Starting a new thread on one of my favorite sectorals for the new edition. So far, I’ve only played one game of N5 and that was ISS! I lost my game but only by the slimmest of margins against Torchlight. The Wreaker wreaks. Spoiler ────────────────────────────────────────────────── GROUP 1 10 ADIL CRANE RANK (Lieutenant) AP Spitfire, Nanopulser, Disco Baller / Heavy Pistol, Monofilament CC Weapon, PARA CC Weapon(-6). (1.5 | 49) BOUNTY HUNTER Spitfire / Boarding Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-6). (1 | 21) BÀO TROOP MULTI Sniper Rifle, Flash Pulse / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 27) BÀO TROOP Submachine Gun, Heavy Riotstopper, Flash Pulse / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 17) SOPHOTECT Combi Rifle, Pulzar, D-Charges, Armed Turret(Mk12) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 34) WÚ MÍNG Boarding Shotgun ( | TinBot: Firewall [-6]) / Boarding Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 22) PHEASANT IMPERIAL AGENT (Minelayer) Boarding Shotgun, E/Mitter, Madtraps / Breaker Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-6). (0 | 23) ZHÀNYING (Hacker, Hacking Device) Breaker Combi Rifle, D-Charges ( ) / Boarding Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-6). (0.5 | 25) KǍNRÈN (Hacker, Hacking Device [UPGRADE: Cybermask]) Submachine Gun, D-Charges ( ) / Boarding Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 25) KǍNRÈN (Hacker, Hacking Device [UPGRADE: Cybermask]) Submachine Gun, D-Charges ( ) / Boarding Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 25) GROUP 2 2 1 WÈIBĪNG Yaókòng (Tactical Awareness) Combi Rifle, Flash Pulse / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 17) PANGGULING (Hacker, EVO Hacking Device) ( ) / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0.5 | 14) 6 SWC | 299 Points Open in Infinity Army I think the changes that have happened so far are already good and now I’m really looking forward to the update. I’m hoping we get to keep the 2 haris options but now I’m not sure they are needed. I tried out a few duos in my first game and they were pretty good. Some duos that have great combos: Wu Ming Tinbot + Zhanying hacker. This was already available before, but I don’t think anyone used it. Now, I think we are going to see more of this. Also, now the Pheasant can also be with the team. Adil + ABH. Adil counts as an ABH! This gives him a good cheap link troop to give him the +1SD. He also counts as a Crane but for my tastes that gets too expensive. As of now, I see no reason to take a Crane over Adil. Bao + Bao. Bao, I think, received a good change. Albedo -3 is nice and, now Biovisors do what it should. The cheaper SMG or Lt. Shotgun with Heavy Riotstopper is great too. Sadly in my first game with them my opponent got a lucky crit in ARO against my Bao with his Vidoc sniper but that will not deter me from doing them again. Also, due to the cheaper Bao, it’s easier to make a haris who then get another +3 to discover. With their MSV2, Wip14, they auto discover any camo troop. Other troops I used in the game: Sophie is now worth her points. I still don’t like having the doctor and engineer in one troop and hope we get more. She now has Imm Shock so a little more chance she can heal herself in NWI. I used the turrets in my first game, and they were cool. I also got the speed ball that re-supplied them. I was able to get out 3 turrets in the game. I wanted to try the cover but didn’t have a chance. The turrets are cool, but they are fairly easy to take out with only BS10. One of them did actually take down a Silverstar in the game. I think they are useful in Area Control games but don’t depend on them winning the game for you. Orders are still needed to put them on the board. I was surprised in my first game when I looked at my sheet and found that Pheasants now have Strategic Deployment. I initially had him on his own but because of that I added him to my Wu Ming + Zhanying duo to make a haris. Unfortunately, SD requires him to be in a team to take advantage of it. I’m not sure SD is appropriate for a Pheasant but it’s not a bad skill. As of now, I’m not sure who to team up with to take advantage of it. I think it’s going to depend on the mission to use it. Since the whole team gets it at deployment, I can have him stay in the back and have the rest of the team forward. This might be useful with the Wu Ming. Wu Ming I think have also been made better. Yes, they are only 4-4 move, but I think that’s appropriate for them. The pts. decrease is great. Again, Zhanying count as WM and you can easily make a haris of them, giving ZY with Sensor a further +3 to discover. The AP HMG is going to be used a LOT for me. I think my GoTo will be APHMG+BSG Tinbot+Zhanying Hacker. I used Kanren in this first N5 game. I’m sad for the loss of Holoechoes. The Mim -6 is great, but I liked being able to set off mines with echoes. Decoy (2) is not bad for gong second survivability. Cybermask nice, I didn’t have the occasion to use it though. I’m also disappointed they didn’t get more Madtraps, and the one that does have them is not a specialist and not a good gun. His only job is to put out two Madtraps and is unlikely to be re-supplied with them unless you use Speedball. One Karen caused a lot of trouble for my opponents Wreaker but I just couldn’t get through that BTS9. They are still one of our two forward deployable specialists though and better get used to them. Edit: Now that I re-read the Decoy rule, I realize how good Decoy (2) is. The Decoys will have mim-6 and any cover to any shooting or discovering. It's as good as camo since the opponent needs to choose one of three to discover or split burst amongst three, if it can see all three. No one actually discovers them when they can just be shot at though. Troops I didn’t use but want to talk about anyway. We now have two Ninja to choose from and the Kunai is pretty good now. I haven’t used it yet but the T2 Thunderbolt and AP+Shock Marksman Rifle look great. The good ranges on both of them make up for the lack of forward deployment ability. The BS12 increase also helps a lot. I personally still can’t see using Sun Tze. Again. For that price I really want a troop that’s useful through the whole game. Not just for the Lt. roll, deployment, and the use of the Lt. order. The extra Command Token is ok but I still find myself not using all my Command Tokens in a game. In my one game, I used one for Speedball, two for moving troops to a group and didn’t use the last one. Being able to use his Stratego Lt. order is offset by the fact that I could have spent his points he costs on cheaper troops getting an order anyway. The Counter intel is nice but it’s also on the much cheaper Tao Wu and I think he’s useful as a distraction. Su Jian. I’m looking forward to a duo of them! Yes I know the HSG lost the template but I almost never used it anyway. I liked getting into +6 range. Also, it gained a Thunderbolt. I think it’s a positive. In a duo it’s going to be burst 3+1SD and has a better far ranges than Spitfire or Panzer.
