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Brawlers 5man link

Discussion in 'Spiral Corps' started by Angry Clown, Feb 11, 2021.

  1. Angry Clown

    Angry Clown Well-Known Member

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    Brawlers is the only available option for spiral to make a standart 5man fireteam for spiral. Unfortunetly it lacks a hitter option to move forward.

    My solution is to give Neema wildcard or simply letting her involved in brawlers link. For me it wont be a game breaker and Will give a fresh look to brawlers. Almost garbage brawlers Will be useful suddenly.

    My other idea is giving NCO to one of the brawlers. This Will help both Neema and brawlers too.
     
  2. Delta57Dash

    Delta57Dash Well-Known Member

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    Tech-ni-cal-ly the Tri-Core gives you a Core link, albeit one with only 3 dudes in it. Though I often see that as an advantage honestly as trying to shepherd 5 people down a firelane can get a bit messy, especially if the opponent has some Circular Template ARO pieces.

    As for gunners to move a Brawler link, you could always take Aelis Keesan (though while she has great weapons her BS of 12 is a bit lacking) or either a Brawler or Taagma Sniper (for the MSV2 and long range). Neema would obviously be a much better gunner, and she'd gain the options of having a cheap Engineer and Hacking Device to help her out.

    Not sure how I'd fit it in a list though. Between the Draal+Tri-Core, Taagma Sniper/Chaksa Defensive Triad, an optional third Kriigel+Reex Defensive Triad, and the plethora of wonderful solo models that Spiral has usually eat the majority of my points. 10-point Chaksa are perfect cheerleaders, while the Helots/Diplomat make for nice, cheap ARO filler. Hmmmmm.

    NCO on a Brawler would be definitely interesting, though I'm not sure the flavor of the Triumvirate using the Brawlers as meatshields would warrant them promoting any human to NCO status. Would let you take a cool HRL Brawler/NCO Brawler/Taagma Sniper Haris or an NCO Brawler/Anaconda Duo though.

    Some cool ideas there, though not sure how well they fit the fluff.
     
  3. colbrook

    colbrook Grenade Delivery Specialist

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    Eh, I get the feeling Brawlers are in Spiral as much for fluff reasons as anything, they're the token humans present to claim that Spiral Corps aren't simply the shadowy face of an alien secret society. Brawlers are generic mercs rather than a particular specific regiment so they represent hired goons who're happy to file a paycheque without asking too many questions and get trotted out as a "beard" for the Triumvirate's nefarious schemes.

    They currently work alright as a defensive team, with a holomasked MSV2 Viral Sniper and cheap HRL options, or as a Haris option with cheap hacker. Tricore Taaghma, Brawler Hacker, and one of the MSV2 snipers in a Haris is pretty flexible and reasonably cheap, with maybe an extra Brawler nearby as refill.

    If you want a Brawler Core to be the backbone of your list there are other NA2s that do it better though.
     
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  4. Delta57Dash

    Delta57Dash Well-Known Member

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    Friendly reminder that Tri-Core Taagma in a Brawler Haris doesn't work, as Tri-Core specifies Fireteam: Triad.

    IMO Brawlers work best in Spiral either as an Engineer to Duo around with an Anaconda or a sidegrade to the Kriigel Triad (No Smoke/Pheromones and slightly more expensive, but tougher, better BS, and can take a Taagma sniper and/or Hacker along).
     
  5. colbrook

    colbrook Grenade Delivery Specialist

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    Whoops, knew I should have double checked that.

    Still, a Sniper+Rifle/LSG+Hacker isn't a terribly expensive Haris and can push up while covering every rangeband and deliver a specialist, even at BS12 a Burst 3 Viral or Multi sniper with an MSV2 is still a decent active turn weapon.
     
  6. Delta57Dash

    Delta57Dash Well-Known Member

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    Oh no it's definitely a cool Haris, it's just SWC heavy in an SWC-starved faction and more expensive than the incredible Sniper + 2 Chaksa link.

    I actually really like Brawlers, but with them only able to team up with Taagma and Aelis they're somewhat awkward to fit in, especially if you're trying to fit in our other staples like a Tri-Core link with a Marksman Draal, Kaeltar, Kiiutan, Clipsos, Igao, Kriigel...

    Even the lists where I try to include them I often end up cutting them to shove more points into solo units. Tis a shame, especially since they got buffed in N4. The Engineer does tag along with the TAG sometimes though.
     
