai (who I feel is really hard to deal with at 200). They can play much more aggressively and push the board without fear of dropping into LoL. I do like the idea of Yojimbo, or any motorcycle in these - just because the extra order feels more important. Still a little salty about Asuka getting 10 more expensive in the form of the Kuroshio rider.
Oh - replace your Warcor with a yaozao. Those things double the effectiveness/efficiency of you doctor. Much more valuable than a loose flash pulse.
It was a tough decision between the two - the humble flash pulse has always exceeded expectations and has even won me a game before in addition to the irregular order that can be converted. Although - efficiency wise I think the helper bot would get a little more mileage and make the doctor half way usable instead of a "just in case". this way she and her helper can follow both link teams at once
Looks like a good list. I'd be tempted to go the Shinobi route for 200 points, just for the Order efficiency of InfiltrationInfi the fact that your opponent will have less table coverage for defending against them. Might be worth springing for the Oniwaban boarding shotgun too, wouldn't want that in my DZ at 200 points. Your existing list looks solid though, no issues there at all. Japanese Secessionist Army ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 9 1 1 SAITO TOGAN (Specialist Operative) Combi Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, EXP CCW, Knife. (0 | 40) ONIWABAN Submachine Gun, Nanopulser / Pistol, Monofilament CCW. (0 | 37) RYŪKEN (Forward Deployment L2, ODD) Submachine Gun, Antipersonnel Mines, D-Charges / 2 Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 24) KEMPEI (Multispectral Visor L2) Shock Marksman Rifle / Pistol, CCW, Electric Pulse. (1 | 25) KEISOTSU HMG / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 17) KEISOTSU Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 9) KEISOTSU Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 9) KEISOTSU Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 9) KEISOTSU Lieutenant Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 9) YOJIMBO Contender, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades, CrazyKoalas (2) / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 21) 3.5 SWC | 200 Points Open in Infinity Army
I was thinking of taking advantage of all the infiltration there is in the army. Although, it's very easy to rely on the toughness of some of the HI when you know the opponent won't be bringing so many toys. Although, it will probably be a lot easier to get in range of a sword at 200 points. It's tough because you have to sacrifice so much flexibility at this level.
No question, 200 points demands sacrifices and starts to reward lists with a "gimmick" far more than a typical 300 point list. One thing that's true for both Limited Insertion and for 200 point games is that generally defense is a lot harder. Just through virtue of having fewer Irregular warbands, less SWC to spend on Minelayers, etc., it's harder to keep your backline safe. That's one reason why something like a Saito/Oniwaban list has a lot of appeal... Your heavy hitters are close to invincible in Hidden Deployment until you really need them... Your opponent needs to concentrate his defense with his fewer units, and it's hard to focus defense on units that aren't visible on the table... And Infiltrating Camo troops are just generally very good at getting somewhere important using fewer Orders.
@barakiel That list is indeed gimmicky. Well crafted to win direct firefights but so vulnerable to cheap a-holes with chain rifles. You might even use the Oniwaban to take out enemy warbands :)
My go to for supplies is bikes. Now that we've got a 25 point 0SWC KHD aragato it makes them even easier to include. I would also second Yojimbo, he's amazing value for his cost. For supplies I'd probably run something like this: Japanese Secessionist Army ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 9 1 3 KEISOTSU Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 9) KEISOTSU Missile Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 14) KEISOTSU Missile Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 14) KEISOTSU Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 9) KEMPEI (Chain of Command) Combi Rifle / Pistol, CCW, Electric Pulse. (0 | 22) KUROSHI RIDER Lieutenant Combi Rifle + Light Flamethrower / Breaker Pistol, AP + Shock CCW. (0 | 33) ARAGOTO (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25) YOJIMBO Contender, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades, CrazyKoalas (2) / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 21) NINJA Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Tactical Bow / Pistol, DA CCW, Knife. (0 | 29) RYŪKEN (Forward Deployment L2, ODD) Submachine Gun, Antipersonnel Mines, D-Charges / 2 Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 24) 3.5 SWC | 200 Points Open in Infinity Army It's a risky list. A dense table with a lot of narrow lanes can really impede the bikes from being effective and the bikes themselves can be very risky if you're not comfortable playing them. On the flipside, though, they can be very rewarding. My general strategy would be for Yojimbo to screen and the other bikes to rush and try and get early packages. Thanks to the CoC you can get extra use out of Kuroshi's lt order. The ryuken can provide both area denial as well as starting up in the midfield where he can hopefully retrieve a package if one of your bikes dies will carrying it. The ninja is a good safety, it can deploy near a box and either a) for an early acquisition, b) wait for late game to grab a package last minute if the coffin its near goes unopened, or it can c) engage/kill an unescorted specialist going after what appears to be an undefended box. Normally I'd go HMG/ML for the link but that couldn't fit that in 200 so went with double ML
I think tools like Saito and the Oniwaban are less gimmicky than they were, just because both units have become more versatile now. Saito's a Specialist now, and it's nice that the Oniwaban can suppress now, both of which are nice and help make those guys very widely applicable. For warbands, the Ryuken and Kempetai are both amazing at dealing with them (Shock galore), and I find warbands are generally less common/dangerous at 200 points because players often don't have a second Combat Group to fuel them. They fit really awkward into 200 points. The Ryuken's mines and Yojimbo's Koalas are both nice for giving the TO guys safe places to retreat to as well. The triple threat of mines, koalas, MSV2 shock helps give the Saito and the Oniwaban some nice safe zones to attack from/retreat to, letting them be a persistent presence in the game rather than just going out in a blaze of glory.
My thoughts are the link is regulated for ARO duty, covering a box while the bikes can make a run for them. mainly Kuroshi. or maybe she would be better spent running into the enemy and inflicting as much damage as possible so your link/ ninjas can grab boxes safely. Id feel a little weird not playing a doctor and no 2 wound guys. I have a feeling that bikes only get better when there are less models on the board.
I'm really liking Ryuken at this points amount I think. I have to play around with a list with them in it. Only if they were specialists.....
I hear you! Though that would be... Insane. They're already such a good all-rounder. Curious to hear your thoughts. I wrote up an ITS from last month where I took two in both my lists, and didn't regret having them at all. They were key performers in all my games. I think your read on Supplies is excellent by the way, completely agreed that bikes can do so much there.
@ambisinister If you trade the ninja KHD for another Ryuken SMG, that gives you 5 points to trade a Keisotsu ML for an HMG - giving the team an active turn punch. You can also upgrade the basic Keisotsu to a specialist. Maybe you'd prefer having the TO infiltrator specialist, but it's something to consider.
