Honor, duty and... Not a samurai in sight. JSA@Airfield ITS

Coming off of Rumble, it was time for a change of pace. Acontecimento and NeoTerra have been my focus for years now. With the influx of amazing new Non Aligned Armies though, it was time for a change. JSA was my first Sectorial, and it was time to jump back in. Thankfully, the Airfield ITS just North of the California Bay Area was the perfect opportunity to break them out.

The mission lineup was perfect, favoring aggression and mobility:

Unmasking
Transmission Matrix
Rescue

No doubt here that JSA would provide competitive tools for this lineup.

For this writeup, unlike a lot of my usual content, I'm going to focus specifically on the list construction and how those units performed in each game. I normally like to focus on decision making, which I think is more valuable, but JSA are such a new release that I think that discussing things unit-by-unit will be most helpful for players.

Unmasking, requiring the pushing of three buttons followed by killing 3 HVTs, is a natural pairing for extreme button pushing. Transmission Matrix allows for some fun tricks of aggression, either fighting hard for the midfield or sending aggressive points to contest your opponent's home beacons. Rescue, of course, is infamous for the challenging mobility it demands.

The biggest question though is defense. Each of these missions favors extreme order efficiency and mobility, but also demands hardcore defense to keep the enemy out. So what was the best solution for finding this balance of speed and defense?

Naturally, I first looked at Samurai. Okay, all good, we know Tanko are good in defense with that Missile, Blitzens, Flammenspeer. Domaru aren't so great at long firelane defense, but they can deny area with Chain Rifles or side at corners with E/M grenades and shotguns. Of course, the natural expense of a big 5-man team to fulfill all those roles meant my Order pools would be small. Focusing all my points in a link team also meant they would be stretched thin, trying to achieve too many things. They could defend some civvies in Rescue, but not all 4 of them. If they're defending civvies, they can't attack to retrieve them. And obviously all those Hackable bodies is a pretty big liability in Transmission Matrix, and there's no way they're mobile enough for Unmasking.
So instead, I reached for the shadier parts of the updated JSA roster.

Unmasking requires quick button pushing, as well as blowing away light targets that are almost certainly hiding in total cover behind terrain. Naturally, bikes are the perfect tool there. The Aragoto KHD is flexible and versatile, is a good specialist, can suppress or shotgun, etc. and can also authorize the REMs I bring in every list. An easy choice. What about the Kuroshi Rider? Having a non-Hackable bike Specialist is great, in case I hit a big repeater network, so that's useful. Dogged is nice, meaning she won't go down easily to a stray crit, and can take her chances against Chain Rifles that are denying area. And the flamethrower as well as her modest CC ability also mean she has tools to help get around smoke, which is a trick I see sometimes in both Trans Matrix and Unmasking (have a cheap warband hang out near the civvies, and throw smoke on top of them to protect them when an enemy assassin comes cruising along.)

Naturally we need Yojimbo too. His Koalas are great defense, he can blitz a hard target and tie in melee if someone tries to bully their way into my tablehalf with an expensive piece, and naturally he's the Go To smoke dispenser for JSA.

But bikes are vulnerable, and can run into trouble easily. I want to have one more tool for button pushing or civvie hunting. Naturally, for such a versatile role, there's no better piece than Saito Togan. He has TO Camo, he brings his own smoke, he can attack/suppress with his Combi Rifle, and his EXP CCW with Surprise Attack is a better tool vs 1-Wound opponents than the weapons of the Monofilament wielders.

With the aggressive elements in place, I needed to work on that defense I spoke of. Naturally, Ryuken-9 fill that role. A pair of SMG/Minelayers gives me a perimeter of mines to work in tandem with Yojimbo's Koalas, and gives me a pair of gunfighters who can transition effortlessly from solid defense to aggressive attack.

From there, it was easy to build out the Order pools with a Keisotsu link and REM support, giving me an HMG, a defensive missile, some Doctor support, some Sensor... Namely all the support staples I like having in a list. With the new Kempetai shock MSV2, I have a very competent gunfighter too, who can help out the Keisotsu and their meager BS10.

