Fire teams in Onyx. Do you use them?

Vanilla is much better than Onyx.

That being said, if you're playing Onyx for fun and like the theme, you'll choose between just running whatever you want for the sake of your own satisfaction, or going straight for the best combos that they have.

If you prefer the latter, Onyx is about the unidron core with Kerr-nau to get the link bonus on pitchers, hacking people with the benefit of the unidron tinbot and you'll always be including the plasma sniper along with it.

There are a few ways to build a haris involving Nourkias and/or suryats. Generally speaking, one of the better combos you can use is having the Suryat LT+2 hmg to synergize with Nourkias' NCO, with him actually pulling the team along with those orders or going off on his own.

Every list should have Kerr-Nau, but you don't always have to put him in the core. Solo Nourkias and then KN linked with suryat LT hmg and suryat HRL also works.

These days you can also make some zany teams with Xeodron's and samaritans, but they are for meme fun and less for competitive play. It's even possible to have TWO haris teams each with 1x samaritan, 2x Xeo, which is 4 TAGs total. Again, even with the recent FAQ I wouldn't be seriously running that.

 

While Onyx has weaknesses in comparison to vanilla (basically a lack of cheap warbands to skirmish with and smoke) they're a good sectorial. you'd be right they are about links which is why you can take a core and double haris

To echo above Kerr nau in a link team with a firewall tinbot either the suryat or the unidron makes a great hacking base, these days tend to put in a nexus hacker as well (often the Lt) in a uni team you can kit out this little hacking bunker with a plasma sniper and use an E-drone to buff it so you can have a pure team with a B3 ARO plasma cannon that can go dogged.

Like many sectorials it pushes certain units to the fore, I didn't tend to use Nexus that often earlier in N4 but since they got an engineer NCO profile I find it hard to resist them in a sectorial of mostly robots.

Lt choices, the suryat these days is stand out especially as you can haris it with some other useful tech like Kerr nau or a legate HD+ and a kurgat with drop bears. again it's the links that make this scarier by putting order efficiency and synergy on top of some reasonably vanilla units, Again Onyx don't have much in the way of cheap skirmish screen to deter a warband rush but a linked kurgat with drop bears able to throw two at a time can go some way to making that up.

I'd even go as far as to say you can play them something closer to tohaa just playing with 3 triads basically:
some sort of specialist (kurgat/nexus/kerr nau/rodok/umbra)
some shooty thing (suryat/unidron/maakrep/rodok/umbra/Xeodron/kodali)
+ chosen ingredient X, again worth restating the ingredient X can potentially be a TAG, Nourkias or kodali

 

I have a lot of success with the following oppressive Onyx list.


TAG team
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GROUP 1 10 2
XEODRON MULTI Marksman Rifle, Blitzen / Heavy Pistol, Shock CC Weapon. (0.5 | 51)
STALDRON Flash Pulse / CC Weapon. (0 | 0)
XEODRON MULTI Marksman Rifle, Blitzen / Heavy Pistol, Shock CC Weapon. (0.5 | 51)
STALDRON Flash Pulse / CC Weapon. (0 | 0)
NEXUS (Engineer, NCO) Vulkan Shotgun, D-Charges ( | GizmoKit) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 22)
SURYAT (Lieutenant [+1 Order]) Heavy Machine Gun ( | TinBot: Firewall [-3]) / MULTI Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 45)
ÍMETRON . (0 | 6)
ÍMETRON . (0 | 6)
M-DRONE Combi Rifle, Flash Pulse / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 16)
T-DRONE Missile Launcher / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (1.5 | 16)
R-DRONE Flash Pulse / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 7)
NOCTIFER (Hacker, Hacking Device) Combi Rifle ( ) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 29)

GROUP 2 3
IKADRON (Baggage, Repeater) Light Flamethrower(+1B), Flash Pulse / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 9)
IKADRON (Baggage, Repeater) Light Flamethrower(+1B), Flash Pulse / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 9)
NOCTIFER Missile Launcher / Assault Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 32)

6 SWC | 299 Points

Open in Infinity Army


Thoughts:
- The anvil: List construction begins with taking Noctifer ML, the best ARO piece in the game. Two Ikandrons (and hidden deployment Noctifer hacker) make enemy rambo attacks against your deployment zone very difficult.
- The hammer: The Xeodron Haris is extremely durable in ARO and nearly unstoppable in attack. 4 "free" orders to move 124pts of troopers every turn. Engineer can fix stuff with his burst2 gizmokit, so you don't have to be that careful with your REMs.
- Coordination: If enemy has a single unbelievably good ARO piece and you don't want to risk Xeodrons, R-drone, T-drone, M-drone and Suriat HMG/Nocfifer hacker can usually disable it using few coordinated orders.
- Infowar: The new (old?) M-drone is very fast due to ITS14 terrain:total buffs and free tactical order. Apply spotlight with noctifer, guidemissile it to death and go back to camo to avoid any retaliation. Don't forget to coordinate this with Imetrons, R-drone and M-drone.

