So this is a bit of thinking into print. So this is mostly a meandering exploration of thoughts on a subject and see where it takes me. Note, I will not shed the slightest tear along the lines of sectorials. :/ I doubt any of this is really breaking any new ground. I'm focused just on the light/medium infantry. ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 4 1 HAFZA Heavy Rocket Launcher / Assault Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 17) SEKBAN Heavy Rocket Launcher, Chain-colt(+1B) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 21) KAPLAN Heavy Rocket Launcher, Light Shotgun / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 23) MUYIB (Tactical Awareness, X Visor) Heavy Rocket Launcher, D-Charges ( ) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 25) 6 SWC | 86 Points Open in Infinity Army Hafza: I'm a bit angry about this one, since the assault pistol used to be on a different unit. But I guess I can't be upset because this gives the model a solid close up attack ability. Since Hafza's tend to be in disguise it can be quite common that a opposing model may get quite close without realizing. Otherwise this is a super cheap unit that can be a surprise. Like once. Then you'll want to retire it from the list entirely, as doing "reps" with a list will just make it obvious. Otherwise I tend to disguise them as closer ranged fighters to allow them to feel overconfident. Sekban: The one that used to have an assault pistol Now it only has the disappointing chain colt. At least there's a regular pistol in case I need to roll a die. On the up side there is quite the increase in the actual stat line. More armor, more BTS, a bump in BS value. 360 visor makes it a useful guard piece for things that try to arrive unexpectedly in a rear area. The NCO ability is attractive, but to date hasn't really gotten used much. Oddly I feel it would be more useful if I had more and different NCO models to spend that lieutenant order on. It's still on the cheap-ish side though and at least makes try-outs. The chain colt is always nice as the mimetism-6 pokes around a corner though and I'm going to die anyhow. Also they are the only Veteran/Elite classified troop in this post. Might be important for a classified. Kaplan: This is a big step up in cost from the Hafza and loses the 'surprise' option, while being a tiny step up in cost from the Sekban. But gains the improved functionality of the light shotgun over the chain colt. The big loss would be no NCO and thus potentially 'losing' an order. So far, I find Mimetism to be a worthwhile trade off. Muyib: The most expensive of the lot. Naturally this makes it 'better' than the rest. ;) First off the x-visor helps out with long range shots by removing the penalty range bands. This probably makes it the best ARO piece out of the lot. Tactical Awareness would be a direct upgrade over NCO. Where they are weakest at is once a more close quarter battle develops. With a regular pistol their best hope is to hold out for your next turn, not be much of a threat in and of themselves. Unlike the shotgun or chain colt equipped brethren, which is a considerable ding on them in the context of my vanilla play. Well, that's it for now. I may have some edits work their way in.
For some reason the khawarij pays only 1swc for its HRL. Same BS and bioimm 3bts as muyib. But is 30pts. Lose tac aware and xvisor but get super-jump, bs attack(+1dam), light shotgun in near range and is brutal in CC.
They're all "fireteam units" - designed to go in fireteams, and just inherited from the sectorials by Vanilla. I can't imagine any of them being worth taking outside a fireteam. Maybe the Hafza for the surprise factor. For a solo HRL ARO, I'd say they're all eclipsed by the Nadhir Flammenspeer or even the Shujae Flammenspeer.
As a mainly Vanilla player I have to say, that from all of those HRL guys I only used Hafza in N4 and was rather happy with his performances. He's very cheap, can be a little surprise for the enemy and make a nice ARO with the help of Daylamis, Nadhir et cetera. I like him. Never tried Sekban outside of a Fireteam. His stats look nice, especially high BS and 360 visor, yet usually it's hard to put him into the armylist. In times of N3 I used Muyib HRL as an ARO piece from time to time, but then he was one of the cheapest options. Now I'm not sure if using +8 pts over a Hafza makes sense - it's a cost of another Daylami ;) PozdRawiam / Greetings
The ones I gravitate to in Vanilla is the Sekban and the Khawarij. The Sekban is so cheap and while it is sad that it lost the Assault pistol, the chain colt does allow it to trade and intuitive attack. The SWC saving on the Khawarij gives it some use as I pack my vanilla full of SWC. Plus super-jumping a DAM 15 blast can sometimes be worth it.
Hafza works for free. Even if you don't take him the opponent has to plan for any S2 model having HRL ARO out of the blue.
Hafza HRL disguised as a "badly deployed" Odalisque with Boarding Shotgun was my favorite trick in QK. It's still useful in Vanilla.
