In a couple of weeks or so, I will have my league game ( Acquisition ) vs USAriadna. The whole league it is set having a restriction of max 15 orders, where this mission in particular will grant one specialist operative with 12 XP point cap bonus. Never plaied against that army before, so not sure what to expect. I am start looking around trying understanding the kind of game play they can come up with. So far does seems to me as the army it is strong of cheap units, camo, AD units ( Wolves included ) and heavy weapons, with high PH and ARM values. Where on the other hand does have a lack of hackers all around, the BTS value all in all it is not the best and pretty much the same could be said also for the BS. So far trying to modify the list I am currently testing, I came up with this 15 Units - League ────────────────────────────────────────────────── GROUP 1 9 1 1 DAKTARI Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14) LUPE BALBOA Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Panzerfaust, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, CCW. (0 | 23) WILDCAT Heavy Rocket Launcher / Assault Pistol, Knife. (2 | 20) WILDCAT Lieutenant Combi Rifle + Light Flamethrower, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 19) WILDCAT (Number 2) Combi Rifle + Light Flamethrower, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 20) ALGUACIL Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10) ALGUACIL (Infinity Spec-Ops) (12 XP) (WIP:15, BTS:3, Engineer) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife, D-Charges. (0 | 11) LUNOKHOD Heavy Shotgun, Heavy Flamethrower, D-Charges, CrazyKoalas (2) / Electric Pulse. (0 | 25) LUNOKHOD Heavy Shotgun, Heavy Flamethrower, D-Charges, CrazyKoalas (2) / Electric Pulse. (0 | 25) McMURROUGH 2 Chain Rifles, Grenades, Smoke Grenades / Templar CCW (AP + DA). (0 | 32) GROUP 2 3 1 INTRUDER HMG, Grenades / Pistol, CCW. (1.5 | 42) JAGUAR Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 10) MORAN (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, CrazyKoalas (2) / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 22) BANDIT Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Light Shotgun, Adhesive Launcher / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 25) 4 SWC | 298 Points Open in Infinity Army I am still unsure if making the Spec-Ops the engineer for the army it will be a good value for the points, the idea it is that having a clock maker for 7 points less than the default price, it seems to me as worthy. The KHD Bandit, it is here as the only valuable hacker I can think of, as it will not just be a support piece to the rest of the army, but mostly a middle field piece, ready to size antennas and with the chance trying the glue shoot on any enemy that will try to get too close. The two Lunokhods are here mostly as a deterrent for any AD unit, ideally being divided between defense and middle board deployment, having the possibility of spreading several koalas spread among the board. I do think that will help also in the case some of them might end up shoot down before the time come for them to activate, as having six of those around will not grant that all could be in cover. The idea it is having Moran and Bandit close to the middle of the board from the very beginning, where McMurrough and one of the Lunokhods will close up after them. McMurrough will serve mostly as a distraction, trying to bring as much damage as possible in the opponent side of the table. The fireteam in cover in the DZ and being there to give some cover fire between light flamethrowers and possible discover rolls. I do expect to face a lot of camo, due to this reason the generous spread of template weapons on almost all the units. All in all I can think of it as the ideal plan I would like to bring to the table. That's the reason why I am asking here, to more experienced players than what I could be. Any comment, idea or suggestion, it is really appreciated.
Koalas are actually good against them unless they have a pricey Devil Dog who makes them a joke to clear. The first roadblock most people hit is the inferior infiltrating HFT grunts. Especially if you have first turn and they are deployed well. I'd like to have an AD to drop behind them (counter-counter deploy) and safely clear them out. Moran might be able to work thou because you don't want to advance with him anyways and unlike the Bandit you don't have to get close or waste your token state. That's all I have, our USAr player left the game and gave his army to someone who collects but doesn't play, so I don't have experience past theory.
Beware the Hardcase, it costs them practically nothing to send one in to massacre a sizeable chunk of the list, and then there's two more waiting in the wings to follow it up. Also don't let the 4-2 fool you they are deceptively fast and if you give them any opening they will punish you hard for it. Additionally, don't let them have first turn, because you will lose the better part of your list. also keep in mind that pretty much every model has a template of some description. You need to aggressively sensor them then clear them out, intuitive attacks work well enough as well. Actively hunt the dog and put it down, same goes for the black jack and what ever the main gunner is for the grunt team, unless its snipers then just smoke and ignore. Marauders you torch pretty easily if you get a flamethrower near them.
