Qiang Gao as Lt L2 in IA

I have been trying to work him into a list. I think with most profiles in the game its a matter of what we want him to do.

He screams "agressive attack piece" to me. B5 Damg 16 HMG BS16 in a link with two extra orders does not suck if you ask me. Qiang will be good enough solo or in a harris too. On top of that he is only 1 SWC as the Lt.

I usually use the Daoying Hacker Lt. For me its a matter of finding out how to trade out that utility for Gao.

I think Gao give us another way to play IA. To me he is a "side grade" not an upgrade. This is my prefed type of unit implimentation. As it gets rid of the FOTM business.

When I figure out how I would like replace tye utillity of the Daoying lt I'll post it here.

 

Well.. Good luck carrying all the Zuyongs with your Lt inside it.

 

Invincible Army ─────────────────────────────────────────────
GROUP 1 9
QIANG GĀO (Lieutenant L2) HMG, Nanopulser / 2 x Breaker Pistol, Knife. (1 | 43)
HǍIDÀO (Multispectral Visor L2) MULTI Sniper / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 37)
ZHANSHI (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12)
ZHANSHI Hacker (Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 19)
ZHANSHI Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 11)
SON-BAE Yaókòng Missile Launcher / Electric Pulse. (1.5 | 17)
LÉI GŌNG (Chain of Command) Submachine Gun, Nanopulser, Blitzen / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 32)
CHAĪYÌ Yaókòng Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
CHAĪYÌ Yaókòng Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)

GROUP 2 4
TAI SHENG Mk12, Chain-colt, Stun Grenades / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (0 | 45)
ZÚYŎNG (Fireteam: Haris, Tactical Awareness) Combi Rifle + 1 TinBot B (Deflector L2) / 2 Breaker Pistols, Knife. (0.5 | 34)
HǍIDÀO Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Boarding Shotgun / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 26)
PANGGULING (Minesweeper, Repeater) Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)

5 SWC | 300 Points
Open in Infinity Army

I think something like this.

 

The problem I see is that solo he won't do much given the fact a BS 13 HMG with no modifiers or extra burst is not a good gunner to lead and attack nowadays. Therefore you want him in a link, even a Haris will do. But then you need a NCO and there're only two available, so most of the time he will end up paired with Tai Sheng because of his "counts as Zuyong" nature.

So I see him mainly in a haris : Zuyong haris + Tai Sheng + Qiang Gao Lt2.
Yes, he's meant to suppose an alternative to the Daoying Lt2 thus saving up a slot that can be used for the other things, which should be appreciated if you're aiming for an IA single group list. But in the practice you still need a CoC and a hacker. For 4 points Tai Sheng solves the CoC problem but having Lt and CoC in the same link makes it a very juicy target, even if both of them are tough units. So keep in mind that luring power in your battle plans. Lei Gong can also help here but normally the SMR is the prefered option. Going the Hai Dao CoC route just means wasting the slot we tried to save up for a more useful role.

But there's still the need for a hacker unless you are willing to give up on fairy dust. Which is troublesome as there's only three hacker options: Daoying, Zanshi and EVO Pango. If you pick Daoying then you'd better ask yourself why you bothered going with Qiang Gao Lt2. Zanshi hacker means pretty much wasting the slot you wanted to save as he can only do one thing. So you're left with EVO Pango, 6 point more expensive than the Zanshi but can pay off well if you can make good use of all the benefits it can bring to your infowar capacity.

To sum up, he's really limited in design to the point of practically being a sidegrade of the TA HMG. When you try to use him as LT2 then you find you need to cover for the troubles of an obvious Lt and the need of a hacker. Troubles that the Daoying hacker Lt 2 already solved with a single profile.
He would have been far useful if he had been a wildcard. Then he could show up as Lt2 on Zanshi cores or even give a reason to field the Mowang Multi rifle. Something that given his Captain rank should be a must; after all an army Captain commands a full company of infantry, which comprises several squads and their support vehicles. But somehow Gutier finds a nomad hacker bitch is better trained to coordiante with different squads (Jazz is a fucking wildcard) than a veteran high ranked officer of one of the armies in the Sphere with the highest level of discipline and coordination.

 

I mostly agree with @Janzerker , though I'd like to point out that since the last thread on Captain Qiang we've got the amazing Lord of Thunder who brings with him the one thing the captain needed to open-up its list building options: A CoC who doesn't compete with the haidao sniper, and who isn't Taï Sheng.
Lei Gong can sit in a zhanshi team with the haidao sniper and a zhanshi hacker, while Qiang leads a zuyong haris/duo, either draging Taï Sheng with him so she can spend the orders on the team, or with a mowang on the side.

 

I do not see much use in IA for him. You can:

Go with him in a link and push forward after running out of regular orders, breaking the link and reform with CT after that.
But "pushing forward" means your are usualy out of good HMG range.
Fuel a NCO with him. Daoying can do that also and is cheaper and is more useful (Hacker).
Play him alongside Tai oder Mowang in a link. That usualy means you switch him vs TA HMG. For what? DAM +1 and Vet.1.
+5 pts. -0,5 swc ... not sure if that is a good deal.
Play two HMG - him and TA either in one or in two links, this could look like this:

I think his main strenght plays out as a solo piece in that is most useful in vanilla.

