There's a tournament coming up soon that is running The Grid from ITS9 (also Capture & Protect, Power Pack, Acquisition & Highly Classified). I'm keen to bring out Vanilla combine for this as I haven't played them in a while. I had a test game with the following list vs a very good Haqq player which went very poorly: Combined Army ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 10 ANATHEMATIC Lieutenant Hacker (EI Hacking Device) Plasma Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, Shock CCW. (0.5 | 88) NOCTIFER Missile Launcher / Assault Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 32) UMBRA LEGATE Hacker (Hacking Device Plus) Boarding Shotgun, Flash Pulse / Pistol, DA CCW. (0.5 | 43) MORAT Hacker (EI Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 22) IKADRON (Baggage, Repeater) 2 Light Flamethrowers, Flash Pulse / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 9) IKADRON (Baggage, Repeater) 2 Light Flamethrowers, Flash Pulse / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 9) MALIGNOS Hacker (EI Assault Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 41) MED-TECH OBSIDON MEDCHANOID Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 23) SLAVE DRONE Electric Pulse. (0 | 3) Q-DRONE HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 26) ÍMETRON . (0 | 4) 4.5 SWC | 300 Points Open in Infinity Army I've gone with a LI list with a view to going first and flagging as many antenna. I failed here mostly due to going second, not having sufficient ARO pieces to counter Tarik & Al-Djabel and then running into Ghazi. So I had a bit of a re think and came up with a few ideas: - A strong data tracker is necessary to take down the HVT - FOs/midfield specialists will have an advantage, particularly with D charges. - Strong ARO will be needed to counter enemy datatrackers/defend my HVT - Ranged anti-material weapons will assist in destroying antenna. - MSV will have some use given the central visibility zone. I thought I'd sound out the brains trust on potential lists. This is what I have reworked though it has 16pts spare for another order: Combined Army ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 9 2 CHARONTID Lieutenant (Multispectral Visor L3) HMG, Nanopulser / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (2 | 79) DĀTURAZI Chain Rifle, Grenades, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 14) DĀTURAZI Chain Rifle, Grenades, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 14) MALIGNOS (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 36) NOCTIFER Missile Launcher / Assault Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 32) M-DRONE Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 17) Q-DRONE HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 26) E-DRONE Combi Rifle / Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 28) KO DALI Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, D-Charges / 2 Assault Pistols, Knife. (0 | 38) 5 SWC | 284 Points Open in Infinity Army Has anyone had any success with this mission? If so please share lists? Should I switch to away from LI and approach it with FO camo spam? Does anyone use Ko Dali anymore???
If u could find a way to free up 3 points bit and kiss would be a great addition to that army. They would synergize well with the e drone (exile + pitchers is strong against link teams), they would provide a little bit of a threat/ deterrent against hackers whom may try go after your e drone or charontid and the pitchers/ deployable repeaters could be used to provide constant coverage on buffing your q drone in case the e drone needs to move out of range of it. Also your lacking a little bit of long range antennae killing power, k1 combi are excellent at killing attennae.
Sorry, the only time I played this mission, I chose Onyx where K1 is more frequent and we have cheap linkable FO unidrons
The Grid is a scenario you have to build for. You need more models with F/O (or Spotlight) and anti matter weapons. I'd be looking at Shrouded F/O, fast models with DACCW and anything with Missiles or K1. Does plasma count? I'm new to CA.
Plasma doesn't count. Umbra w/ K1 combi rifle is very useful in this mission. Rough without fireteams. Sheskiin also pretty good at smashing Antennas in CC.
