So I understand what Holoprojector does and what is for. But how do you physically use it? What tricks do you use? How do you obfuscate your opponent? Walk me through what you do?
Ok, L2 I rarely use, since the only units that have it in Qapu are the Bashi Bazouk and I use it to make an aggressive entrance and hope the free shot her target gets shoots a holo instead of the real thing. Holo L1, is another story. Nothing more satisfying to see the face of my opponent when that Odalsique with SMG/Contender becomes a Husam Spec-Op (Hafza) with Viral Sniper Rifle and still attached to an Odalsiques Core Link Team; or that poor Ghulam with rifle+LSG badly hidden (Lt maybe?) is actually a Hafza with HRL. That's the most I use it for.
During deployment, the holoechoes could be pretending to be other models (albeit all the same type) and potentially threaten your opponent with phantom ARO pieces - say, pretending to be three snipers covering fire lanes. Until you have to put a holoecho marker next to one of them, your opponent may waste orders on trying to position troopers to eliminate them or making cautious moves from cover to cover. By sending one projection further ahead than the real trooper it can be used as a means of safely clearing mines, madtraps, crazy koalas and their ilk. You can also move safely across gaps by sending a projection into LoF of guarding enemy troopers with your first movement skill, and then the real trooper across the gap with the second movement skill. The ARO of the guard is either delayed and then wasted because you did not reveal yourself, or they possibly react to the holoecho leaving you free to run by unharmed. You can also move a trooper behind total cover but near an edge where LoF to hostile troopers exists, then put them in suppressive fire. During your opponents turn you can place holoechoes adjacent to the concealed trooper, and make the one now poking around the corner the real trooper for sneaky suppressive fire shenanigans. And, they can use surprise shot of course!
So, I could set up like.. three Makauls or Kamaels (something plausible with AVA3+) during deployment. Set up fake ARO pieces. Add fake members to linkable troops. They all have to be exactly the same, yes? What if your opponent looks at your courtesy list? You obviously can't lie outright. I'm curious what people do with the Kotail, he seems badass.
Play with the Army, the courtesy list asks you to disguise the Holo troops, they have to be all the same, and for some reason it lets you deploy one, two or three holoechos (it should, in theory, be one or three... unless it has changed recently). Now, you can make a lot of shenanigans with this, but they all vanish once you start your first turn: Make it look like the Combat Group is full Camo the camos, so the enemy thinks you have minelayer troops instead of regular ones Disguise points, so it looks like you spent more in visible troops (or SWC or both) while you have Hidden Deployment or AD troops Look strong where you are weak, so you can look weak where you are strong (thus skewing the enemy's deployment). Disposable ARO pieces, however after the first ARO the gig is up (and you usually don't have long-range troops with Holoprojector N2) As for battlefield uses, aside from mine cleaning duty, surprise shot and "choose the right one" game, remember you can hide any troop with several profiles as any profile of himself without problem. For example, when a Bashi Bazouk enters the table we all know it's him (only AD troop with Holo), but... is it really the 12 pts SMG, or it maybe is the one with a E/M weapon? Or maybe... So the enemy cannot ignore that threat in any way.
The Kotail is an example of using Holo2 aggressively, rather than deceptively. So the Kotail can move himself and all holos, and your opponent doesn't know which is the true model. If you maneuver into LoF of the enemy, the opponent will be forced to "Hold" and wait for the true unit to reveal, or else fire/discover, possibly selecting the wrong one and opening himself up to an unopposed shot from the true Kotail. Because of that risk, most opponents will opt to Hold, which gives the Kotail more freedom in maneuvering, flanking, or crossing open gaps. As mentioned above, the Kotail can also use his Holos to trip mines, Crazy Koalas, etc. to clear the way for himself or for friendly units. The Kotail also gains Surprise Shot, giving a nice nice little advantage in gunfighting.
I use it quite a lot, specifically the Ayyar and the Bashi. On the Bashi it's purely aggressive, basically to clear deployed weapons and get the surprise shot bonus, but the Bashi is so cheap and useful that honestly it's just gravy. On the Ayyar it gets a bit more complex. Sometimes I deploy it as three Ghulams as that could theoretically be a cheap order base, then go on the attack. And Ayyars are dangerous enough that even if you know it's an Ayyar and two holos, you don't want to risk an ARO for the real deal. Offensively the Marksman Rifle Ayyar is great for closing against Snipers and HMGs, and outranging rifles and suppression fire. So I tend to use the holoprojector to get into position safely, and then rely on range to win the ftf. But if the Surprise Shot gets off, or they shoot the wrong guy then fantastic. But actually most of the time my Ayyar is in a firefight on the active, he's not holo'd up and doesn't need to be.
There was a good thread in the old forums on this. My favorite use was a Yasbir infiltrating as 3 FO halqas. I placed 2 HoloE on a roof and placed the real one in a building. This baited my opponent to deploy his reserve models (HMG) in a position to take them out turn 1. Because of this the placement of the reserve model was placed sub-par to eliminate my real models, and in an excellent spot to be shoot with my TO Tuaregs sniper. HoloE are my favorite way to eliminate CrazyKoallas. I've placed a Holoecho in my deployments zone as a Solid aro piece, but covering a firelane. I put in a spot where his link team which was the only good way to take him out would have to spend 2-3 orders to get a good shot. It made him waste the orders which could have be used better. Bashi Bazuk hidden as 2 snipers, along with a 3rd real one. If your opponent figures out that you have a HoloE from lack of Aro they assume the other 2 are HoloE also. They'll make a move assuming its safe, where you can get a clear shot.
When I use Holo2 in second turn active, I will deploy it as something innocuous defending a board edge (normally its a AHD Barid as Ayyar keeps its Hackable trait). sometimes I deploy as 3 ghulam in the back field to deter AD. I have on many occasions taken advantage of an Ayyar as a Ghulam or Barid tagging strong single wound troops coming up the board edge or AD'ing close (usually when using the barid otherwise...LSG). When I declare a shooting ARO the Ayyar is revealed and people panic. Another VERY common tactic I use is to set up in Suppressive around a corner and then on Enemy turn Holo2 to the edge. I abuse that tactic a GREAT deal of the time and its worked out great. Another common use for Holo2 (usually with the Bashi's) is in perimeter weapon destruction. You have as many Holo2's as you are willing to spend orders for, and they destroy mines safely. If you can get some range and site you can even combo it with a shot so the enemy can either set a replacement mine OR shoot back.
