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Mini Starting Guide for JSA

Discussion in 'Japanese Secessionist Army' started by Ogid, Sep 27, 2018.

  1. Ogid

    Ogid Well-Known Member

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    I've just posted this in the Rules forum but it's probably more fitting here:

    Starting guide for Infinity and JSA for starters:

    Basics:
    Read the rules, play some games and then read them again, twice :P. This is a complex game, it takes time to get used to it but it's well worth it: Quick Rules, N3 (rulebook part I), Humman Sphere (rulebook part II), New rules, FAQs

    Get used to how an order is resolved, this is the core mechanic of Infinity and understandimg it is of paramount importance.
    AROs, the other part of that core mechanic, be mindful that your positioning is very important, you can only ARO if you have LoF or they are in your ZoC (some abilities modify this but this is the most important thing). What can you do if you are attacked for behind and have no ARO? Alert and Warning!

    JSA is essentialy a sectorial so you are gonna need to about one of the sectorial's great strengths, the Fireteams, and one of its banes, the templates :P

    JSA:
    One of the best things of JSA are its TOs, the ninjas and Oniwas are just nuts (just check what monofilament does, now imagine a TAG eating that). But they are not easy to use, learn about CAMOs, and abuse of ARO mechanic to pick advantageus fights (sneak from behind, don't try to assasinate someone in front of the entire enemy army, that kind of stuff). The two TO characters (Saito and Shinobu) are amazing, check them out.

    JSA strength is mid to close range so you will need something to cover your advance, the TOs are good to get rid of nasty ARO pieces or big threats. But Smoke is another thing you will need to learn to use. You have some flavours, grenades and grenade launchers. You would include Yojimbo in a lot of your lists just for this (Only Yojimbo and the Ninja/Oniwa characters have smoke, but these two are more useful hunting than covering the army advance). Check the Kempetai, the only linkeable MSVII in the faction (the other is a REM, the Rui Shi), both are very useful to shoot throught smoke.

    The CC abilities of our HIs and TOs are among the best out of any infinity faction, learn about martial arts and berserk (Domaru) and remember that if your atribute exceed 20 any extra would ADD to the roll (this makes CC very reliable). Also remember the TOs are able to perform surprise attacks (which stacks with MA). You will learn some tricks like forcing ZC AROs with your first skill and then move into CC while engaging from a corner. If you plan to use your CC specialist to pin enemies be careful with triangulated shots or it will ruin your day. Also, stay away from Natural Born Warriors, better shoot these MF to death.

    E/M weapons are common in this faction, they are an amazing tool, the E/M debuffs are crippling for almost every single troop in this game (but non hackable Veterans) and can even break enemy links. You can use for example the E/M grenades with speculative fire if some enemy HI, TAG or Link is aroun one corner but not near enought to getting safely into CC. Special mention to the Domaru's EM CCW that either kill you or transform you into a statue or the Tanko's Bliztens.

    You have no parachutists but have to know about them not to get caught by this mechanic because it's very common.

    If you use the HIs, Hacking would be one of your dooms, your HI BTS is plain bad and you don't have a lot of ways to increase it (some supportware and that's it). Learn how to use the Stealth ability not to trigger hacking AROs (it is included in martial arts so it's avaliable to all of them, even to the faction`s TAG!). You also have ninjas with Killer Hacking Device to hunt down enemy hackers (and using their own repeaters!). And if you do get hacked in the end, Engineers with their G:servants (Yaozaos) would be very useful to remove the debuffs. If you play a HI link the Engi is not a must but it's quite close, doctors are also linkable to servants and useful to support the HIs.

    Talking about hacking, JSA is not a hacking heavy faction by any means but you can include some tricks, the supportware is always useful (Honorable mentions to Fairy Dust, Assisted Fire or TeamPro) and even if ninjas and aragotos aren't the best hackers, they can reach easily the good targets by themselves, have AHD and KHD and they still pack a punch.