Only the ammo with "anti-material" count. So DA, EXP, K1 (or AP+DA, AP+EXP. and T2 for ariadna). No monofilament, no plasma... My preference went for K1 stuff because it's more order efficient to shoot than move + cc. But missiles, panzerfausts, feuerbach, etc, can do. I realise only now, but a TAG with Multi HMG could be very efficient too. Like Raicho or Avatar : shoot EXP, so B1, but on (ideally) BS+3, so 17 or 18, damage 16. Yummy. Then for the FO part, yeah we don't have that much choice. I like Shrouded, but Unidron or M-drone will work too. Spotlight works ? I thought for other types of specialists than FO, you had to be in contact and just pass a WIP test. My try list in just 5 minutes : Combined Army ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 10 AVATAR Lieutenant (Strategos L3) MULTI HMG, Sepsitor Plus / DA CCW. (3.5 | 137) STALDRON Flash Pulse / Knife. (0 | 0) SHROUDED (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25) SHROUDED (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25) Bit Hacker (UPGRADE: Expel) Submachine Gun + Pitcher, Deployable Repeater + KISS! / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 19) KISS! Adhesive Launcher / Electric Pulse. (- | 4) MED-TECH OBSIDON MEDCHANOID Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 23) SLAVE DRONE Electric Pulse. (0 | 3) SLAVE DRONE Electric Pulse. (0 | 3) M-DRONE Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 17) R-DRONE Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8) NOCTIFER Missile Launcher / Assault Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 32) ÍMETRON . (0 | 4) ÍMETRON . (0 | 4) 5.5 SWC | 300 Points Open in Infinity Army Not that strong in ARO to defend the HVT though. Might need some rework. You can replace the Avatar with an Anathematic and a Umbra K1 if you want, it's just a suggestion list.
Interesting, I had forgotten K1 was anti-material. A unidron could be a cheap solution there plus I could 'upgrade' a daturazi to Anyat who still provides smoke where required. The Malignos is really there to be hidden and infiltrate for quick mid-field FO but a shrouded could also do a similar job. I'm not sold on the Avatar for this mission, while he's going to be a solid wrecking ball the saturation zone will reduce his ranged game a little, something the Charontid doesn't worry about. Given the zone I would also expect MSV to counter his ODD as well as plenty of anti-material weapons that will be a natural threat. Something like the following: Combined Army ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 10 1 CHARONTID Lieutenant (Multispectral Visor L3) HMG, Nanopulser / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (2 | 79) DĀTURAZI Chain Rifle, Grenades, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 14) ANYAT K1 Combi Rifle, Chain-colt, Smoke Grenades, E/M Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25) SHROUDED (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25) NOCTIFER Missile Launcher / Assault Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 32) M-DRONE Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 17) Q-DRONE HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 26) E-DRONE Combi Rifle / Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 28) KO DALI Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, D-Charges / 2 Assault Pistols, Knife. (0 | 38) UNIDRON K1 Combi Rifle / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 16) 5.5 SWC | 300 Points Open in Infinity Army It would be good to squeeze in the legate K1 combi but I'd have to drop the surprise Ko Dali. If she goes then the E-drone is less relevant.
I'd make that unidron a forward observer. It's one more FO and it will give u a wip 16 flashpulse if your charontid g mnemonica into it. Or if you wanna keep the k1 you can change the m drone to a FO unidron.
The K1 unidron seems important as a source of anti-material. The M drone was really included as a solution to hidden deployment being a fast sensor-bot as well as an FO. I can see your point though, the FO unidron is a more deadly ARO piece. I was thinking about that second list some more. It would be good to shoe-horn in a back line D-Charge unit. That way Ko-Dali can land and plant charges turn 1 and there is still someone around to explode them when she is (likely) killed.
Don't forget you can't attack an antenna before turn 2, and it has to be designated by you before you can attack it.