Trans Matrix/Unmasking
--------------------------------------------------
GROUP 1 10 1
SAITO TOGAN (Specialist Operative) Combi Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, EXP CCW, Knife. (0 | 40)
KUROSHI RIDER Combi Rifle + Light Flamethrower / Breaker Pistol, AP + Shock CCW. (0 | 33)
RYUKEN (Forward Deployment L2, ODD) Submachine Gun, Antipersonnel Mines, D-Charges / 2 Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 24)
KEMPEI (Multispectral Visor L2) Shock Marksman Rifle / Pistol, CCW, Electric Pulse. (1 | 25)
KEISOTSU HMG / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 17)
KEISOTSU Missile Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 14)
KEISOTSU (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10)
KEISOTSU Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 9)
KEISOTSU Lieutenant Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 9)
WÈIBING Yaókòng Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16)
GROUP 2 5 1 2
YOJIMBO Contender, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades, CrazyKoalas (2) / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 21)
ARAGOTO (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25)
RYUKEN (Forward Deployment L2, ODD) Submachine Gun, Antipersonnel Mines, D-Charges / 2 Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 24)
CHAIYÌ Yaókòng Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
PANGGULING (Minesweeper, Repeater) Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
TOKUSETSU EISEI Doctor (MediKit) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14)
YÁOZAO Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
5.5 SWC | 300 Points
Open in Infinity Army

With one list in place, I needed one specifically for rescue. Bikes are great, but Rescue is a beast of a mission. Bikes are fantastic for unopposed objective sprinting, but to crack a really tough defensive line to rescue Civvies, or attack aggressively into an enemy DZ to take out enemy Civvie Runners, it had to be Oniwaban.

There are arguments that the Oniwaban are naturally overshadowed by both Saito and Shinobu Kitsune. Certainly, I can understand the argument. Both bring smoke, which is critically huge. Here though, with the Exclusion Zone in Rescue, Shinobu is a risk since he doesn't Superior Infiltrate. Similarly, Kitsune is expensive for that smoke. PanO has made me comfortable operating without smoke, finding other ways to deal with it, without leaning on it like a crutch for every battlfield goal I want to perform. So I took the Oniwaban, using the extra points to keep my Order pools deep to fuel a Ryuken-9 in each group until the Oniwaban were ready to do their thing.

Just a note on this one: I checked with the TO beforehand, and he agreed to waive the restriction on AVA5 Keisotsu in JSA. That's been confirmed as an error, so he agreed that I could play with AVA Total. A good thing to check on, until Army gets corrected.

Gardener Rescue
--------------------------------------------------
GROUP 1 10
ONIWABAN Boarding Shotgun, Nanopulser / Pistol, Monofilament CCW. (0 | 41)
RYUKEN (Forward Deployment L2, ODD) Submachine Gun, Antipersonnel Mines, D-Charges / 2 Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 24)
KEMPEI (Multispectral Visor L2) Shock Marksman Rifle / Pistol, CCW, Electric Pulse. (1 | 25)
KEISOTSU HMG / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 17)
KEISOTSU Missile Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 14)
KEISOTSU Hacker (Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 17)
KEISOTSU (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10)
KEISOTSU Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 9)
KEISOTSU Lieutenant Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 9)
WÈIBING Yaókòng Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16)
GROUP 2 5 2 1
YOJIMBO Contender, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades, CrazyKoalas (2) / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 21)
ONIWABAN Submachine Gun, Nanopulser / Pistol, Monofilament CCW. (0 | 37)
RYUKEN (Forward Deployment L2, ODD) Submachine Gun, Antipersonnel Mines, D-Charges / 2 Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 24)
CHAIYÌ Yaókòng Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
PANGGULING (Minesweeper, Repeater) Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
TOKUSETSU EISEI Doctor (MediKit) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14)
YÁOZAO Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
WARCOR (Aerocam) Flash Pulse / Stun Pistol, Knife. (0 | 3)
6 SWC | 300 Points
Open in Infinity Army

