Changing Gears - Druze-Haris styles

Hi all,

Been getting in some reps with the following list, thought I might discuss a few points of interest:

Druze Link: EM LGL, KHD, Haris, Shock Marksman Rifle, Tanko with Flammenspear
Potential Keisotsu Link: 2x Keisotsu Combi-Rifles, 1x Paramedic, Brawler Lt, Tanko Missile Launcher
Panggulings x2: EVO Remote and Baggage/Cheerleader bot
Pathfinder Remote
RuShi
Yuan Yuan x3
War Cor

So, we have a few things here:

1. Haris Druze in a 5-man Fireteam: The inclusion of the Haris Druze means that I can benefit from the full link bonus when firing the EM LGL as a spec-fire platform, then once the link takes casualties I can change gears, turn it into a Haris and then form the Keisotsu link. Costs a few Command Tokens, though.

The big selling point here is that if you don't get first turn (bound to happen in nearly 50% of your games, possibly more if your Brawler LT decides to embarass you with their WIP 12) you can set up the Shock Marksman Rifle (or EM LGL if you want to scare a Rambo piece badly) and Tanko as sacrificial ARO pieces and still have the option to run a Haris and a full link in your later turns even if your ARO pieces die.

2. Shock Marksman Rifle: While I was originally tempted to run the HMG in the Druze link I found that I needed the SWC elsewhere. The Shock Marksman Rifle (SMR) does some good work in a 5-man link. You're BS 18 out to 24" (which is a goodly distance, especially when you've Forward Deployed due to ITS X) and even BS 15 out to 40". Damage 14 due to Fatality Level 1 and Burst 4 in Active, 2 in ARO. HMG still better but the SMR is a strong piece for its cost.

3. Flammen-Tanko (AKA 'Flaming Taco'): The same is true of the Tanko Flammenspear. While everyone loves the Missile Launcher, the Flammenspear gives you a respectable once-off ARO threat without costing an arm and a leg. If someone trues to bait out your Flammenspear with trash-troops, you can just plug them with the Contender (or Dodge on 13's). For 23 points, you've got a great trading/ARO piece. The Blitzen-Tanko is viable but I figure the template of the Flammenspear is a big threat to a lot of models and with an EM LGL in the link already, a Blitzen is making your toolbox deeper instead of wider.

4. EVO Remote, RuShi and Yuan Yuan package: Not much to say here, really. The Yuan Yuan can drop smoke for the RuShi, the EVO remote helps guide the Yuan Yuan down if they AD (thanks for the buff ITS Season X) and can also Assisted Fire the RuShi (which now hits basically everyone on unmodified 15's...through smoke).

5. Pathfinder: Half Cheerleader, half Back-up Attack Piece and half Specialist makes the Pathfinder 1.5 times better than the average troop. :) With Assisted Fire from the EVO, the Pathfinder can also do work should your other attack pieces fall over.

All that said, I suppose my key points are:

Druze Haris in a link is cute.
Shock Marksman Rifle is a good budget HMG for Druze links
Flammen-Tanko is a great trading piece when you need the SWC.

Anyways, hopefully that sparks a few ideas for people.

Any thoughts?

My primary concern is making sure that you juggle your Fireteams at the right time, as if you leave your ML Tanko in an ARO position while keeping the Druze link active, he can get plugged a lot easier than if he was attached to the Keisotsu.

 

I did, indeed, play the Druze link.

The point of the list is to give you access to the EM LGL in a 5-man link, as well as redundancy for if/when the link takes casualties, at which point you create the Keisotsu-Tanko-Brawler link and downgrade the Druze to a Haris. I've been testing it and find that it's quite serviceable.

My other build in the list pairing involves more HI, such as the WuMing Haris (which is the only good Haris in the sectorial) and the Daiyokai.