Just a quick update to this thread if anyone was interested. I ended up running the list below and getting a win 10-2 at Cancon. My thought process was the same as above with the K1 unidrons and the Noctifer providing the anti-material weapons. The Zerat & M-drone to FO targets with the backup of the hacker to tag the antenna manually. The charontid & daturazi were there solely to be attack pieces and target mid-field camo specialists. My intent was to get the Charontid up in suppressive fire and covering the path to my HVT to make it difficult for a data tracker to get the kill. When he dies I switch the LT and the high WIP across to one of the FOs for better targetting. Ikadrons to provide repeater coverage (even though it's only a morat hacker) and flamer threat. The datatracker will either be the Zerat FO or the Speculo. The speculo can infiltrate next to the target, forgoing Impersonation to get the easy quick kill (let's face it they don't get more than 1-2 kills vs a good opponent anyway). In my game i didn't have a good spot to deploy and failed my test to reach the opponents deployment zone. The Zerat is surprisingly effective in that you can spec fire grenades on the enemy HVT from relative safety. 9's to hit vs 5's to dodge and hopefully you can do collateral damage if the opponent has bunched any defending pieces nearby. Cancon17 List 2 LH ────────────────────────────────────────────────── GROUP 1 10 2 CHARONTID Lieutenant (Multispectral Visor L3) Plasma Rifle, Nanopulser / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (0 | 78) DĀTURAZI Chain Rifle, Grenades, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 14) DĀTURAZI Chain Rifle, Grenades, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 14) ZERAT (Forward Observer) Boarding Shotgun, Grenades, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 22) UNIDRON K1 Combi Rifle / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 16) UNIDRON K1 Combi Rifle / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 16) Q-DRONE HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 26) IKADRON (Baggage, Repeater) 2 Light Flamethrowers, Flash Pulse / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 9) M-DRONE Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 17) SPECULO KILLER Boarding Shotgun, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, Monofilament CCW, Knife. (1 | 34) GROUP 2 2 MORAT Hacker (EI Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 22) NOCTIFER Missile Launcher / Assault Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 32) 5 SWC | 300 Points Open in Infinity Army
Looks like you didn't do too bad at Cancon, either. You're Luke Henry right? Ben, Trent and Andrew (the WA guys) are from my meta. How did you find t he Charontid?
Yes that's me. I ended up 7th out of 67 players (3 major wins, 1 minor win and a major loss first round which helped me submarine to the end). You're Jason right, I think we played over in Perth a couple of years ago in WMH? Charontid was mixed. When he worked, he really worked. I think he's far more effective when going first and held in reserve to clear ARO pieces first turn as a HMG. Needs good hacker support or a HD assault hacker will make life difficult. In the run down of games it: Died to a Speculo Killer without activating going second Dug out a Chasseur FO and promptly died to it's light flamethrower & a viral rifle round - possibly to aggressive with the plasma rifle going first Wounded and forced back a Hac Tao HMG, killed a Lu Duan and died to/killed a Tiger soldier FO - generally threatened the mid-field going second. Killed an Aswang & Haiduk and scored central point as a datatracker - generally threatened the mid-field going first Killed a Nisse MSR to open a path for 3 classifieds in Highly Classified going second. I think it's an ok attacking piece but I prefer cheaper options for the inevitable crits. My dice hated me! That said, there were plenty of people who were very cautious of it. Camo was popular though smoke tricks were limited.
My other list, for reference was: Cancon List 1 LH ────────────────────────────────────────────────── GROUP 1 10 2 CHARONTID Lieutenant (Multispectral Visor L3) HMG, Nanopulser / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (2 | 79) MED-TECH OBSIDON MEDCHANOID Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 23) SLAVE DRONE Electric Pulse. (0 | 3) SLAVE DRONE Electric Pulse. (0 | 3) IKADRON (Baggage, Repeater) 2 Light Flamethrowers, Flash Pulse / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 9) IKADRON (Baggage, Repeater) 2 Light Flamethrowers, Flash Pulse / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 9) ÍMETRON . (0 | 4) DĀTURAZI Chain Rifle, Grenades, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 14) DĀTURAZI Chain Rifle, Grenades, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 14) MALIGNOS Hacker (EI Assault Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 41) E-DRONE Combi Rifle / Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 28) UNIDRON (Forward Observer) Plasma Carbine / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 15) GROUP 2 2 NOCTIFER Missile Launcher / Assault Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 32) Q-DRONE HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 26) 5.5 SWC | 300 Points Open in Infinity Army
Yeah, I'm Jason. Did you come over for Perth Champs? Is it weird I feel like your lists lack a lot of models to actually do the killing? Charontid and seems like he has to pull a lot of weight.
I don't disagree, it lacks a little staying power which is particularly apparent in missions where a strong jaw is required to hold a point. That said, there is an abundance of DTWs which, combined with the noctifer ML, Q drone and E drone programs for flashpulse spam makes it relatively defensive. You don't want to leave a lot out directly but you can turtle up fairly well. On the active turn you need to pick your targets well. The Daturazi get work done with smoke/grenades/CC. The Q drone with supportware and malignos can put out very aggressive face to face rolls if given the opportunity. Ideally the Charontid is deployed to readily access the table but I don't expect him to last. I think the primary list can be improved upon but I'm pretty happy with the Grid list.