  7. Time Bandit

    Time Bandit Vulnerability (Total)

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    Apologies for the slight necro.

    With the ZoC changes, lsg is now a top-dollar deployment zone defensive weapon when paired with sixth sense. I think this alone might be enough to give Brawlers another look (or in my case a first look).

    Something like this is super simple, gives you a whole lot of defensive sixth sense templates, and two great weapons, one of which can be an aro piece in a pinch.

    Combined with a Draal tricore link you suddenly have three BS15+ decent weapons to play with. Of course with only 1.5swc left you're going to have to be very careful, but it seems like a pretty different way to run Spiral.

    Screenshot 2021-07-22 at 08.58.37.jpg
     
  8. Angry Clown

    Angry Clown Well-Known Member

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    Yep. İt is good enough.
    But my concern is that you cant build a 5 manlink that you can push forward. It can only be defensive.
     
  9. Delta57Dash

    Delta57Dash Well-Known Member

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    The main problem with the Brawler 5-man link is that a Taagma Sniper + 4 default Brawlers is 84 points, where a Haris of a Taagma Sniper + 2 Chaksa FTO is only 44.

    It costs 40 points to give the Taagma Sniper +3 to hit. Considering he will almost certainly die to a HMG or Infiltrator sometime during turn 1 or top of 2, You spend 40 points to add +3 to ~3 FtF rolls.

    The biggest issue with the Brawler Core is what @Angry Clown said: There's no way to add an offensive piece. Neither Brawlers, Taagma, nor Aelis bring a Spitfire or HMG, which means you're stuck either having a max range of 16" or a Burst value of 3 with the fireteam bonus.

    Add on the very nice and versatile Kriigel Special Triad and you've got enough cheap, defensive Triads to make the Brawler Core somewhat obsolete as a defensive option. Without a way to turn it into an offensive option, it unfortunately is something of a dubious choice in Spiral Corps.

    The only model I've ever found to pull its weight is the Engineer as a nice Duo with the Anaconda for quick un-hacking. But with all the hacking in the game right now I usually don't take ANY hackable models, which makes the Engineer somewhat more dubious.
     
  10. Time Bandit

    Time Bandit Vulnerability (Total)

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    "The main problem with the Brawler 5-man link is that a Taagma Sniper + 4 default Brawlers is 84 points, where a Haris of a Taagma Sniper + 2 Chaksa FTO is only 44."

    — Hey Delta, please take this all with a pinch of salt, for I am still new to Spiral... but I feel happy defending the brawlers vs the Chaksas! The Brawlers should give you some fearsome point defence with 6th sense LSGs and an assault pistol, so the Schemer is gonna be very hard to a) pick out of the crowd of five, rather than three, and b) get close enough to assassinate in Turn 1, before they reveal their dastardly schemes and start shooting. He also has more time to wait, as the team can do work without him.

    Then you have the extra orders, arm2 (which is kinda handy against both hmg and infiltrators), and access to either a 6th sense hacker or the sectorial's cheapest doctor.

    "Without a way to turn it into an offensive option, it unfortunately is something of a dubious choice in Spiral Corps."

    - the Chaksa triad is way more defensive, and does much less, yet people constantly take it. Once the schemer is down, you're just left ... with 2 chaksas. Once the schemer is down in the brawler link, you still have your 6th sense hacker/templates, maybe a doc to try and bring the schemer back, a hrl and b2 aro on 4 defensive troopers. So I guess I'm saying that a defensive link all that utility to support the schemer and the DZ is worth those 45pts, and that, y'know, a defensive link might be a pretty good thing for Spiral, given how many aggresive plays they have with impersonators, tricore, igao, preceptor and rasail the rambo LT.

    I'm giving some brawler lists a run out next week in a few games, so I guess I'll see how it fares. I reserve the right to recant everything I've said. :sweat_smile:
     
  11. Delta57Dash

    Delta57Dash Well-Known Member

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    Hey man, I'm always up for being proven wrong!

    Right; the Chaksa triad is way more defensive, but that's exactly why it's great. You sink 44 points and 1.5 SWC and you've got yourself a great little sniper-Haris. Sure, once the Taagma (inevitably) bites the dust you're stuck with 2 DZ guards, but you weren't going to spend orders on them anyways; that's what you have Clipsos/Kiiutans/Tri-Core for. Also the Chaksa Duo can be pretty nice at times; they both have Sensor, so they can sweep for Ninjas with great order efficiency, and even just running them up to defend an objective it saves you some orders.