 

I could see him replacing the Daoying profile in a list like this.

Invincible Army──────────────────────────────────────────────────10
QIANG GĀO (Lieutenant L2) HMG, Nanopulser / 2 x Breaker Pistol, Knife. (1 | 43)
ZÚYŎNG (Fireteam: Haris, Tactical Awareness) Combi Rifle + 1 TinBot B (Deflector L2) / 2 Breaker Pistols, Knife. (0.5 | 34)
ZÚYǑNG (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle / 2 Breaker Pistols, Knife. (0 | 28)
ZÚYǑNG Missile Launcher, Light Shotgun / 2 Breaker Pistols, Knife. (2 | 36)
HǍIDÀO Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Boarding Shotgun / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 26)
LÉI GŌNG (Chain of Command) Submachine Gun, Nanopulser, Blitzen / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 32)
MÓWÁNG (NCO) Red Fury, Akrylat-Kanone / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (1 | 52)
HÙSÒNG Yaókòng HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 25)
MECH-ENGINEER Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15)
CHAĪYÌ Yaókòng Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8) 5.5 SWC | 299 PointsOpen in Infinity Army

Perhaps not the most competitive list in the world but certainly not bad. The main thing that he brings to the table is ironically that nanopulser of all things. IA has a serious lack of template weapons so between him and Lei Gong we actually have an okay short range game.

 

He can be useful if you do not have enough room in your LI list. For example if you want a Core and a Haris, but also a doctor and an engineer:

Invincible Army
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

10
QIANG GĀO (Lieutenant L2) HMG, Nanopulser / 2 x Breaker Pistol, Knife. (1 | 43)
TAI SHENG (Chain of Command) Mk12, Chain-colt, Stun Grenades / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (0 | 49)
ZÚYŎNG (Fireteam: Haris, Tactical Awareness) Combi Rifle + 1 TinBot B (Deflector L2) / 2 Breaker Pistols, Knife. (0.5 | 34)
HǍIDÀO Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Boarding Shotgun / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 26)
SON-BAE Yaókòng Missile Launcher / Electric Pulse. (1.5 | 17)
YĀN HUǑ (FTO) MULTI HMG / Pistol, Knife. (2 | 53)
ZÚYŎNG (Fireteam: Haris, Tactical Awareness) Combi Rifle + 1 TinBot B (Deflector L2) / 2 Breaker Pistols, Knife. (0.5 | 34)
PANGGULING FTO (Repeater) Light Shotgun / Electric Pulse. (0 | 13)
MECH-ENGINEER Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15)
Zhanshi YĪSHĒNG Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15)

5.5 SWC | 299 Points

Open in Infinity Army

 

I unfortunately think they made him a Lt. simply for fluff reasons. He’s supposed to be the leader in the Defiance game. But Lt.2 doesn’t makes sense because he’s supposed to be charismatic leader. Something like Inspiring Leadership would make more sense. In IA the Irregular to Regular is not needed but the rest of the skill is pretty good. Then just not have the option in Vanilla. Though I'd love it there.

 

He really doesn't look like he has a place in IA. If he were a proper wildcard, he could have actually been solid, but the last thing the Zuyong pain train needs is another basic, expensive fire piece.

In Vanilla, he could be alright. With usable CoC options like Lei Gong and Hawkwood now available, he could make for a decent offensive piece in an aggressive list if you're not wanting to spring for a Daoying and Mowang together. Still a super niche piece, but not unusable.

That said, I'd still kill for Berserk, madtraps, and either a heavy shotgun or multi rifle profile. Because that would actually be something that would help IA's problems.

 

What's funny is, what if he was a Shang Ji instead? He would have actually made a Shang Ji fireteam pretty good.

Invincible Army
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

5
QIANG GĀO HMG, Nanopulser / 2 x Breaker Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 43)
SHÀNG JÍ (Tactical Awareness) Spitfire / Pistol, Shock CCW. (2 | 45)
SHÀNG JÍ (Fireteam: Haris, Tactical Awareness) Combi Rifle + Light Flamethrower + TinBot B (Deflector L2) / Pistol, Shock CCW. (0.5 | 43)
SHÀNG JÍ Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) Combi Rifle + Light Flamethrower / Pistol, Shock CCW. (0.5 | 43)
HǍIDÀO Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Boarding Shotgun / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 26)

4.5 SWC | 200 Points

Open in Infinity Army

 

Still way too expensive.

 

I think CB wants everyone to forget about Shang Ji. They sure have.

 

I agree. But it still makes the Shang Ji better.

 

I think he works fine in a core or haris with a Mowang NCOing it up.

 

I think I'd rather have the Daoying hacker LT2. I mean, you're going to want a basic hacker for Fairy Dust anyway, so you're not saving any SWC by taking Captain Gao.

And I'd rather have the TacWare Zuyong HMG in the link team than the nonLT Captain Gao.

Maybe in vanilla or the Defiance sectorial.

 

I've reworked my base pain train list, replacing zyong hmg for qin dao lt option .
Didn't test it though.
Mainly, because he's jammer immune,and while he's in link it's not so easy to kill him
But without test i cannot say how the list really shows itself, since it's one ta order less

 

He's not immune to jammers and other E/M equipment. They still immobilize-2 him. He just ignores the isolated state.

 

jammers only isolates, so yes he is immune to jammers