So I really love the sculpts of the Bolts and I know they aren't seen as the best option but I want to build a list around a link of Bolts and include at least one Swiss Guard. It's not going to be a main list of mine but rather a bit more of a painting project for ITS Joint operation type scenarios with Limited Insertion. The starting list I have is this: Neoterran Capitaline Army ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 10 BOLT Lieutenant Combi Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 22) BOLT Combi Rifle + Light Shotgun, Drop Bears / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25) BOLT Spitfire / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 24) BOLT Hacker (Hacking Device) Boarding Shotgun, E/M Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 27) BOLT Paramedic (MediKit) Combi Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 24) SWISS GUARD Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) MULTI Rifle / Pistol, AP CCW. (0.5 | 70) SWISS GUARD Missile Launcher, Light Shotgun / Pistol, AP CCW. (2 | 69) AUXILIA (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle + AUXBOT_1 / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15) AUXBOT_1 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (- | 4) CSU Combi Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12) FUSILIER (Forward Observer, Deployable Repeater) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12) 4.5 SWC | 300 Points Open in Infinity Army
Being nice models is best thing what Bolts do atm. :P (sorry couldn't restrain myself) You know what this list could use ? An aggressive Lt option (to make use of this damn Veteran skill on bolts) Unfortunetaly none of the profiles/units which are solo rambos in this list can be Lt ;/
I have this list that I use for Biotechvore, Frontline and such scenarios: Neoterran Capitaline Army ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 10 BOLT Combi Rifle + Light Shotgun, Drop Bears / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25) BOLT Combi Rifle + Light Shotgun, Drop Bears / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25) BOLT Combi Rifle + Light Shotgun, Drop Bears / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25) BOLT Spitfire / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 24) BOLT Hacker (Hacking Device) Boarding Shotgun, E/M Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 27) BIPANDRA Combi Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 24) BLACK FRIAR (Albedo, Biometric Visor L1) MULTI Rifle, Nanopulser, Drop Bears / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 28) ORC MULTI Rifle + 1 TinBot A (Deflector L1) / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 41) ORC (Fireteam: Haris) Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 36) ORC Lieutenant HMG / Pistol, Knife. (2 | 44) 5.5 SWC | 299 Points Open in Infinity Army And a second one: MiLi ────────────────────────────────────────────────── GROUP 1 10 DEVA (Multispectral Visor L2) Spitfire, Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 33) DEVA Lieutenant (Sensor) Combi Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 24) BOLT Spitfire / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 24) BOLT Combi Rifle + Light Shotgun, Drop Bears / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25) BOLT Combi Rifle + Light Shotgun, Drop Bears / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25) BOLT Paramedic (MediKit) Combi Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 24) BOLT Missile Launcher, Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 27) BLACK FRIAR (Albedo, Biometric Visor L1) MULTI Rifle, Nanopulser, Drop Bears / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 28) TRAUMA-DOC Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14) MACHINIST Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15) GROUP 2 2 HEXA MULTI Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (1.5 | 32) HEXA Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 27) 5.5 SWC | 298 Points Open in Infinity Army A success here too. Had good feeling with it.
What happens if/when you run into a linked MSR and ML covering your approach to the midfield? Your only long range weapon is B1 and starts in hidden deployment.
For the second list, if the table is well done, the MSR/ML won't be able to stop the link and the the other guys. And there is always possibility to make some cautious movements to sneak a way to the midfield. And of course, the Hexa MSR is a solution (and has B2). The last option is to use the Hexa KHD but if I'm in this position at the start of the game, well, the table must be horrible.
I think for the original double Swiss list, the HMG is the way to go. I love the missile launcher too, but I think at least one high-burst long range weapon is pretty mandatory. Applause for going with the Bolts though, for what it's worth. I dunno what the point of them is if you're not taking drop bears or the boarding shotgun/EM nade profile, but that's cool. Follow your gamer heart when it comes to doing cool things.
I like the list with the Bolts backed up by the Orc haris. Thats 6 wounds with 7 armor in cover that your opponent has to deal with. Many mock the Orc but removing them from a defensive location is still much easier said than done. The main issues are the lack of specialists and the LT Orc. You'll want to rush the Orc link up the table and let them do the fighting. In which case, It might be worth it to replace the drop bears with paramedic bolts. Consider taking a bolt LT instead. The idea here is the fight with the Orcs and let your bolt team grab objectives and support from range. Any mission where objectives are inside buildings are going to allow those shotguns bolts to deal some real damage. I've run a similar list in SAA, which let me take a Bagh-mari link and Orc Haris backed up by Nagas.
Thanks for the replies. Yes I wasnt happy with the Bolt LT and need more specialists. IS going a defensive Bolt link worth it? Both the Bolts and the Swiss Guard are my main aesthetic draws to NCA
Having an agressive liutenant backed by veteran hability is the only reason I would consider for taking a Bolt link. I would choose the ORC hmg lt in this list always In biotech, that is a really good list, I played exactly the same except I prefered the Bolt ml instead of the spitfire winning 10-0 in a tournament with a really good player (Lucky dice xD).
As a general rule, I'd say no. Bolts are aggressive, mid-field brawlers. Between the Spitfire, which wants to advance a bit, the drop bears, and all those shotguns, they really want to be stomping up and controlling the midfield. The ML and MSR are nice and all, but NCA has much better platforms for both. If you want a defensive link in NCA, you simply can't beat Fusiliers. Effective, cheap, leaves space for bigger guns. *coughSqualocough*
What are you guys referring to when you say aggressive lieutenants? I don't see any options that work well for that at all... there's the Squalos (which I would not consider without the HGL anyway), is the Orc or Aquila Guard (with a multi rifle because that's the lieutenant profile) considered "aggressive" in NCA?
Well, yes, that's it, Aquila can be very aggressive if the terrain is friendly with him and if there is a lot of camo in the midfield. As long as the Aquila hasn't stealth, a Tuareg AHD or a Proxy Mk2 AHD is an obvious threat with Oblivion. If in addition the pesky hacker stand on the rooftop of a small building, you can't really kill him with the Aquila. Orcs are really aggressive in their Haris. I think they really combo well with Bolts. The Devas lieutenants, both of them, are quite aggressive too in their own way. As for the Squalo lt, if you know you're going to play on a table were speculative isn't worth it (like a table full of rooms were you can't spec fire if no door had been opened before), the profile can become interesting.
There's no doubt though that there's a disconnect between Bolt Veteran and NCA LT options. We don't have the kind of LT profiles that would fully optimize that relationship, such as a Squalo HGL, Aquila HMG, so it's very much a weird disconnect. The closest we get is probably the ORC HMG LT, who isn't terrible.
You need some visors, it needs not to go all the way to an HMG Aquila (aka: the ONLY Aquila) but at least a Spitfire Deva with MSV2
Been toying around with Bolts, so I can lend some advice: You might want to drop the Bolt Lieutenant for a cheaper option or something more aggressive. Either change out the FO Fusilier for the lieutenant option or take an Orc HMG LT or Aquila LT (the latter most will debate but I have had some luck with using a few orders to hit them with AP/Shock rounds and then can use DA ammo in ARO). If you take the the Fusilier LT, then it might be wise to drop the Swiss hacker for a Aquila HMG or some other form of MSV to deal with Camo (that or Pathfinder if you need a cheap anti-camo piece who is also a specialist).