Let's discuss the mission Hunting Party and JSA I have an upcoming tournament - the narrative uprising tournament to be specific and the last mission is hunting party. Our faction seems to be allergic to this mission. Hardly any of our troopers get the free adhesive launcher, we have no "Veteran" (skill or troop type), and we have no "good" cheerleader LT. Let's start with who actually gets the free piece of equipment: - Daiyokai - Shikami - Oniwaban The Yokai is an okay take for this mission, he can make good use of the launcher in a harris and just overall has good BS. Although, with the expectation that the opponent will take more E/M or assault hackers - he becomes a little less useful. The Shikami is kind of a double edged sword. He's great at getting to an enemy LT and glueing him, but being a specialist he kind of has a huge target on his back. Being susceptible to the IMM-2 from E/M hurts him too. The Oni is probably the best choice here. he can hunt an enemy LT well and has the benefit of negative mods AND surprise shot. So who can actually score this mission? (Everyone has a stun pistol, I know. Flash Pulses also sort of work but lets just ignore that for now) - Domaru - Yuriko Oda - any Assault Hacker - Tanko The Domaru are probably our star players for this mission (as they are in most missions). Packing E/M grenades means spec fire fun and with an E/M CCW they have multiple way of isolating specialists and rooftop LTs. Though, they are very vulnerable to E/M themselves. Yuriko is a very good pick! with the ability to strip off Isolation and IMM she's invaluable. Rocking the E-Mitter she can also score this mission. She's quite the package for this mission bundled in a Domaru, Keisotsu link. Just be careful though, she doesn't have a Cube and being a specialist she's a target. Our assault hackers kind of suck. They're either very expensive (the ninja) or are more of a burden in this mission (aragoto). Tankos are so-so. They pack a wallop in the form of the Blitzen, but it has very limited ammo and chances are your opponent isn't exposing their specialists/LTs in such away where the Blitzen is the weapon of choice to IMM or Isolate them. Perhaps synergizing with a baggage bot they can get more mileage. My first impressions are to take minimal specialists, maybe just a ninja killer hacker to connect the console and an engineer or two. It seems to me the only way to play this mission is to try and maximize your Domaru usage. Mostly forgo the hopes of using an adhesive launcher to score the mission, perhaps just take an Oni for that, then take the Domaru Tanko core. The mixed core of keisotsu and a Domaru is an alright choice, I must admit I'm not entirely sold on it yet though. The biggest issue here is choosing an LT. none of our LTs are particularly safe, unless you opt for the keisotsu, which I almost never do but might have to. What are your thoughts? how would you build a list for hunting party?
I think you're right, domaru are the sweet spot. Just bring an engineer with helper to keep them moving. I'd bring aragatos and firepower. Down the enemy using the guns you're familiar with then turn 2 or 3 use aragoto to isolate the unconscious models worth bagging. Only exception to this is lt, so maybe assault ninja for that but probably oniwanban with stun pistol. Neko is a good pick with his superior bts. The o-yoi is tempting. It will probably be focused down but that's one non specialist that is extra hardy vs the free weapons opponents will try to use.
My plan is double Oniwaban, Neko LT with Keisotsu for maxed link bonuses, and then play the scenario situationally. Let the Oniwaban do some gluing to open the game up, while the rest of the list turtles behind a wall of cheap bodies and Ryuken-9 SMG minelayers. If the opportunity opens, run Neko + team up in Turn 3 for E/M plays. The narrative version lets you upgrade a unit of your choice to be a Veteran, allowing for that excellent ADHL launcher. Domaru's a good choice here if you're running a linked one for Burst 2.
Engineer with helperbot, definitely. Maybe 2 (engineers, I mean, each with a helperbot). Gotta deal with the glue and EM somehow. I'd still try to push the Shikami, Oniwaban, and a couple Ninjas. Plus Ryuken-9, promoted to Veterans.
Ryuken seem like the go-to for the promotion. ODD displaces B1 on the ADHL to where its worth it to do in active turn - especially with your X-visor. I think B2 E/M grenades on the domaru link are good enough. I'm still on the fence about the Shikami, but It could be really worthwhile. I'm still torn on an LT sadly. Domaru just feels bad because you KNOW he's going to be scored on one way or another.
No question the Ryuken-9's a good upgrade for Veteran, though it paints an even bigger target on them. I honestly haven't used Domaru that much, and I don't really plan to, but the ADHL helps them out a lot since most of their weaponry is inherently so limited and short-range. I think even tossing E/M grenades for Immobization is really optimistic. If you're in a position to attempt that on an enemy LT, you've probably assumed such dominant control of the game that you're really just seeking to maximize points. I like it a lot that the Oniwaban gets an ADHL... He's so hard to hunt early-game, you can rely on having him around when you really need him, and of course he can maximize advantageous positioning to use that Burst 1 weapon. You can even use that free Stun Pistol in CC if necessary, very good in the last Turn so your opponent never has a chance to clear the condition. Special mention to Blitzens in this mission, by the way. Not a very common item, but they're such a staggeringly good tool.
Made similar list with a Shikami for the extra "go get the perched LT" opportunity. 100% agree, Neko with the ADHL makes him a scary prospect.
