Vanilla Nomads. A noob seeking for guidance

hey man, welcome to the hobby. glad you're taking the leap. while we don't have N4 yet, that doesn't necessarily mean now isn't a good time to jump in. but you're right, some of the stat changes might make some units more or less popular. so take what i'm saying with a grain of salt.

without stacking the list up against a specific scenario, it's hard to really rate it. individually, each of these models has their place in different lists. i think the problem of trying to have one list that does everything is that it doesn't specialize in the one thing you need to be good at for specific missions, whether that be killing army points, blowing up boxes/antennae, controlling zones, and flipping buttons.

that said, there are some decent button pushers on your list. i think in terms of overall area denial, you have a lot of minelayers, which certainly helps, as do the crazy koalas. some good repeater coverage between the remotes and the Moran.

on the other hand, there aren't too many multi-wound models in the list, so one bad roll is generally lights out for your soldiers. no heavy infantry either. Kriza, SWAST, Hollowmen, Riot Grrls, and even the much maligned Mobile Brigada bring a resiliency that the Intruder HMG doesn't have. While they don't have the smoke/visor/camo tricks, you do want at least one option for a mulligan against unlucky rolls and shock ammo. higher than 3 armor value is also a nice option to plant in suppression behind partial cover in midfield to bait your opponent to spend orders dislodging. BTS is also invaluable against opponents with viral and other exotic ammo. and since many of the models on your list are fragile, you definitely want the option of Daktaris and Clockmakers to stand them back up after they fair a saving throw.

while i like the puppet masters, they are occasionally controversial because the puppet master is basically a sitting duck. it's a good option to sneak a fireteam into vanilla, though. but in your current list, you only have 8 regular orders to feed it. you'd probably benefit from having more regular orders, perhaps by switching the sin-eater and liberto. likewise, the sin-eater is also often criticized. given it's point cost and relatively low armor value for a piece designed for ARO, it can be fragile for the role it was built for. to be honest, you'll probably get more value out of the liberto for a third of the cost.

in terms of first purchases, i think these are all viable choices, but based on boxes you'll be buying more than you have on your list. if i recall correctly, jaguars are a box of four, morlocks are a box of four or have one included in the Bakunin starter pack, stempler/transductor zonds are from the same box, so you'll need two nomad zonds boxes to field three models, and hellcats also come in a blister of two unless you want the Corregidor starter or Beyond Icestorm box (i'd recommend Beyond Icestorm out of the three, as the intruder sniper and kriza are good pieces, even though kriza Mk. 12 is less good than HMG. but that's why proxying exists). you can get single interventor blisters if you buy the old sculpts, but the new ones are better and come with the fastpandas if you want them.

 

The main thing I would change would be to have another profile useful in your active turn in CG2. You might have some wasted orders there

 

move Either hellcat or the intruder into group 2.

4-5 orders through a hellcat thats dropped in on the opponent's side of the table is more than enough most of the time, especially if you use the BSG to delete a fire team. though swap him with the interventor so popping the +3 to jump doesn't drain that pool if it's needed.

The intruder also doesn't need a huge amount of orders as all he is doing is hiding out in the FD zone knock down anything your opponent leaves hanging out then re camo.

 

One thing I would change is putting a doctor in.

The Sin-Eater cost a lot of order to bring down
The intruder is your main offensive firepower

Being able to heal one or both of them is a huge boon.

I would remove the stempler to put the doctor and a servant instead

 

In Nomads the Doctors are very very important, you must put in almost one to try heal your best troops ( Nomads are very easy to kill)

The Sin-Eater cost a lot of order to bring down
The intruder is your main offensive firepower

This two things are tottally subjective, any player with a minimun skill can kill your sin eater easy if have the necesary piece ( like any troop with visor1 or +, or a TO/ODD with a good CD+Range...) The intruder in the new meta lose weight in Nomads list, Yes he have the smoke, camo, combo, yes he have the only visor2 in all faction, but...at this moments the are better troops in Nomads for the role "offensive firepower" : Kriza Borak, Taskmaster, Hollows... and the allwais usefull Spektrs, Paratroopers, prowlers... well i want to say, Nomads dont have a offensive masterpiece like other factions, have a lot of good options to attack spearhead...but no one is totally efective for all.

For Me, the musts today in vanilla: Zoe&Pi-Well, Maryproblems, Puppetmaster (whit 3 puppets, two of them bs/specialist) Taskmaster ( Redfury, Lt or Not) Jaguars, almost 2 or Morlocks 2 or 3 instead) almost 1 Zero ( minelayer or hacker) a Bandit with adhl, Tomcat Doctor ( because do the same a Daktari and can Kills a lot of people starting in a good position) as you see, dont have a lot of heavy weapons, but really dont need if you know use your tools to kill everyone and do the mission at same time. You can change any pieces of this list like Hellcat Bs or Spitfire instead tomcat, o Kriza instead puppetmaster or Taskmaster, and gain firepower...can change bandit for a Zondnautica...and No use Total reaktion, or Sin Eater or Intruder because all rival players wait for it...