Hi all! I'm "new", I used to play a bit during N"! but it has been years since my last game. I always loved Ariadna, so I came back to my beloved faction. I currently have a good amount of TAK models, and something more to go vanilla. I'd have afew questions for the community: 1) Why go vanilla? it seems that I can do mostly the same kind of gam in TAK, but I also have access to powerful link teams, both defensive and offensive ones. The onoly real big loss that I noticed is the lack of chasseurs. 2) multi group or single group? Is going single group a valid choice or is it always better to have two big combat groups to maximize orders? Lastly, here is a list I devised, please take a look at it and tell me if it seems decent: Tartary Army Corps ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 9 1 1 FRONTOVIK Engineer T2 Rifle, Light Rocket Launcher, D-Charges / Assault Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 33) FRONTOVIK Molotok / Assault Pistol, Knife. (1 | 30) FRONTOVIK Paramedic (MediKit) T2 Rifle / Assault Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25) FRONTOVIK (Multiespectral Visor L1) AP Sniper / Assault Pistol, Knife. (1 | 31) VETERAN KAZAK AP HMG / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (2 | 47) VASSILY Lieutenant (Forward Observer) T2 Sniper, D-Charges / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (1 | 35) DOG-WARRIOR 2 Chain Rifles, Grenades, Smoke Grenades / AP CCW. (0 | 29) STRELOK (Forward Observer) Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 20) STRELOK Submachine Gun, Chain-colt, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 16) PAVEL McMANNUS Ojotnik, Chain-colt, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, T2 CCW, Knife. (0 | 31) 5.5 SWC | 297 Points Open in Infinity Army The idea behind this is the 5-man link of frontoviks+veteran playing assault/killing stuff and eventually doing objectives, strelok and pavel can be good objective grabbers in camo, a few mines around aren't bad at all, dog warrior is there to mess link teams up with 'nades and bully the board a bit. Finally, vassily looks like a very good hidden LT, especially with ambushed camo on him and the streloks too.
Okay so the list: I wouldn't bother with the Molotok, its too expensive and the HRL or AP sniper are just better. I personally think the Light Rocket Launcher costs too much. Fire teams tend to have 1-2 star players and the rest are just chaff. Drop the Frontovik Paramedic and get a 112 Dr instead. He can join the team, half the price, is less likely to kill your own dudes and hey, shotgun! If you want the range game drop the engineer and replace with a HRL, then just get an Irmandhino to be an engineer. I always play two groups of at least 7 orders each, but then I like that Ariadna has cheap specialists and then i'm less upset when my opponent blows an engineer in half when I have three Irmandhinos waiting to take their turn. on that note the SMG strelok is the same cost as two pirate engineers... go on, you know you want to. Streloks and Dog Warriors are cool, but tend to be order intensive. You will burn through those orders just getting them into position. Dog warriors are nearly as much as 4 Irmandhinos btw, like, 3 points off. You know you want dat booty chart. Vass is a boss but for a few points more you could have him as Chain of command and make that HMG Vet LT. you save a point of SWC and when (not if, when) that team breaks its another order for his rampage. Saying that Vass as LT is solid. Did I mention get Irmandhinos? I have to mention them at least 4 times in every post or they will come round my house kill my cat and nick my speedboat.
I would drop all of the frontoviks except for the rocket engineer and replace them with line kazaks, that will free up a TON of points for stuff like irmies and spetz. This is because the vet will be your attacker 90% of the time and if you really want a template the LRL does just fine. I concur with @Captain Nevercrit on the Vass advice, that dude does great as CoC, pretty much a staple on my LI lists alongside Voronin (not sure if you'll want that guy, he's a bit of an acquired taste)
I think everyone agrees that the Spetznaz HMG is an absolute beast and a nice way to hide Vass. Again, order intensive but I love the BS Spetznaz cos its another attack vector and grenades are wicked good for breaking link teams. BS means Boarding shotgun and B*** S***.