Things to expect from USA: Van Zant will come from somewhere you don't expect and do some work Marauders can deploy up to 24'/ half board in acquisition Cheap snipers with shock ammo Heavy flamers ready to toast your link team as Loricus mentioned Also note our league changes the extra every round, so there is no tactical window, expect more than 15 units
With a Wildcat core and even 1 lunokhod and Jaguar Correg is a difficult faction to rampage in the dz against, possibly the hardest in the game. Maybe Scotts match.
Infiltrating Grunts makes Wildcats sad. You end up with your MI intermixed with them. +1 on Koalas. Between Infil Grunts, Bikes and VZ they get a lot of work done. However, don't lean to heavily into them because between Foxtrots and Infil Grunts a lot of the board can be closed off to them. You need a Shock Immune gun. Their 'hard' AROs are largely Grunt Snipers (Shock) or T2. This makes Intruders sad if you need to open a fire lane. Fireteams have bulk HFTs, so be prepared to fight them from outside template range. IE Bandits, BSG Hellcats and even McMurder are more difficult to use. They rarely take Hackers and no KHDs, but Blackjacks are Hackable. Jazz will do well, and doesn't need SSL2 for anything. Watch out of Spec Fire. Foxtrots + Muls make this a viable option for your opponent to clear hard AROs. It's Aquisition, so I'd look at a HI Lt to take/hold the central objective T3 if required. Alg Engineer Spec Ops is PERFECT to pair with linked Tsyklons.
When playing competitive US Ariadna: -there will be 1-2 devil dog down your throat. - infiltrating heavy flamethrowers - walking van zant into your deployment zone - shooting you with a 5 man grunt team with a minuteman ap hmg or missile launcher - shooting you with a grunt sniper or 2 - ruining your day with accurate templates from msv1 marauders or mavericks. -blowing you up with traktor mule missles -mining the midfield with foxtrot rangers - and a blackjack t2 sniper guarding the backfield with sub machine gun and chest mine while sniping you from across the board.
If this is for the league I think it is (HATE in London?), then the tactical window limit only applied to the first round, this one just has a spec ops added!
Reading about USAriadna it does sound like the army does have everything you may ask for, short range templates ( even if an HFT it is not such a short range one ), shock snipers, quick flankers with mines, Van Zant ( the more I read about him the more I get the idea it will be a pain to play against him ), and so on. I guess a review from the bottom to the top of the list it is necessary, based on the suggestions I received until there. I do not think the idea was wrong, in the end, still having to manage a large amount of shock and templates might require a different approach from the one I was thinking off. I was mostly concerned regarding a possible camo spam list as something I saw and been reading around a lot. As well as the AD units. Those two factors and Van Zant were the biggest issue I could think off on a first time. Now I can see there is more to that. For the koalas I can only hope to get the first turn in order to get a more aggressive deployment for my infiltrators, trying to reduce a bit the maneuver space of its own. All in all, more than happy I received so many useful info. Thank you all. another H.A.T.E. player here too, indeed. Thanks for the info regarding the league. It will help reviewing the list.
I am pretty sure about that as any army does come with a balance, between strong and weak points. So far getting an idea of what I could expect it is already a good point where to start from, for me.
USARF also have fairly mediocre direct gunfighting ability, you'll be facing a linked Minuteman with APHMG/ML at best, and that's BS13(16 in Fireteam) with no ability to reduce enemy mods and no mods of their own. Bill is technically a better shot but restricted to rifle range bands. Nothing they have can really stand up to a Tsyklon Spitfire with Marksmanship, which also has 360° visor to protect against Van Zant, their lack of MSV2/Minelayer also means they can't protect against enemies advancing into range through smoke, and even if you don't get first turn and they've already laid mines, Morans and Tomcats both have their little Minesweeping bots.
When I play my US, I am basically relying on volume of shots and flame throwers to deal with modifiers. I take 3-4 hmgs and light rocket launchers and flame throwers for the templates. So as long as you play around that, you should be ok.
Use smoke and use it well. Don't think an Intruder Sniper is a good ARO piece, because Grunt Snipers are surprisingly nasty.
Don't leave anything you don't want shot with a Coordinated MMX shot out in the open. Beware the Infiltrating Grunt. Beware Van Zant shenanigans. Beware of dogs. Other than that, they don't have much in the way of really tough infantry, they are all decently armored but lack multiple wounds. There are no great USAriadna gunfighters, relying on BS13 + link bonuses vs all. Camo + Cover knocks them down quickly, just don't stay visible when you are done due to the coordinated snipers above.