    Also you have access to chain of command, this can let you choose a Rambo Lt (like the kuroshi rider, Neko or even Shinobu or the O-Yoroi) and play them very aggressively with no fear of losing them.

    Hope it helps ;)

    PD: also remember this is mainly a shooting game after all, CC is part of your plan but not your main goal, don't rush it or you will regret.

    EDIT: Giving it some love :P, units

    Units, What can they do?

    LI
    Keisotsu: Cheap Order Monkeys or cheap specialist for back up. With a full link the HMG or the ML profiles could give you some active turn potential or ARO threat but that BS10 is plain bad.
    Kempetai: Decent units, specially linked with keisotsus giving the BS12 and the MSVII profile, the CC profiles are good for going ham with the Lt or for having some extra backup.
    Ryuken Unit-9: Very very good units, the ODD profile give a lot of midfield control with mines and suppresion fire. The HRL is glassy but hit hard and is handy to burn expensive toys, just don't expose it to enemy ARO pieces.
    Aragoto: Scalpels, very fragile if exposed to ARO pieces but with amazing movility, only impetuous so you can cancel it if dangerous. If the ARO threats are eliminated they can cross the table in a few orders to flank/push buttons. The KHD/AHD are decent specialist (but for a bit more you have the Kuroshi rider). The Spitfire and Boarding shotgun profiles are very good ofensive ones.
    Tokusetsu Butai: Cheap Engineer and Doctors, nothing fancy but it give orders and can link a G:Servant.
    Warcor: Cheap irregular order for your support group, can ARO and watch your back.
    Yuriko: Mines are always good, the E/Mitter or the Panzerfaust are good when in a full core link, plus engineer.
    Kuroshi Rider: A bit pricy and glassy but versatile. As quick specialists she is very good, she have a flamethrower, decent CC when fighting non CC specialists and is dogged for when you really need the job done.
     
    #1 Ogid, Sep 27, 2018
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2018
    Time Bandit, andre61, -Ghost- and 3 others like this.
  2. meikyoushisui

    meikyoushisui Competitor for Most Ignored User

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    Good post, could use some proofreading. Also I'm not sure why Oniwaban is spelled wrong in the post, Oniwa is literally "garden" in Japanese
     
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  3. Ogid

    Ogid Well-Known Member

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    Glad to know you like it. Yeah, it does need some love now, this is just a post that went out of hand XD. I'll edit it when i get some time.
     
  4. -Ghost-

    -Ghost- Shalashaska

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    Biggest thing a new player who is looking into JSA can learn is understanding the limits of what each unit can and can't do.

    You don't have to use up all your SWC, but a player that uses none is most likely shooting themselves in the foot.

    Lieutenants are a big deal for this faction since it is short ranged and rewards aggressive styles of play.

    Learn how important a healthy order pool is for your force.

    Don't be afraid to try something different. Yes the 2 Domaru and triple Tanko fireteam is scary, but it is also half of your force and potentially your SWC.

    Also, get comfy with the acronyms thrown around! We love our shorthand.
     
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  5. Káosz Brigodéros

    Káosz Brigodéros Vanguard, Inc.

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    Arigathanks gozaimuch.
    And the most important thing I would tell a newbie:
    Know yourself and know your enemy, and in ten thousand battles you will not perish.
     
    Ogid likes this.
  6. Section9

    Section9 Well-Known Member

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    Those are all critically important points.

    And I usually make 'having enough orders' as the single most important rule of thumb for listbuilding in Infinity.