So I get that playing with a single command group is useless right? it's probably better to just run two big groups. I've devised this with the models I own: Tartary Army Corps ────────────────────────────────────────────────── GROUP 1 7 LINE KAZAK Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 9) LINE KAZAK Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 9) LINE KAZAK Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 9) FRONTOVIK (Multiespectral Visor L1) AP Sniper / Assault Pistol, Knife. (1 | 31) VETERAN KAZAK AP HMG / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (2 | 47) STRELOK Submachine Gun, Chain-colt, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 16) STRELOK (Forward Observer) Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 20) GROUP 2 6 1 1 VASSILY Lieutenant (Forward Observer) T2 Marksman Rifle, Akrylat-Kanone, D-Charges / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (0 | 35) STRELOK Submachine Gun, Chain-colt, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 16) IRMANDINHO Chain Rifle, D-Charges, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 8) STRELOK (Forward Observer) Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 20) SPETSNAZ (CH: Ambush Camouflage) HMG / Pistol, CCW, Knife. (1.5 | 38) PAVEL McMANNUS Ojotnik, Chain-colt, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, T2 CCW, Knife. (0 | 31) LINE KAZAK Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 9) 4.5 SWC | 298 Points Open in Infinity Army 14 dudes, plenty of specialists, looks like decent firepower. (edit: i don't wish to add more irmandinhos, I don't like their models and fluff. Maybe I could go for a second one if needed, but i won't spam them.) Or, this one: Tartary Army Corps ────────────────────────────────────────────────── GROUP 1 7 FRONTOVIK T2 Rifle / Assault Pistol, Knife. (0 | 23) FRONTOVIK Engineer T2 Rifle, D-Charges / Assault Pistol, Knife. (0 | 27) FRONTOVIK (Multiespectral Visor L1) AP Sniper / Assault Pistol, Knife. (1 | 31) 112 Light Shotgun / Pistol, CCW. (0 | 12) VETERAN KAZAK AP HMG / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (2 | 47) STRELOK (Forward Observer) Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 20) VASSILY Lieutenant (Forward Observer) T2 Sniper, D-Charges / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (1 | 35) GROUP 2 5 2 1 LINE KAZAK Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 9) LINE KAZAK Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 9) WARCOR (Sixth Sense L1) Flash Pulse / Stun Pistol, Knife. (0 | 3) STRELOK Submachine Gun, Chain-colt, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 16) STRELOK (Forward Observer) Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 20) SPETSNAZ (CH: Ambush Camouflage) HMG / Pistol, CCW, Knife. (1.5 | 38) IRMANDINHO Chain Rifle, D-Charges, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 8) 5.5 SWC | 298 Points Open in Infinity Army On a side note, how does haris on the frontoviks work? cant I take a frontovik haris and fill the rest of the link with 112 and a wildcard trooper?
Playing with a single command group isn't useless. It just doesn't play to our strengths. Were Ariadna, we have the cheapest specialists in the game and can be really forgiving with numbers if we lose dudes. Infinity is also about the right guy for the job, positioning play the mission, and having dice rolls in your favour. You buy the Haris member first then build the team around him and tow others, both of which may be wildcard. So yes. I'm currently building a Dashat force, it gets confusing. If Frontoviks were TOTAL you could technically have on Core, one Haris and if its available one Duo all consisting of Frontoviks and Wildcard. I like it. more orders and some hard hitters. I tend not to have all my specialists in one fireteam cos a) you cont cover enough ground and b) one blast may ruin your entire mission. The very best way to know is play a few games, get your teeth kicked in a few times then come back and re-jig the list. Some of the units guys swear by i never use and visa versa. I still think the HRL Frontovik is ridiculously good for its points.
Maybe my guide can help you out: https://forum.corvusbelli.com/threads/spetsnaz-shkola-an-unofficial-tak-guide.27568/ It's just one of the many ways to play, but it has worked quite well for me. Also it's possible to play with one single group and succeed outside limited insertion tournaments, but it's a lot less forgiving. In limited insertion where everyone is restricted to one combat group they work really well. Additionally vanilla ariadna has a different stile with a mix of excelent troops like paracomandos, vant zant, uxia, chasseurs, dirt cheap volunteers, blackjack T2 sniper, caterans, spetsnaz, foxtrots, mirage5. The list goes on and on, you can make incredible mixes. Also some troops like dog warriors or antipodes sometimes are better in vanilla where they have more orders to burn.