Round 1: Unmasking vs Vanilla ALEPH

ALEPH
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
GROUP 1 10
DEVA Lieutenant (Sensor) Combi Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 24)
NAGA Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 30)
NAGA (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 28)
DASYU (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 36)
MYRMIDON Spitfire, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (1 | 31)
ZAYIN Rebot HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 26)
YUDBOT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
NETROD . (0 | 4)
NETROD . (0 | 4)
NETROD . (0 | 4)
PROXY Mk.1 Engineer Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10)
PROXY Mk.2 MULTI Sniper Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 24)
GROUP 2 6
THORAKITES (Forward Observer, 360º Visor) Submachine gun, Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13)
THORAKITES (Forward Observer, 360º Visor) Submachine gun, Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13)
DANAVAS Hacker (Hacking Device Plus. UPGRADE: Maestro) Combi Rifle + Pitcher / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 25)
LAMEDH Rebot Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
LAMEDH Rebot Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
PROBOT (Minesweeper, Repeater) Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
4 SWC | 299 Points
Open in Infinity Army




Keisotsu: They did as anticipated, primarily generating orders and providing me with a heavy weapon as needed. The side I deployed on was deceptive, with the Keisotsu primarily in the bottom right corner behind the building above, on the short catwalk and behind the building itself, providing me with good defensive nooks and crannies for hiding all these bodies, but not giving me many clear fields of fire. Still, they did their job cheerleading, with the missile being able to volley off a couple of shots (the first at a Proxy Mk5 who was leaning out too far, catching a Thorakitai in the blast, and the second at a revealed mine to catch a Naga.)

Kuroshi Rider/KHD: A great combination for button pushing. They spent a lot of time pinned by a Proxy Mk2 Sniper, but had some crucial gunfighting moments. Kuroshi flanked a Naga to remove a key threat, while the Aragoto KHD hunted the Proxy Mk1 Data Tracker to stop it sweeping into my table half to kill my civvies. Very important.

Kempetai MSV2: Not a star this game, sadly. I deployed her separately from my Keisotsu as my reserve drop, hoping to use her range to take down a couple of Netrods that had scattered, then run aggressively along that long central catwalk to provide dominant fire from the rooftops. Sadly she spent 4 orders merely killing one Netrod, then got flash pulsed 2 turns in a row trying to kill a Warcor out of cover.

Ryuken-9: Critical in this game. Their mines provided a defensive boon that lasted all game, critically protecting civvies and making my opponent worry. Their Suppressive Fire challenged everything that moved, including knocking a Myrmidon Spitfire's active turn gunfighting down to mere 3s, and critting the Myrm to Dead after a few rounds of heated exchange. The other Ryuken-9 did some critical Naga hunting and minelaying, delaying my opponent's run on my civvies.

Saito: The man of the mission. With my bikes very effectively hemmed in by a Posthuman Mk2 I couldn't challenge, which meant Saito needed to take over and do the bulk of the button pushing. He chopped up a revealed Dasyu, flipped two consoles back from ALEPH control, smoked up a key firelane, critically revealing two civvies (one of whom was the designated target), then maneuvering to combi one and EXP CC eviscerate the other. A key piece, and very very good in this role.

My opponent kept my sweating all game, but I managed to keep up my defense for a 7-1 win. A lot of gratitude for my opponent with his patience, especially since I'm rusty with my smoke-tossing protocols. A very gracious opponent as I knocked the rust off.

Round 2: Transmission Matrix vs Shock Army of Acontecimento

Shock Army of Acontecimento
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
GROUP 1 10
NAGA Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 32)
NAGA (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 28)
FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
BULLETEER Spitfire / Electric Pulse. (1 | 23)
TRAUMA-DOC Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14)
PALBOT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
BAGH-MARI HMG / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 26)
BAGH-MARI Paramedic (MediKit) Combi Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 24)
BAGH-MARI (Number 2) Boarding Shotgun, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 19)
BAGH-MARI (Minelayer) MULTI Sniper Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 28)
BAGH-MARI Combi Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 22)
GROUP 2 5
REGULAR Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10)
REGULAR Lieutenant Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10)
REGULAR (Sapper) MULTI Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 22)
MULEBOT (Minesweeper, Repeater) Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
AKAL COMMANDO Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, E/M CCW. (0 | 21)
6 SWC | 298 Points
Open in Infinity Army




Keisotsu: . The primarily set up in the big tower in the bottom right hand corner, which was both very safe and also gave them lanes to contest with their weaponry. The missile did her job, distracting a full Bagh Mari link for the bulk of Turn 1, getting swatted Unconscious. You can see the long diagonal lane she was working, from my zone (bottom right hand corner) up to the hotly contested enemy tower (top left.) My doctor picked her back up, and she was able to snipe a Bagh Mari combi from extreme range who thought he was safe, catching another combi in the blast. This was critical actually, because I planned to fight the Bagh Mari at close range, and didn't want the Combi/LSG combo alive to hunt me. Other than that, the Keisotsu did their job of cheerleading from the back.

