Can't argue that Joan isn't excellent in all versions, one of the best LTs in the game. Swiss Guard are also undeniably excellent, that HMG kills armies. Nisse is an extremely good for cost straight shooter, excellent active turn hunter of just about everything. Will be scary when linkable.
1) Swiss guard, such a powerful unit. 2) Joan, her ability to generate cheap orders, free coordinated orders and be a very rugged Lt make her a key unit. 3) Tikbalang, may not be the most powerful tag in any one area but it's well rounded profile with excellent manoeuvrability make it arguably the best tag and I've if the best units. 4)Zulu Cobras, not officially or yet but some of us have been experimenting with them and so far they are proving to be a very very capable unit with some very nice profiles that do a lot of work. 5) Fusilier/Acon regular. Do not under appreciate how important these are, such a solid line troop in the game for a very affordable price, put them in a link and you get very potent firepower, order generation and defense for a very reasonable price. Honourable mentions to the nisse, a great msv troop with great firepower but lacks that movement a little. Would have been in my top 5 until a few weeks ago when I started using Cobras. Another honourable mention to the bulleteers, such a great combat remote that can really put firepower and pressure on your opponent while his ODD makes the f2f rolls in his favour. For the points he's hard to beat.
Not any particular order 1) Joan 2) Swiss 3) Tikbalang 4) Zulus 5) Yea.. either Magisters (in link with Hosp) or Regulars. Honorable mention to TO MSR guys (OS and Hexa), plus TOFOOS as those are (especially TOFOOS) most hated units (by my opponents) if I field them.
1) Multirifle Black Friar Awesome troper. PanO in a nutshell. Good statline, nothing extraordinary, but solid. CC16 because f*ck yeah, I'm a knight in spesh. Good BS and good WIP because I'm a professional soldier. ARM2 BTS3 because I wear a high-tech armour. MOV4-2 because that armour is weighty and I am no superhuman rocking a PH11. Shiny toys as befits a high-tech faction: MSV2, Albedo and Biometric visor. Awesome weapons. Multirifle, Nanopulser and Drop Bears all high-end equipment. Religious, because DEUS VULT!!! Gameswise the trooper is just awesome. MSV2 for zero SWC in a faction starving for SWC is pretty ace on its own right. The weapon loadout is tremendous. Multirifle is a very versatile weapon, Nanopulser and Drop Bears are straight evil. And you get all this for a very affordable price of 28 points… 2) HMG Bagh-Mari HMG is the best weapon in the game and the combination of MSV1 and Mimetism means you get an advantage against most of the opponents. Comes at a reasonable pricetag and a decent statline. Nothing fancy, just the affordable stuff. Able to form a formidable Haris or an excellent Core either big time or on the budget, or goes trouble-shooting on his own. 3) Pathfinder Dronbot The sole reason I am not putting this guy on top is my bias towards fighters. An objective list should definitely put this guy on top for obvious reasons. 4) FO Auxilia For a very reasonable cost you get a combi rifle wielding pecialist (FO means you can flash pulse) with a reasonable statline and a personal protector with a heavy flamethrower. 5) Swiss Guard OK This guy is very expensive but in exchange you get a trooper that is comparable to the dreaded Murderbots (aka HMG Spetsnaz) when it comes to raw killing power. Honorable mention: Fusilier Lt. A zero SWC trooper that can blend in the cheerleader section is very useful to avoid the problem of obvious Lt.
This is more like a my all time favourites: 1. Hospitaller knights (HMG and multi rifle doctor with 3 magisters as core link) 2. Guarda de Assalto Spitfire 3. Bagh Sniper+Minelayer and HMG (with 3 Regulars as a core link) 4. Joan v2 5. Montesa bike (only used it in like 4 games so far but worth his points every time!)
