I just posted a similar thread in the Tohaa section of the website, and asking it there made me wonder how people tackle this problem while twirling their triumvirate moustaches. So, how are people cracking the tough shells of N4? Pheroware is there to isolate and immobilise W characteristic HI, but doesn't seem to provide the same volume of comms attacks that hacking provides. Furthermore, how will we be dealing with STR characteristic models?
We have plenty of good anti Armour options despide being mostly very short range. Kiiutan with e/m-mines and e-marat Eversthing with breaker as: Taagma Kriigel Greif with 2xBreaker pistols. Neema sataar especially, with her high BTS fairly unimpressed by herself against breaker when in cover. The Kiel-San ist really good and will be only better depending on his metachemistry roll. In melee especially. Or with His Panzerfaust. If you manage to get some flanking manouvers done the rasail is superb. The kaauri with e/m mines are perfect for punching above theyr weight class. Kosuil with k1 or boarding shotgun. Has a Panzerfaust profile too. The Draal with AP-Marksman Rifle, as well the smg one up close. For normal HI these should work just fine. Our top TAG hunter is the Igao with Combi and Mirrorball. And last but not least my Personal favourite Kerail with 2xSurda Beasts.When everything comes together perfectly you can manage to get 6xBTS safe against DMG 18.
Damage for Surda is only 15 as their is no longer a damage buff for multiple units in melee in N4. Ask yourself first: 1: Does the enemy have to die (cause he is guarding too much area of the table you have to go to, etc)? A: Get a unit that can win the F2F reliably, try to avoid additional boni for the enemy like partial cover (3 more ARM on a 8 ARM unit weights much more than on a 1 ARM unit). Weapons on a Chaksa Longarm are strong, the chance to win a F2F not, opportunity costs are bad. The unit should have the possibility to survive if you lose the F2F at least once (crit and bad rolls happens and bringing another unit to the target area might be to order expensive). There are TAGs than can even ignore AP wepaons like breaker cause of Bioimunity there only high burst and high damage will help. Don't underestimate template weapons like a LRL or HRL as they ignore the +3 ARM modifier from partial cover. Sadly only for reactive turn Helots can be a nasty surprise. Weapons like Panzerfaust or Missile Launcher are great for coordinated orders (see other thread) or for ARO. As only active unit the chance to lose the F2F is quite high cause of their low burst especially on units without negative modifiers. Range combat is normally cheaper on orders than melee combat. A cheap platform with good weapons but without mali and only a burst boni are the Reex. I normally play a Tri Core with a AP Marksman Draal and a Kriigel for Smoke or Mirrorball shenanigans to get in range. That combo is strong against nearly everything the enemy can throw on you and you don't need a special dedicated unit against their tough targets. 2: Is it an important unit for the enemy? A: Kill it like written above. Denying the enemy to make progress and force his actions is the safest way to win the game. 3: Neither hindering you much nor is important for the enemy? A: Why do you want to kill it? Ignore it or order starve it. Get objectives done.
You are right. Stupid old patterns. But nontheless 6 saves are scary. The Beasts can really mess up your opponents day. With their high speed, dmg and phys in combination with a kriigel for mirrorball/smoke you can do work with relatively few orders. Combine them with Jan Staar or a Kiiutan that is hunting cheerleaders can ne nasty. Another word to the kaauri, you can use them in a coordinated order to deploy theyr e/m mines. Theyr are one of the Most underestimated troops in my opinion. Perfect DZ protectors and our kind of cheerleaders i guess. 12 points for smg, nanopulser+1, sixt sense, biometric visor and MSV 1 is a steal (my 9 points Keisotsu in JSA are a sick joke against them). Bluntening an alpha strike with them ist a nice option. Something i forgot was Armand, dam 15 Sniper, msv1, odd and two breaker pistols with decent cc and two wounds should to work. Especially when you give him a mate. And of course as Kazgarom Said, play the objectives and not have the killing tunnel vision is important.
Oh they definitely are scary, you are totally right about them, but not my personal first choice. Especially since they become more expensive in N4 as their handler costs more. For me they are in the suicider kind of unit. Well maybe not perfect but they have there values. I prefer them with Sniper and MSV 1 as counter against Warbands. (no smoke dodge for them). Chaksas with courage and HFT are even better in my opinion. Also in my last game one of them saved me the draw (both got 1 point and we both had less than 40 points left in a 300 game, nearly all units killed during ARO). Armand was the strongest ARO piece in N3 for Spiral cause of abusing the strato cloud. He is still good but he also costs alot. With mostly only 1 maybe 2 mates, the question is if you really want to use one on him. But that is personal favor. But drifting of the question. Pheroware is nasty. We got a 5 point Diplomat with old jammer style defending our DZ against alot of units. Especially the increased number of units that can land directly there at the edge. Most of them dont have stealth and being isolated would make them useless. Kriigel is very important in Spiral links as he provides the vision block to get into range with those mediocre ranged weapons. Pherowar nothing you plan around like hacking, it's something you get for free and others have to deal with. Making yourself unhackable is a nice bonus Tohaa and Spiral has.