Kempetai MSV2: Another poor game here. I kept her as my reserve drop again, this time to cover a Bulleteer Spitfire that had deployed in the open. She had her link bonuses this time, so was contesting the Bulleteer with two dice at 12s, while the Bulleteer would need to spend at least two turns maneuvering, only able to fire 4 dice needing 6s. I gave her a Keisotsu and a Warcor to also cover the Bulleteer, to tempt it to split burst.

All parties involved failed badly and were knocked Unconscious by my opponent's 6s, but that's alright.

Ryuken-9: Once again, absolutely critical. With my horde of Keisotsu hunkered around one console, it was up to this Ryuken to provide most of the defense for the other console. She did this job perfect with her mines and Suppression, even maneuvering to hunt down my opponent's Designated Target before returning to the console to continue babysitting it. Even Nagas were afraid to come after her with that combination of ODD, shock ammunition and mines.

The other played a key role too, serving as one of my attack-waves on one of my opponent's home antennae (visible top left, which I fought for and contested each turn,) sprinting across catwalks and SMGing her way into the DZ to give me majority quadrants for two turns.

Oniwaban: Stable, consistent, skilled, lethal. One of my Oniwaban opened the game by giving me majority scoring Turn 1, running into my opponent's DZ to CC a Trauma Doc babysitting one antennae, shotgunning a Fugazi, and then comfortably contesting that top left antennae. The Bagh Mari had to spend most of their Turn 2 backtracking into their DZ to clear him out, costing my opponent practically an entire turn just to get one of his home consoles back.

The other Oniwaban didn't reveal until last turn, but his job was just to lurk near the middle console and take it away from the Naga who was holding it all game. I ended up not needing that second Oniwaban since my efforts in the enemy DZ were successful for all three turns, but it was good to have a backup option for scoring majority antennae had I needed it.

I was able to score a good 9-1 win on this one.

Round 3: Rescue vs Onyx

Onyx Contact Force
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
10
NEXUS Lieutenant (Nanoscreen) Spitfire / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 26)
UMBRA LEGATE K1 Combi Rifle, Flash Pulse / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 40)
UNIDRON Spitfire / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (1 | 18)
UNIDRON K1 Combi Rifle + 1 TinBot A (Deflector L1) / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 17)
UNIDRON (Forward Observer) Plasma Carbine / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 15)
NOCTIFER Missile Launcher / Assault Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 32)
MAAKREP TRACKER MULTI Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 33)
MALIGNOS Hacker (EI Assault Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 41)
MALIGNOS (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 36)
MED-TECH OBSIDON MEDCHANOID Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 23)
SLAVE DRONE Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
SLAVE DRONE Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
6 SWC | 287 Points
Open in Infinity Army

Just a not with my opponent's list, I don't know where his extra points went. He definitely only had one combat group, and the Maakrep and Noctifier ate up a lot of the SWC, so I'm not quite sure where the last few points were hiding (or if he was just happy playing short on points, so that noone could steal Orders from him on Turn 1?)

I forgot to take an overhead shot for this table, but it basically consisted of three long lanes; a left lane, a center lane, a right lane. The left lane was heavily contested by his link, so I basically mined it, laid koalas down, and set up some defense while focusing my attack on the middle and fairly empty right lane.

Keisotsu: Reliable and respectable once again, with the missile on overwatch on a high platform let me contest all three lanes. She was able to survive my opponent's Noctifier missile in a 1-dice v 1-dice shootout through the Saturation zone. The odds were in my opponent's favor with him needing 12s vs my 7s, but he couldn't find the hit he needed over a few Orders of firing, and the Keisotsu missile snuck a hit through on a 6s that did the trick. The HMG then knocked down the Maakrep Sniper, critically opening the middle and right lanes through which I would eventually run my civvies.