Interesting advices, thank you very much! I was looking at other armies and noticed that sometimes they can make extremely powerful fireteams like the Kamau in Varuna. I noticed that most of our camo dudes will end up being killed if they try attacking it, but a 5 man link team with a vet kazak has positive chances of taking the kamau down. Even the msv1 frontovik is pretty decent at it in a 5 man link. Sounds like a good idea to also have a backup plan with mines and such. another question, in a haris fireteam can I go beyond 3 models if I add a wildcard trooper?
I've played a couple games with my friends against 10-orders list, they play Onyx and Spiral corps. My list looked pretty strong, all those ambush camo made my opponents waste a bit of orders or move cautiosly around what was actually a helmet on a stick :) I had a fuly linked HGM Vet Kazak who was nearly unkillable in a straight firefight as they don't have a whole lot of visors, but I got to say that keeping coherency with line kazaks is terrible. if the opponent sees them, they are as good as dead. The Dog Warrior has been on of the best pieces I tried. 3 wounds with total immunity is a lot to bring down (unless you get hit by a viral pistol from spiral, ouch) and his double template is insane in damage. it is a pseudo dam 16, as it negats cover bonus. He also mauled a Spiral impersonator in melee. Spetsnaz has been a very good model too. I have to understand how to use Pavel. He does something in every range band, So I don't really know where to position him properly.
I think Pavel is designed to be a pain in the a**. Maybe kill something bigger than him. That Vet Kaz in a link is a monster. Yeah the trick is get the line boys to keep their heads down while bossman blats away with amazing accuracy. The miniature is lovely too. I'm starting to keep spare Line Kazak around to reform the team. Scouts are my new thing. The FO scout has amazing utility for a low price. They support Pavel well in my mind. I really want his miniature and to use him soon.
Hi mate, sorry for bothering you but i have a question about fireteam. In this group i think you have a fireteam core of linekazak+frontoviks+vet kazak. Basilly you add a veteran kazak to ft frontovik+4 linekazak but is legal? for what i understand the special fireteam must have the combination of troops. Or wildcard allow to ignore this rule? Thanks
The fireteam in question is “up to 4 Line Kazaks + 1 Frontovik.” The Vet Kazak is a Wildcard and can be added to any fire team. That is how I have read the rules, anyways.
I personally like the Frontovik with molotok. I have used this list a few times with good results. The Frontovik link team is a mobile team that runs across the table to do things. A Vet Kazak link team is a more long range, sit in your side of the table team. For any missions where you need to dominate zones or sit in an Armory, try the Frontoviks. All of them having assault pistols is so good. Front core 19 orders ────────────────────────────────────────────────── GROUP 1 10 FRONTOVIK T2 Rifle / Assault Pistol, Knife. (0 | 23) FRONTOVIK Engineer T2 Rifle, Light Rocket Launcher, D-Charges / Assault Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 33) FRONTOVIK Molotok / Assault Pistol, Knife. (1 | 30) FRONTOVIK Heavy Rocket Launcher / Assault Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 23) 112 Light Shotgun / Pistol, CCW. (0 | 12) DOZER (Traktor Mul Control Device) Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14) TRAKTOR MUL (Minesweeper) Electric Pulse. (0 | 5) TRAKTOR MUL (Minesweeper) Electric Pulse. (0 | 5) LINE KAZAK Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 9) LINE KAZAK Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 9) GROUP 2 6 3 2 SPETSNAZ (CH: Ambush Camouflage) HMG / Pistol, CCW, Knife. (1.5 | 38) TANKHUNTER Missile Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 29) STRELOK K-9 Submachine Gun, Chain-colt, Antipersonnel Mines + 1 K-9 Antipode / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 24) K-9 ANTIPODE Trench-hammer, AP CC Weapon. (8) LINE KAZAK Lieutenant Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 9) LINE KAZAK Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 9) LINE KAZAK Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 9) IRMANDINHO Chain Rifle, D-Charges, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 8) IRMANDINHO Chain Rifle, D-Charges, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 8) WARCOR (360º Visor) Flash Pulse / Stun Pistol, Knife. (0 | 3) 6 SWC | 300 PointsOpen in Infinity Army
