PanO Vanilla

I can't speak for others, but I simply started as a sectorial player, and have been focusing on sectorials ever since. I like their greater focus and cohesive themes. Vanilla factions are too amorphous for me, and this isn't limited to PanO.

 

Because vanilla PanO compared to all other factions vanillas is severely limited, has very narrow design space, tons of overlapping units and no special lists archetypes/synergies ? (except for Joan circus)

Funny enough most variance you get is among cheap cheerleaders, a thing while being nice is only supplementary to PanO strategies and doesn't allow to dictate the game.


tldr; PanO cannot cheat vanilla like some factions by bringing a Harris or single man Firteams to the table, mix-max highly effective warbands units together or with other supremacy units (interventor with Morlocks), not have some very optimized mercs available (Raul, doggos etc.).

 

PanO focuses on shooting to the detriment of other areas. It's a matter of capitalizing on strengths vs trying to shore up weaknesse and certain sectorials actually do both. NCA and SAA have access to better hackers and NCA has access to one of the better drop troops in the game and SAA some great infiltrators. Ava also opens up certain units like the Zulu cobras. Vanilla often winds up being a TAG or Joan sectorial because that's what you can capitalize on with vanilla.

 

Love PanO Vanilla since Varuna.

But look at the options. There's just too many for a sane person. You honestly can forget about 80% of the choices you have out of the door and only cherrypick the absolute best and still end up with about a full blown Sectorial worth of completely viable options with no duds.
Imho PanO Vanilla is the best place in the game to run the best TAGs in the game with the best support options for a TAG in the game.
Or maybe build around Aquila/Swiss + Joan V2 in group 2 instead. If you're doing neither of those two oddly specific things, PanO has nothing special to offer and you're better off playing the same concept somewhere else with Smoke, Warbands, cheap Camo etc.

 

So, you aren't wrong that (due to the fact that we have no way to advance except eliminating enemy AROs in F2F) Fireteams synergise well with our "shoot it 'till it's dead" approach.

Of course, we have some solo pieces which (situationally) can achieve the same kind of dominance without a Fireteam (Swiss Guard and Cutter being great examples).

I've run a lot of Vanilla myself, and have come to appreciate the combinations which it allows (Auxilia, and Regulars, and Krakot) while also seeing the point which others make (that other Vanilla forces combine elements even better).

In the end our lack of the very things which define us as a faction are the things which other Factions lean into for their Vanilla lists, and that ends up making running PanOceania as a Vanilla list harder (and narrower) than it may first appear.

 

Feature creep probably hurt a bit too. Like there was a point in time when the Nisse was up there in terms of difficult and scary to deal with ARO piece, and then link teams and other ARO defensive units started getting better and better and made it pale in comparison to shit like the Kamau.

Wildcards and more mixed links in general also improving sectorial flexibility definitely lowers the value of Vanilla Pan-O in comparison also.

 

It doesnt help that there are like 3 other models that act similar to the Nisse nowadays.

 

It's rare when you are building a list for vanilla Pano to not at the end look at it at and say "why am I not just play X sectorial", then tweak the list to work in that sectorial.

Unlike other sectorials where you build a list and go "This would just be better if it were vanilla"

EDIT: That being said since the release of SWF and VIRD there may be some interesting and effective builds in vanilla.

 

IMO with VIRD and SWF releases we have an effective vanilla faction. For example this list, it's polyvalent, has tools, a decent ARO and punch.

PanO
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

GROUP 1 8 2 1
KRAKOT RENEGADE 2 Chain Rifles, Grenades / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 14)
ZULU-COBRA (Sensor) Combi Rifle, Jammer / Assault Pistol, Knife. (0 | 29)
NØKK Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Light Shotgun / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 30)
KNIGHT OF SANTIAGO (Specialist Operative) Spitfire, Nanopulser, E/M Grenades, D-Charges / Pistol, DA CCW. (1.5 | 43)
NISSE HMG / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 34)
JOAN OF ARC Lieutenant MULTI Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, AP CCW. (+1 | 49)
AUXILIA (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle + AUXBOT_1 / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15)
AUXBOT_1 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (- | 4)
TRAUMA-DOC Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14)
PALBOT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
WARCOR (360º Visor) Flash Pulse / Stun Pistol, Knife. (0 | 3)
HELOT MILITIAMAN Submachine Gun, Light Rocket Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 9)

GROUP 2 2
SIERRA DRONBOT HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 25)
KAMAU (Multispectral Visor L2) MULTI Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 32)

6 SWC | 300 Points

Open in Infinity Army

 

Vanilla can do a bunch of things the other Sectorials can't.
Namely combine defensive layers and options with the big nasty stuff.

CC options for anything except MO (Krakots/Joan), NCA doesn't really get mobility Skills (C+/Superjump), SAA doesn't have MSV2 or TO AROs, Varuna is short on tough frontline options that can take a hit.
Vanilla benefits from access to all the available tools their respective home Sectorials get on top of a couple useful Mercs.
Being able to mix and match Krakot, Minelayer Sensor Regular, FO Auxilia, Zulu Cobras, Echo Bravo, Hexa (MSR), Helot, Nokken, Vargar and Karhu to cover all bases is very nice.

 

Karhu is a nice combat specialist that SWF just gave us
REM spam is a thing and having a repair men that can go fight later is really nice
I don't see any use for the nokken tho why would I pick him cover any other camo marker skirmisher we can have ?

 

Same reason you would take him in SWF, minelayer and KHD with some fight. Let's the hexa be a sniper or spitfire.

 

I think the Nokken is a good unit, especially the FO profile, the Minelayer is also pretty good. But why would you take a KHD? It just seems like a death wish, movie up the field without marker state is just inviting another KHD to fry him.

 

You work with what you've got. Sval doesnt have much hacking game.

 

@Brokenwolf : to go back to your original question : I play pano vanilla only

The advantage I see in Vanilla :
- diversity of TO (hexa, swiss, croc man) make for a very good mid-table game (combined with Zulu cobra/Nokken) and insane "surprise" defense
- access to Joan and cheap order (plus the Monstrucker is pano best engineer)
- variety of TAG (all of them useful) is quite a selling point to me.
- good utilities (regular sensor, helot...) from multiple sectorial

Having fireteam and higher AVA is not enough to upset that for me

 

Khd let's you use cybermask for a marker state.

 

Bait, you use him as bait. if they want to reveal their camo hackers to nail him aro it's their funeral you have the burst advantage and it's basically a free discover. They want to fry him in their active? cool you now know where their khd is providing it survives you can go mop it up later.

 

Bonus if you get to tag him with a gun while redrum. I want to run some croc men now. Stupid covid.