Kempetai MSV2: Finally, she got a chance to shine, hunting and defending against the Malignos trying to sneak into my DZ. She formed a very effective tagteam with Yojimbo, who had been fairly indifferent all tournament, but finally came into his own by threatening a key corner with Contender, Engage, smoke and Koalas. Pairing him with the Suppressing Kempetai MSV2 was a very strong defensive asset. As my reserve drop, she went down to contest the long left lane, where my opponent's Unidrons were set up.

Ryuken-9: For the third game in a row, these gals made it happen. With the Noctifier and the Maakrep down, I ran one straight up the middle lane to Shock a Malignos to death, Discovering a mine that had my Oniwaban pinned in Hidden Deployment as well. This allowed both her and the Oni to each run a Civvie back, handing off to my Datatracker before going back for a third Civvie and securing my enemy's HVT. Truly the Major at her finest, doing serious work.

Oniwaban: Once again, a very strong mission for these two, with both making the Superior Infiltration rolls. One of them never drew his sword or pulled a trigger, but made use of the very empty right lane (not heavily contested by either of us) to make an uncontested long run all the way back to my own DZ for big scoring. The other also never drew his sword, but was able to shotgun blast the Unidron link as they all walked past him, living the dream and punching big holes in that link as they sought to counterattack and grab themselves some civilians to abduct.

This let me wrap up with a 10-0.

Conclusion:
I concluded the day with 9 Tournament Points and a decent 26/30 Objective Points, which was good enough for first. I couldn't have been happier with my lists, I admit. They did precisely what I asked of them, giving me great tools. The combination of Ninja for precision aggression, and Ryuken for all-round gunfighters and defensive Specialists, is a tandem pairing I will continue to use. It's worth mentioning that across all three games, I only spend 5 Orders on actively shooting with a long-range weapon. Everything else was spent on short range troops maneuvering and doing lethal work up close. As you can imagine, that's a hell of a feeling for a PanO player accustomed to laying pipe at range!

 

Persistence!

In Game 2 she got knocked Unconscious three times... But I was happy to put Orders and Command tokens into keeping her in the game, because I needed her to knock apart that Bagh Mari link.

In Game 3, it took her 3 AROs before she hit anything but air, and then promptly died to a Combi rifle firing from 28 inches away through a Saturation zone... So I'm not sure it's the greatest example of her finesse. If that Noctifier hadn't also been Burst 1, I doubt she would have made it as far as she did. But taking down a Noctifier in ARO sure is nice.

 

@grampyseer
Can't say I've ever been that worried about protecting line trooper LTs. Coming from NCA where my LT is pretty much always a Fusilier, and where I don't have linked MSV2 or such easy access to Minelayer, JSA feels like a downright luxury by comparison. If I was facing a Malignos or Fiday, I can keep my Keisotsu scattered around a bit to force the assassin to commit to attacking one, and with MSV2 and mines, you can generally make it a huge risk for them to reveal and commit. For JSA, I'd pull the Ryuken-9 back and use the mines closer to my DZ, just to make life rougher on any would-be Oniwaban.

@Alphz
I definitely miss the Rui Shi, but that 1.5 SWC is rough. To make room for it, I have to drop the Keisotsu LT for a 0 SWC LT (such as the Domaru) which means losing two whole Regular Orders. Plus I'd probably want an Engineer too, just to make the most of it. If I kept the Keisotsu LT and got rid of SWC somewhere else, I feel like I'd be losing valuable tools... The HMG, the missile, the double Ryuken-9 SMGs.

That being said, I'd gladly take the Rui Shi over the Kempetai Marksmen if I could fit the Rui Shi in. The Kempetai's real benefit isn't so much quality, but rather the fact that she fits into a list more easily than the Rui Shi, and obviously benefits from having a huge pile of Keisotsu to link with. But she's not nearly as strong a solo piece as the Rui Shi... And if you chain her to your Keisotsu, you have to drag them all around as she goes hunting, and that's just risky. I think the best compromise is to keep 2 Keisotsu near her, and then reform into a small 3-man team if you want to get aggressive with her. She's not a bad piece on the whole, but the Rui Shi is amazing.