I think one thing to consider with the Pheasant is that since it can go into a few different team configurations, you can use it opportunistically. If there’s a perfect sniper tower juuuust outside your DZ and you brought a bao duo, make it a haris with the pheasant to get your sniper into position at deployment. If you see a spot to put your Adil+BH duo or Crane duo a little outside your DZ, the Pheasant can see them to their starting positions. Once you start spending orders, there’s no obligation to keep the Pheasant in the team and they can leave it behind by your DZ. Being able to FD place your minelayer madtrap isn’t a bad perk either. If no such opportunity exists, have a backup role in mind and default to that. You won’t need to decide until you know turn order and perform deployment.
I played a game again last night with ISS. Unfortunately we didn't get to finish the game. We played Countermeasures. So far I'm on the fence about the new Kanren. I took a FO and Hacker. The really short ranged weapons really hurt me. I had all this time to shoot down Sheskin with the hacker but just couldn't hit with starting in -3 range, then 0, and by the time in +3 she ate it for lunch. So next I guess I'll try the KHD with a combi. Just need to figure out how to get 2pts more. Or go back to using KHD Ninja. I really could have used that good CC they used to have with the monofilament! I'll keep trying them though. 2 games is not a good test amount. What I loved however is the Wu Ming APHMG! I had a haris team of that plus Zhanying hacker and WM tinbot -6. I moved up the team to try to get card objectives but that also gave me a good place to take down an Overdron HRMC! Fortunately when it was his turn he had horrible roles trying to bring it back. First a fail, then command token to re-roll three times! and then finally killed it himself! Unfortunately the WM was oblivioned but it did very well. Oh the reduction of WIP 12 sucked. I missed a +3 wip roll on an HVT because of that! I rolled a 16. Previously would have made it.
Something I didn't notice before! Man I keep finding new things. But Celestials got a Multi-Marksman rifle. For 17pts. it's not bad. It's not to expensive to have more than one even. CELESTIAL GUARD MULTI Marksman Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 17) CELESTIAL GUARD (Hacker, Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Light Riotstopper ( ) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 18) TÁOWÙ Contender, Pulzar, Flash Pulse / Viral Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-9). (0 | 18) 0.5 SWC | 53 Points Open in Infinity Army CELESTIAL GUARD MULTI Marksman Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 17) CELESTIAL GUARD MULTI Marksman Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 17) DEVA (Hacker, Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Nanopulser ( ) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 25) 0.5 SWC | 59 Points Open in Infinity Army CELESTIAL GUARD MULTI Marksman Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 17) CELESTIAL GUARD MULTI Marksman Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 17) CELESTIAL GUARD (Hacker, Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Light Riotstopper ( ) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 18) DAKINI Heavy Machine Gun / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (1 | 21) DAKINI (Paramedic) Combi Rifle ( | MediKit) / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 15) 1.5 SWC | 88 Points Open in Infinity Army
Did you had a chance to use the boarding pistol on the Wu-Ming? On paper I really love the addition of DTW to all profiles, but how useful is that in an actual game?
I agree with you on the Kanren changes. I really do miss those holos, but it has made me add Sforza holo into the list a few times. The Kanren have done a good job burning orders on turn one when going second, but I do think my opponents will catch on soon enough when I keep saying 'no ARO'. I have been enjoying Sforza and a ninja HD/KHD combo though to cover the same sort of role as the Kanren. Kuang Shi losing dogged is a bit of a shame too, it does limit their ability to push forward on active. I didn't mind losing their order if i'd managed two rounds of chain rifle templates because that would usually be trading upwards, or at least inflicting more than 1 wound, but with only getting one round of templates before they go down there's a good chance the opponent will dodge or survive. I find the Pheasant tough to jam into a fireteam that actually wants to be further up the board, and I'm not keen on pushing a 1W CoC into midfield on deployment. I used to like them in the dakini haris, but they're not allowed anymore. The duo options are great though now. I like Miranda + BH, and CSU+CSU, and the WM +zhanying is a nice haris.
I’m having the same problems with using the Pheasant’s Strategic Deployment but mostly for ISS. In ISS, they can only join a Wu Ming or Zian team. There’s not many teams I’d want to do it with all the time but it’s nice for Area Control missions to have troops already in the area without spending orders. I also don’t want my CoC troop to be that far forward as well but what you can do is have him in the back, and the rest of the troop forward. He’s a lead from the back kind of guy lol. Also I don’t mind if they move forward and leave him behind. In Vanilla however, he can duo with a Su Jian! A Su Jian that can already be 4” outside deployment and then gets a full run! Look at all the troops he can do this with, Guijia, Blue Wolf, Shaolin. Again, you just deploy with them being the 4” extra and leave the Pheasant behind. Edit. I just hope no one using Onyx catches on to this. Norkias can join a Rodok duo/haris with this rule. He's a nightmare as it is.