    (Also, just a general tip: Take a Kriigel Smoke GL. If your opponent isn't wise to your Taagma sniper, you can launch smoke at it from 24" away, then stand up and blast anything without MSV2. Usually only works once, but hey)

    I like Brawlers a lot, and they're definitely a lot better in N4 than they were in N3. But in Spiral Corps specifically, you've got so many GREAT options for solo pieces between Impersonators, Igao, Clipsos, Kiel-Saan if you're feeling frisky that it can be hard to find the points for them. Having the option to take cheap, efficient options like Helots or the Chaksa/Taagma Triad is what lets the faction take so many solo pieces.

    And that's ultimately what it comes down to. It's not like the Brawler Core is BAD. It's just not as points-efficient as other options, and in Spiral, point efficiency can be the difference between having 1 Clipsos and 1 Kiiutan or having 2 Clipsos, Jaan Staar, and a Greif. And with only 1 Tri-Core (and no HMG or similar in the Brawler Core), you really do need those solo pieces to pull their weight.

    Let us know how the brawlers do; I'm sure they'll perform admirably, but I wonder if having less points spent offensively might cause you some problems.
     
  12. Tristan228

    Tristan228 Bakunin's best Morlock trainer
    Warcor

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    I'm planning to test this or a similar list soonish.

    Zwei Cores
    ──────────────────────────────────────────────────

    GROUP 1[​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]9 [​IMG]1
    BRAWLER (Multispectral Visor L2) MULTI Sniper Rifle ( ) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 27)
    BRAWLER Heavy Rocket Launcher / Assault Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 16)
    BRAWLER Rifle, Light Shotgun / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 15)
    BRAWLER Rifle, Light Shotgun / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 15)
    TAAGMA Breaker Combi Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 16)
    NEEMA Spitfire, Nanopulser / Viral Pistol, Shock CC Weapon. (1.5 | 38)
    TAAGMA (Tri-Core) Breaker Combi Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 20)
    KOSUIL (Engineer) Boarding Shotgun, D-Charges, Panzerfaust ( | GizmoKit) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 25)
    KRIIGEL (Lieutenant) Breaker Combi Rifle, Smoke Grenade Launcher, Pheroware Tactics: Eraser, Pheroware Tactics: Mirrorball / Viral Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 20)
    DIPLOMATIC (CC Attack [-3], Specialist Operative]) Nanopulser, Flash Pulse, Pheroware Tactics: Eraser / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 5)

    GROUP 2[​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]5
    CLIPSOS (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, Flash Pulse, Shock Mines / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 25)
    KAAURI Sentinel (Paramedic) Combi Rifle, E/M Mines ( | MediKit [+1B]) / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-6). (0 | 16)
    KAAURI Sentinel Boarding Shotgun, E/M Mines / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-6). (0 | 14)
    KAELTAR (Chain of Command) Light Shotgun, Flash Pulse, SymbioBomb ( | SymbioMate) / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0.5 | 21)
    KIIUTAN Submachine Gun, E/Mitter / Viral Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 27)

    6 SWC | 300 Points

    Open in Infinity Army
     
  13. Time Bandit

    Time Bandit Vulnerability (Total)

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    True indeed - although swc is the highest cost of the twin core if you ask me. That's because of the Brawler HRL. I love that weapon, it's lovely in a core, and comes in 1pt more than a standard LSG. Draal is great in most gunfights, brawler can threaten bunched up teams and armour with its template & continous damage, Taagma can headshot mimetism: all on BS15+.

    This is the kind of list I'm going to be running out, tweaked for missions of course. You can fit a Clipsos, Igao and Kiiutan in there alongside a draal tricore, but you either have to demote the Kiiutan to Greif or drop the Igao's mirrorball (damn those swc).

    "you really do need those solo pieces to pull their weight." - The brawler list archetype seems precisely, to me, like it might be about not betting the house just on your E/M Kiiutan & Igao, whilst still generating the order pool needed to power them.
     

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  14. Wylde83

    Wylde83 The Cyberpunk Guy
    Warcor

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    Brawler Core is to Pricey in my Oppinion, its ok for a J4F Game to make 2 "Core" Groups but i dont think it will be effective
     
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