For these games, yeah I was definitely challenged on the ARO front. Game 1 had a Proxy Mk2 Sniper who could see most of the table, Game 2 had a whole Bagh Mari link team plus a lone Sapper Sniper, and Game 3 had Unidron Link, Maakrep Sniper and would have had a Noctifier too, if it hadn't died in its own turn. Those are all major threats.

The Mk2 I had to left live. I tried to maneuver the Kempetai across the roof catwalks to see the Mk2, but since she decided that failing to kill a Warcor with no cover was preferable to actually doing her job, I had to live with the Mk2 covering everything. As a result, the bikes got little play, and I had to rely on Saito.

In Game 2, I was able to be a bit more direct. My opponent had knocked out the missile but didn't finish it, so I picked the missile up and was able to get some good clustered shots on the link. I could have used the HMG to try and challenge that team, but honestly the missile was doing exactly what I wanted it to do in that setting. Despite spending only a few Orders on that exchange, it was critical for success... My Ryuken and Oniwaban wouldn't have had much chance trying to gunfight an intact 5-man Bagh Mari link.

For Game 3, the missile was such an overwatch threat that my opponent had to reveal a dominant TO piece just to try and get rid of it. Even if the Keisotsu missile had died to the Noctifier, just knowing where the Noctifier was is immensely valuable in a mission like Rescue.

So on the whole, while the Keisotsu didn't receive a lot of Orders, the roles they did perform were key. Time with Fusiliers and Acon Regulars taught me the flexibility of those teams for both attack and defense. Sometimes they achieve a really important role, and even if they do nothing, they're cheap enough that they're perfectly fine cheerleading without feeling like you've wasted anything.

Regarding the Oniwaban: taking two was an experiment, but I like having the double coverage. As you saw, you can use one aggressively and try to make bold moves, and if that doesn't pan out, you still have one left to perform something more conservative. Plus, people don't seem to expect two of them. In missions like Trans Matrix, where you need to dominate zones, their high point cost is actually pretty nice. Being able to move just one unit to take a whole zone away from enemy models is great.

Lastly... Yeah, if you commit to spending SWC on defensive ARO pieces like missiles, I strongly suggest the Doctor. Doctoring can be great, as long as you're not spending too many Orders on it.

Thanks for reading, guys.

 

Very true, though I was thinking about Command Tokens to reform the link so she could keep her bonuses!

 

Yeah, good question.

The easy answer is that I usually won't use Superior Infiltrate for Oniwaban. For most games, I don't think it's worth the danger at all. I deployed both Oniwaban with regular Infiltration in Game 2, and didn't regret that choice.

In Game 3, I went with Superior Infiltration just because of the Exclusion Zone in Rescue. The chance of successfully Superior Infiltrating at least one Oniwaban is about 94%. So for a mission like Rescue or Capture and Protect, the risk can be very worth it.

If both Oniwaban had failed in Rescue, I would have relied a lot more on the Ryuken-9.

For the long range weapons, all JSA lists are pretty limited this way. Even double Tanko missiles in a 5-man link are a very limited choice. The Daiyokai is okay, and you can always bring a Total Reaction REM or O-Yoroi. But it's amazing how much work you can do with 2x Ryuken-9 SMGs for gunfighting. They're a very good unit.

 

I had the Kuroshi Rider as my Datatracker in Game 1, but used a Ryuken-9 in my other two games as I recall. She's pretty good for the role... Not great for missions where you need to keep your Datatracker alive all game, since she'll probably end up risking herself a lot, but she's great for those missions where you need to take down the opponent's HVT or do some maneuvering.

As far as non-Camo midfield pieces are concerned, she's absolutely amazing. I can't overstate how good the SMG profile is.

And yes, enjoyed the double Oniwaban list. I didn't know how it would perform, being very new to using Oniwaban, but I was very happy with their lethality. Even with the shininess of the new SMG profile, the boarding shotgun remains incredibly good and incredibly lethal.

 

Great questions as always, @Teslarod . I'm glad you found this thread.

I'll do this out of order, answering your direct questions first then responding to the discussion. My replies in your questions below:

- Aragoto KHD, convinced by the performance so far or probably better together with a Ninja for reliability?