    Section9's Rules of Thumb for listbuilding for new players:
    1. Orders: Make sure you have at least 8 orders in your primary combat group at the start of your first turn. This means no more than 2 Hidden or Airborne Deployed models in that group. Plus, you may either take losses and/or get hit with a strategic Command Token to reduce your orders further.
    2. Guns: Spend your SWC, but what is more important is to have a variety of ranges covered in someone's +3. You win firefights in Infinity by being in your +3 range and in the target's -3. If you have a variety of guns but haven't spent all your SWC, that's OK. If you don't have a variety of guns and have spent your SWC, that's NOT OK.
    3. Speed: Not just raw MOV stat, this also includes Deployment shenanigans that let a model start closer to it's objective. Try to spend the fewest orders possible for the task, and make sure you look at all the models on the table. You're better spending 1 order to back that HMG up into +3 range than 3 orders getting that 'closer' combi rifle into +3.
    4. Specialists: These are the guys who either push the buttons to win the mission, or keep your shooters up and working to win the mission. They're not as important as they used to be, but having 3 or 4 is relatively cheap and easy: Hacker, Doctor, Engineer, Forward Observer are the ones I usually try to take, but JSA specifically really benefits from having a Chain of Command on the table.
    5. Plan: This one is the hardest, and it's purely on you the player. But Infinity's tagline could be "Play like you got a plan" instead of "it's always your turn." Anyways, I can't teach it except by asking questions: How will you use your primary attack piece? How will you use your secondary attack piece? What will you do when they're both dead? Where will you put your Sniper?
    6. Theme: This is optional, but can really help give you ideas for what models to include (or not include) if you're stuck. It's also purely personal.



    Bah, you're not running full samurai until you throw down on something like this:

    [​IMG] The Seven Samurai
    ──────────────────────────────────────────────────

    [​IMG]9 [​IMG]1 [​IMG]4
    [​IMG] OYAMA Lieutenant Chain Rifle, E/M Grenades / Breaker Pistol, AP CCW, EXP CCW. (0 | 28)
    [​IMG] DOMARU Spitfire / Pistol, E/M CCW, Shock CC Weapon. (2 | 39)
    [​IMG] TANKŌ Missile Launcher / Pistol, Monofilament CC Weapon, Shock CC Weapon. (1.5 | 32)
    [​IMG] TANKŌ Blitzen, Submachine Gun / Pistol, Monofilament CC Weapon, Shock CC Weapon. (0 | 23)
    [​IMG] TANKŌ Blitzen, Light Shotgun / Pistol, Monofilament CC Weapon, Shock CC Weapon. (0 | 23)
    [​IMG] O-YOROI AP HMG + Heavy Flamethrower, CrazyKoalas / EXP CCW. (2 | 86)
    [​IMG] YOJIMBO Contender, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades, CrazyKoalas (2) / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 21)
    [​IMG] KEISOTSU Hacker (Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 17)
    [​IMG] TOKUSETSU EISEI Doctor (MediKit) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14)
    [​IMG] TOKUSETSU KOHEI Engineer Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14)
    [​IMG] YÁOZĂO Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)

    6 SWC | 300 Points

    Open in Infinity Army

    Seven Samurai and the 3 villagers sent into the city to find them.

    You could replace Yojimbo and the helperbot with (irregular) Musashi, but having a smoke-thrower is very useful to this list. Given that, I usually assign the helperbot to the engineer to fix glue and EM. Hacker casts Fairy Dust to protect the link team, and otherwise hides in the back of the village while the samurai kill all the bandits.

    Not so great at missions needing a lot of button pushing, but it's a killer list in shooting-heavy missions.
     
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  7. -Ghost-

    -Ghost- Shalashaska

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    Those are some kind words from the legendary Section9 and I appreciate them since I have been out of the game for a while. Glad that we can agree and I think you hit it home with your detailed how to for list building.

    Awh come on man, where is my Daiyokai? That has singlehandedly become one of my favorite miniatures after trying to get my friends back into the game and subsequently making a few purchases of my own. Heh.

    Musashi would work especially with a couple of those Tanko, which then you can bring Saito. Epic legendary competition between swordmaster and disgraced Ninja while having a bunch of Samurai running around.

    Also, I think I am in love with the Domaru Spitfire. The model is excellent and whether it is spearheading a full HI team or leading some Keisotsu and a hooded figure it is just excellent.
     
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