I'm brand new to Infinity and would like to start with PanO. I've decided to give NCA a go, since it seems like my first choice (MO) is in a bit of a rough spot at the moment. I really like the idea of a big, heavily-armored centerpiece and I've read PanO has great TAGs, so I'd love to incorporate a TAG into my list. With that in mind, here's what I have so far: PanO half of Icestorm + Beyond Icestorm Auxilia box Fusiliers box Dronbot Remotes box Tech Bee + Crabbot Squalo I'd appreciate any advice you can offer on list building and/or additional purchases I should make to fill out my army. Thanks!
You're off to a good start. CSUs, the support box with Trauma Doc and Machinist, and ~2 Hexa (sniper, and potentially one to convert to a Hacker) are going to give you staples that are useful in every single NCA list you play. That's going to give you a pile of list configuration that almost builds itself, in terms of how it's structured. Hexa KHD is great for supporting a TAG, CSU + Fusilier big mixed fireteam, and maybe a couple Fugazi or a Fugazi + Pathfinder for easily revealing enemy Camo tokens.
Yeah, you've done well. I'd suggest the following as "things to look at next": 1: More Remotes Another box of DronBot Remotes (because you'll want 3 Fugazi and a Pathfinder in basically every NCA list) and then possibly another (because Sierras are also good and you might want a Clipper). But also the Peacemaker (it's a good offensive piece and midfield defender) and Bulleteer (which is one of the best reserve attack pieces in the game. You will also want to pick up the MuleBot box at some stage (possibly sooner rather than later if you are going to run TAGs a lot). Remotes are a strength for NCA and you should lean into them. 2: Support Box People give the sculpts endless strife, but they are necessary pieces you need for your lists. If you are running a TAG then you NEED a Machinist and PalBot, and the Trauma Doc is also useful (if only to pick that Machinist back up). 3: Swiss Guard You'll run this INSTEAD of a TAG as a premium attack piece, but it's still very worth having. 4: Aquila Guard Both the Multi Rifle (to run in a Fireteam) and the HMG (as a solo piece) are solid choices now. 5: NeoTerra Bolts So the NeoTerra Starter (which is also useful for the Hexa [which makes a good Hacker conversion] and Swiss Guard with Missile Launcher) and their SWC Box to offer an alternative option for your Core Fireteam and good support options. 6: ALEPH Units The Deva and Garuda both open up new options for NCA, in particular the Assault Hacker Deva. Neoterran Capitaline Army ────────────────────────────────────────────────── GROUP 1 10 FUSILIER Lieutenant Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10) FUSILIER Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10) FUSILIER (Forward Observer, Deployable Repeater) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12) FUSILIER Hacker (Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 18) FUSILIER Missile Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 15) CSU (Specialist Operative) Rifle + Light Shotgun, Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12) CSU (Specialist Operative) Breaker Combi Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15) AUXILIA (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle + AUXBOT_1 / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15) AUXBOT_1 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (- | 4) AUXILIA (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle + AUXBOT_1 / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15) AUXBOT_1 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (- | 4) SQUALO (Armored Cav.) MULTI HMG, Heavy Grenade Launcher / AP Heavy Pistol. (2.5 | 95) CRABBOT Flash Pulse / Knife. () GROUP 2 6 2 MACHINIST Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15) PALBOT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3) TRAUMA-DOC Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14) PALBOT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3) PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16) FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8) FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8) FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8) TECH-BEE (Remote Assistant Level 1, Specialist Operative) Flash Pulse / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5) WARCOR (360º Visor) Flash Pulse / Stun Pistol, Knife. (0 | 3) 4.5 SWC | 300 Points Open in Infinity Army To field this you'll need to pick up the Support Pack, a WarCor, a couple of units to run as CSUs (Nomads can be good easy proxies) and another box of DroneBots. You could play around with things to pick up another SWC weapon in the Fusilier Fireteam (you've got 1.5 SWC to play with) but it's otherwise damn solid [I would probably ditch the PalBot off the Trauma Doc and the WarCor and turn the FO in the Fusiliers into a HMG].
As an alternative take I think you already have a solid core. I would suggest experimenting with limited insertion (10 order) lists with what you have before getting into mass model lists, partly for your wallet and your sanity. Something like the below isn't in the same league competitively as the list above but it lets you use the models you have to experiment with rules: The swiss guard gives you TO camo experience Fusiliers as a three man fireteam let you get a handle on fireteam rules Auxilia and the squalo have g:synch The orc gives you hacking and the remotes show you the intricacies of using these. Neoterran Capitaline Army ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 10 AUXILIA (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle + AUXBOT_1 / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15) AUXBOT_1 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (- | 4) AUXILIA (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle + AUXBOT_1 / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15) AUXBOT_1 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (- | 4) SQUALO (Armored Cav.) Lieutenant MULTI HMG / AP Heavy Pistol. (2 | 93) CRABBOT Flash Pulse / Knife. () FUSILIER MULTI Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 18) FUSILIER Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10) FUSILIER Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10) SWISS GUARD HMG / Pistol, AP CCW. (2 | 68) ORC Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 42) PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16) FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8) 6 SWC | 295 Points Open in Infinity Army
Awesome, this is super helpful. One thing I've been struggling with in army building is deciding what should go in my "main" combat group and what should not. Obviously it will vary from list to list, but are there any guidelines or rules you use to make that decision?
I typically go with my Doctor and/or Engineer, a pool of REMs, and either a secondary midfield Specialist and a light-weight combat unit. For NCA, this is commonly: Hexa MULTI Sniper Auxilia FO Fugazi Fugazi Fugazi Trauma Doc w/ Palbot This gives a decent pool of Orders if you need the Doc to heal your Group 1 Heavy Hitter, but also allows combat opportunity with the Auxbot's Heavy Flamethrower or some Hexa TO Sniper fire. For VIRD: Zulu Cobra Jammer Echo Bravo / Crocman Fugazi Fugazi Mule Mule Trauma Doc W/ Palbot For Acon: Naga KHD Peacemaker or Akalis Fugazi Fugazi Fugazi Trauma Doc w/ Palbot In all cases, it provides opportunity for either healing support, light button pushing, or light combat. Always 5+ Regular Orders.
@barakiel has it covered mostly above. I lean into putting "surprise" TO units into Group 2, so their presence is harder to figure out. So a Swiss Guard (which deserves all 10 orders from a full Group) would go into Group 1, while a Hexa Sniper or KHD would go into Group 2. I'm a big believer in making sure that the secondary Group has at least one backup attack piece (a Bulleteer Spitfire is usually a good choice here) and at least one Specialist (either Trauma Doc, or Machinist and Pathfinder). I also love running 4 Remotes with Sniffers (3 Fugazi and a Pathfinder often) so I can coordinated order mass-deploy Sniffers and then sweep the entire midfield clear of Camo and Hidden Deployment with one activation of Sensor. This move has won me more than one game (especially against Ariadna, JSA or Shasvastii). But remember that having a second group exposes you to having two orders cut from your pool if you go first (due to Strategic Use of Command Tokens) so if that group isn't worth the loss of two orders then you should ditch it and upgrade stuff in Group 1 to go with a Limited Insertion 10-order force. NCA can be good at that too.
Looking at the rules for Command Tokens, I don't see anything that says my opponent can't use a token to take two of my orders if I only have one combat group. Am I missing something?