Good question about the Aragoto. One major part of that was the efficiency of Movement and the decent gunfighting, specifically for Unmasking. Generally I don't think I'd take it over the Ninja KHD for button pushing missions, but Unmasking required button pushing as well as the added criteria of reaching enemy HVTs hiding in Total Cover close to their DZ. The Ninja KHD of course is a good bet for sneaking around, but I figured that could result in a lot of Orders. Since I had both Saito and Yojimbo in my lists for smoke, I decided to take both the Ninja KHD and Kuroshi Rider for their ability to speedily reach those hidden lurking HVTs.

They also had the unintended consequence of giving the enemy some visible Specialists to fixate on with AROs and defense (specifically the Mk2 Sniper and TR REM trying to pin them in my DZ), which gave Saito a bit more freedom to romp around the midfield.

I doubt I'd use that kind of setup for many other missions, but it worked well for this one.

- Ryouken-9 ODD, two better than one or doesn't it matter?

I definitely enjoy having two. Their uses with Minelayer and Suppressive Fire are pretty self-evident, so I won't harp too much there. But having two mines, and two separate x-visor/ODD Suppressive Fire platforms gives JSA a defense that it's never had before. I think the most pleasant surprise about them though is that they're good in the active turn, and they're good out to surprising range. Mechanically, the ability to hit targets up to 24 inches away with a variety of ammo types is amazing. And in all three games, being able to shift the Ryuken-9 from defense to attack either stopped my opponent scoring key points, or scored key points for me. I'll be using two SMGs as a staple of my lists.

- Gotta admit I still consider the Rui Shi an automatic choice for a more conservative set of missions. Your Kemp MSV2 had a particularily unlucky run. Do you expect to stick with the meatbag for the SWC, does it always depend or might you even run both?

Great question. She definitely did have an unlucky performance, but it did highlight the difficulty that she has to stay chained to the link team for maximum effect. You know, of course, that running and gunning through an opening with the Rui Shi can end games, and the Kempetai just isn't equipped for that role at all. So as much as I want to view them as being interchangeable, they're certainly not.

For the near future, I'll try ditching the missile Keisotsu and bring the Rui Shi back into my lists. I tried that immediately in my first couple of practice games after this tournament, and the Rui Shi performed very well as expected. I was sorry not to have the missile though, and I'm reluctant to give up the Keisotsu HMG also, so I'm not quite sure yet what the right balance is. It's something I'll have to keep experimenting with.

I'd love to ditch the notion of the defensive link entirely and use a TR Bot, but with the TR REM also at 1.5 SWC, that's not helping me much.

- I'm well aware the Sensorbot is pretty much your trademark so I'll gloss over him as well. Does his priority purpose change compared to PanO? With the game's best CC troops and TO Specialists readily available there is less need for him to help out in areas covered by those. The Aleph game had loads of Camo troops, were you glad you brought him or might you even consider running a list without (*gasp*)?

Another great question. It was an easy choice to include the Sensor bot in this lineup... The possibility of sweeping for Infiltrators who made it to my side of the table in Rescue made it a natural choice for the double Oniwaban list.

Generally too, I think it's a good backup Specialist in missions that call for it. JSA has great Specialists of course, but the Aragoto and Ninja KHD compete with a lot of other units, while choices like the Shikami and Saito may have more important things to do than run for consoles. So the sensor bot remains a useful intermediate option in my mind, being fairly cheap and still possessing valuable utility. I still can't think of matchups, scenarios or circumstances where I'd want to run without him.

- This leaves Yojimbo and a Kempetai (either CoC or MSV2) as possible "autopick" (>90%) options for JSA. When would you consider dropping even those?

We talked a bit about the Kempetai, and while I think it's a good unit, it's definitely not interchangeable with the Rui Shi. And with Chain of Command in general, I'm rarely an alpha-strike one-combat-group kind of player, so I'm generally not counting on an 11 Order list when I formulate my plan for opening turns. You hit the nail on the head a bit further down in your commentary, so I'll respond more there, but I have some issues about CoC in JSA.)

- last but not least, is there anything you're looking forward to try out?

Shikami. I've played a couple of pretty interesting practice games with them that have gone well. I'm still not completely sold on their value compared to comparable choices, but I say with a lot of confidence that they certainly "work" if a player is determined to get them on the table. More to come on that one.