 

Personally I think that Ko Dali and Kerr-Nau aren't very good troopers because they only have single wound. A single wound active turn troopers need be Bis&Kiss/Karhu-level good to justify their inclusion.

 

I've been doing Onyx a bit lately and making lists that have a few duos. Particularly with the Unidron with Tinbot 2-man core.

UNIDRON K1 Combi Rifle ( | TinBot: Firewall [-3]) / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0.5 | 17)
NEXUS (Lieutenant, Hacker, Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, E/M Mines ( ) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 21)

UNIDRON K1 Combi Rifle ( | TinBot: Firewall [-3]) / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0.5 | 17)
UMBRA LEGATE (Hacker, Hacking Device Plus) Boarding Shotgun, Flash Pulse ( ) / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0.5 | 41)

UNIDRON K1 Combi Rifle ( | TinBot: Firewall [-3]) / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0.5 | 17)
KERR-NAU Plasma Rifle, D-Charges, Pitcher / Breaker Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 27)

UNIDRON K1 Combi Rifle ( | TinBot: Firewall [-3]) / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0.5 | 17)
NOURKIAS (Hacker, Killer Hacking Device [UPGRADE: Total Control (+1 Damage)]) Breaker Combi Rifle, Flash Pulse ( ) / Pistol, Vorpal CC Weapon, E/M CC Weapon. (0 | 47)

OVERDRON Hyper-Rapid Magnetic Cannon / Shock CC Weapon. (1.5 | 63)
STALDRON Flash Pulse / CC Weapon. (0 | 0)
NEXUS (Engineer, NCO) Vulkan Shotgun, D-Charges ( | GizmoKit) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 22)

OVERDRON Hyper-Rapid Magnetic Cannon / Shock CC Weapon. (1.5 | 63)
STALDRON Flash Pulse / CC Weapon. (0 | 0)
NEXUS (Hacker, Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, E/M Mines ( ) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 21)

XEODRON K1 Marksman Rifle, Blitzen / Heavy Pistol, Shock CC Weapon. (0 | 53)
STALDRON Flash Pulse / CC Weapon. (0 | 0)
UMBRA SAMARITAN (Hacker, Hacking Device [UPGRADE: Trinity]) Plasma Carbine, Flash Pulse ( ) / Pistol, Vorpal CC Weapon, DA CC Weapon. (0.5 | 39)

XEODRON K1 Marksman Rifle, Blitzen / Heavy Pistol, Shock CC Weapon. (0 | 53)
STALDRON Flash Pulse / CC Weapon. (0 | 0)
NEXUS (Engineer, NCO) Vulkan Shotgun, D-Charges ( | GizmoKit) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 22)

That's most of Onyx. There's a few with NWI but not Shock Immune.

 

@Space Ranger all NWIs in Onyx have shock immune. They have 2 wounds in most situations. Onyx also has a lot of dogged troopers which can perform 2 wound trooper roles during active turn.

I’m not saying that all single wound troopers suck during active turn, but they need to have something extra. Extra like free tactical order (or regular order), combat peripheral, hacking device, effective burst3 pitcher. You get the picture.

 

@Space Ranger there is no 2-Men Core Fireteam

You can only get a 2-men Fireteam if you lose a model during the game

 

Damn, I guess I'm getting mixed with old rules?

But this does allow me to mention the multiple harris is great too. I've tried a three man core and two regular haris and it worked out pretty nicely.

 

Fireteam Core has always been 3-5 models.
2 Haris + 1 Core for a total of 9 models is a great spearhed for a list, but it could be easily overhelmed by solid ARO platform or active turn hunters if they are not well supported

 

Ok I guess I was just dumb lol.

As usual, it depends. On mission, what you take, who you go against. But I think most important is how you use it. I find it a little easier to move around and adjust with smaller groups. I wouldn't use them as defenders either. Great for missions were you need to keep on the move.