What are the 5 best (all things considered) units in Pano? 1. Swiss Guard HMG - Top tier offensive gunfighter with no equivalent anywhere else. 2. Nisse HMG/Sniper - One of the best MSV 2 platforms in the game with no bloat, active or reactive strong. 3. Pathfinders + Fugazi - Especially where you can pull in two of the former (for redundancy) and three of the latter (for coverage), the combo of Sensor + Sniffer can actually render MSV irrelevant in many games, but also Flash Pulse and Specialist support. 4. Auxilia FO - Cheep and cheerful, specialist plus warband proxy, these guys help keep order counts up while offering a viable offensive, defensive and support unit. 5. Acontecimento Regular Minelayer - Low in points ('though watch the SWC, we need fire superiority to win games) but high in impact, this helps to make up for our lack of warbands, gives us additional Sensor support AND provides another cheap backup attack piece. I'm holding off on crowning Zulu Cobra, Helots or any of our other new options. They remain to face the test of battle.
Lots of good units mentioned here. My list is a lot like the list of @AdmiralJCJF . Stuff like Auxilia, Acon Minelayers and Pathfinder + Fugazi may not be the most spectacular trigger-pullers and body-pilers, but these are the glue that let their armies function. My wins are built on the backs of the Orders and support that these guys and gals (and robots) provide. Looking ahead, I'm really thrilled by the team of Zulu Cobra, Echo Bravo, Crocs, Kamau, Helots. I'm excited for these units and their great design to add a new face to PanO's competitive viability.
Aquila Guard, most of the time with HMG, because you need to dispose of the ARO pieces effectively and there is nothing in PanO more reliable than an Aquila Guard. Those who prefer the Swiss Guard don't play often enough against SP/Aleph or on tables like the ones in the Interplanetario (there were some tables with a global low vis zone and troops like Nisse or Aquila became suddenly the best units available). And since negative MODs are so popular, it seems natural to bring their natural predator. Acontecimento Regular Minelayer : this guy is just awesome. One of the best DZ defender I know with the Thorakites. Swiss Guard : well, they deserve it. Excellent at a lot of things, I'm not a fan of the HMG as much as the ML. Because it is harder to find a reliable unit in the defensive post than for the offensive one. And since Swiss Guard is good at defending, I can focus on attacking. Joan of Arc : well, first I'm French so I might be a bit biaised but, well, never disappointed me. Good at everything that is in middle to short range and CC, she is a good commander and always do wonders to me so... I would like to put a TAG here but it is difficult as all our TAGs are at the same level to me. The Uhlan is maybe the hardest one to play though, but I finally play most of the time the Squalo because it is just enough and in fact very flexible. So, yeah, all our TAGs but I'm just a fan of the good old Squalo that is discarded by a lot of players. But don't forget that there is no OP troops. Just some that are easier to put something out of them than others. Change the environment and those loved troops could suddenly become less popular (visibility zones for example, change a lot of things).
I shall make the guess of... FO Auxilia: It's cheap, a specialist, and even has a little synchronised rolley bot with a flamethrower. Aquila/Swiss Guard: I'd value these two equally since their value shifts heavily based on local metas, as in the more marker states you see on the table, the better for the Aquila, the fewer, the better for the Swiss. Both are good at one thing, which is MOD manipulation: just that Aquilas ensure their MODs don't dwindle, why Swiss ensures the enemys MODs are suddenly lacking kneecaps. That, and I like big, expensive HI. Plus these two are like... the Hsien and Hac Tao of PanO. And that's a good comparison, since those two are alsp pretty great HI. Fusiliers/Acon Regulars: Cheap as chips and with the stats that, even when taken just to twiddle their thumbs, they can try suppressive firing a random corner if need be. The Bulleteer: One of the few "unique" REMs in the game, this one carries with itself ODD. And is cheap as chips. 17 points for an HSG or 23 and 1 WC for a Spitfire on a cheap BS12 ODD platform is rather great. And can be buffed as well. AND unrivalled by most REMs out there, with the slight chance of the Rui Shi, but even then, these two are the two greatest REMs in the game overall. Croc Men: It's a rather standard Skirmisher infiltrator with TO. And I think we all know just how often the game demands very standard skirmishers.