 

I started Onyx back in early N3 and like a dog to a bone, I keep coming back to them. I took them to a 22-person tournament a few days ago, and they performed well until the round-3 top table where I got stomped by Corregidor in Panic Room by a really good player. So yeah, they can still hang with the big boys for sure.

It's a great time to play them, really. They got hit hard with the shift to N4, losing a lot of their faction's unique hacking jank, but the fireteams rework gave them a massive boost and made list-writing reall yinteresting again. I have loads to say about them, but I'll try and keep this brief.

First, the Unidron link is still a killer. The plasma sniper is in the running for best gun in the game, imo. To make full use of it, you'll need a) an E-drone to power it up with marksmanship and b) another weapon in the link to stand up and take one for the team in lieu of your prize sniper. That's already 3-3.5swc, ouch. You can make it a hacking team too if you want to go that way, but T-drone and 0.5swc hackers will mean no other special weapons on the roster.

The Nexus is now integral to Onyx in a way it never was before. If you decide to go with a chunky sniper core, you might want an nco engineer in that link to make the most of the Unidron's unholy resilience. It's also a great LT, dodging on 15s, and able to wildcard into any of your links, meaning your opponent isn't sure who your LT is. That's a big deal for Onyx. I've been experimenting with three 3-man teams each with a Nexus SpecOp in, to really push this bonus. There's a lot of Fidays, Speculos and Jaans out there right now.

So far so good, but what's really interesting about Onyx now is their wide haris options. Xeodron, nexus and one more to suit your taste is an excellent companion to your swc-hungry core and hacking game, so it warrants serious consideration as your door-kicking and name-taking haris.

If you can afford it though, there's two other harises that make the top grade for me: Maakrep HMG haris (fill it how you want) and Suryat HRL/Samaritan hacker haris. The Maakrep is a great flex unit for Onyx now for list two, to deal with the rise of Steel Phalanx and mimetic friends. But the Suryat/sammy team is stellar, in my experience. 91pts gets you a team that can shoot, mess with smoke and mimetism, lay blast templates, hack like a champ and fatten a CC monster on protheion.

So yeah, Onyx is still Onyx, meaning it's a horribly limited faction in some ways. AVA1 taigha alone would make a huge difference. As would a Caliban, seed solider, a shrouded - or even a beasthunter, diggers, MBH, any of the really good stuff that most factions take for granted. You will get impersonators headhunting your LT, and you will get bumrushed by bears and warbands. For that reason: play a shell-game with your LT, and spread/diversify your threat across multiple vectors, so that you can weather a turn-1 storm and come out punching.

PS My final advice is take the Greif impersonator in every list, bar those written for missions with confused deployment. He's a real jewel in the Onyx roster.

 

I would like to understand properly what do you mean with this. Am I right this mean to use risky FtF with the other weapon during active against coinflips instead of the plasma sniper? Or are you implying another thing with this?

 

I'm really talking about reactive turn aros - preferably a ML Unidron to stand up and offer an aro across a key portion of the board. With an engineer in the team, your sniper would have to take 3 damage in one hit to stop you from fixing it straight back up again, as Unidrons have two levels of unconscious.

Your other (interesting) aro option is a Q-drone instead, which saves you .5swc. It benefits massively from the Edrone I recommend taking too, giving you another possible target for marksmanship. The Unidron, however, is way tankier and will normally take at least two shots to bring down, which is 4 BS14 missile launcher dice your opponent has to contend with, and they're a serious problem if they hit or crit. Your call, but because of Onyx's weaknesses with warbands and aggressive rambos, I do recommend offering at least one serious aro.

 

I made use of the FAQ rules on Enhance reaction on the weekend. I put it on my Unidron PSniper when I could. While it was not winning, it was helpful. The Uni was shot at by an Intruder HMG in cover. I was at 0 mods for the team and range, mim, etc. He was just at 0 mods for range and and cover. If I had marksmanship however I would have been able to ignore his cover and I would have a +3 with two dice. Can anyone do the math? 2 dice with BS 14 vs. 3 dice at BS 11. both against BS 13 with 4 dice. I did loose against it but it was not a sure thing.

Whether it's good or not, it did have some psychological effect. After my Unidron went Dogged, he decided not to try anymore. He really should have since the Uni was keephng him from moving up that side of the table.

 

I think the maths is pretty similar for the two, and it really comes down to two different bonuses: Enhanced reaction gives you a better chance to crit (great for template weapons) and assisted fire is still useful on your active turn (so great order efficiency if the piece survives). I think which one you choose to activate really depends on those two things, rather than the small difference in chances between the two.