The double Oniwaban was pretty spectacular. I plan to use that setup a lot more in the near future. Looking forward to what you do with the O-Yoroi too, I think it's a great TAG and I'd like to see an experienced player put it through its paces.

Having two really does help. Obviously good on defense, but I think their offensive application is more a tool of opportunity. If a gap opens up, they can sprint ahead and drop mines around corners/Shock things to death very nicely.

Having 2x Oniwaban, 2x Ryuken-9 SMGs creates a very stable platform for attack. All 4 are hard to retaliate against, and one set of units can create gaps for the other unit type to exploit. Game 2 was a good example of this... Oniwaban attacking, forcing my opponent to use his own turn to dig the Oniwaban out, which allowed the Ryuken-9 to follow up and create another turn of favorable gunfighting. Successive waves of attack with pieces that are hard to counter is great. This also speaks to your question about the Sensor Bot btw... Mines are the best counter to these unit types, so I want to make sure I can Sensor as necessary.

I played one practice game, also Unmasking v Vanilla ALEPH actually. I had her defending a pair of consoles vs ISS in Suppressive Fire, surrounded by her mines. I think the opponent expected her to stay where she was, which would have been a reasonable option. But she came to life, ran into the opponent's DZ, and did some work on REMs/Kuang Shi/Sophotect, targets against which her mines and SMG were very well suited, and she yielded high-probability results.

Regarding the HRL, I agree. I think it's a fine piece, and I saw its value in previous JSA, but at the end of the day it isn't a skilled unit. It's a helpful unit, and can achieve some valuable roles, but as you say it isn't a first or even second tier gunner. Unlinked BS12 HRL with the most limited negative modifier available in the game can get work done, but he won't be a common sight in any of my lists.

In Game 2 vs the Bagh Mari, she also switched from defense to offense, and gave me majority scoring for a critical turn. The SMG x-visor combo may not yield the highest probability for a kill, but it can definitely get the job done with enough Orders, and perhaps more important it can keep her safe while she maneuvers for close-range engagements. Having two gives you redundancy, especially if you need one to keep defending/suppressing while the other goes on an aggressive run.

True. As you can see with the SWC investment in my Keisotsu link, I'm very reluctant to completely yield long-range firepower. But ultimately yes, JSA needs the tools for opening up the table for their short-range prowess. I think your O-Yoroi approach will have a good set of tools for that, and most lists will probably find tools like the Daiyokai or Tanko Missile to help. For whatever reason though, the samurai approach doesn't speak to me as much in this new iteration of JSA.

I thought about it a bit during Transmission Matrix. Since I wasn't making any major investments in Hacking, I was comfortable with basically not participating in Hacking game for the time being. It'll become more of a consideration if/when I start running Shikami in an actual ITS event, but Oniwaban and Saito sure are good as self-contained units that can operate with very little support. It's nice when your key pieces aren't Hacking vulnerable (a nice change from PanO.)

Website ate my response to this question. Editing in my response now.

I also agree that those units you mentioned would make for great LT choices, especially since they operate so well on their own. The irony of the Domaru as the "preferred" aggressive LT choices is that they can now link with everything, which means they're never really getting a chance to actually use that LT Order of theirs. The selection of highly useful solo LT choices is actually pretty low. Are you thinking of going with the O-Yoroi as LT, paying the extra SWC and buying CoC to get that extra Order? Or do you think you'll go with the Keisotsu LT, letting you skip the point tax for CoC? Or neither, and take a different LT completely?

The Kempetai CoC is indeed decent with that boarding shotgun, as you say. I can see the appeal of simply having him as a late-game sweeper, dragging all the Keisotsu up the table on Turn 3 for a critical late-game rush. It's not a bad thing to have, though I'm not sold of any of JSA's LT options being worth the point burden of simply having an extra 2.5 regular Orders for the same cost instead.

 

Sure, your point about PanO vs JSA makes perfect sense. I started my PanO after my JSA, so I picked up PanO for a dramatic change of pace from what JSA had to offer. Obviously, quite a bit of night-and-day contrast between the two.

I may need to be sold on Chain of Command with a concrete example or two. Maybe I'm just so accustomed to having uninspiring LTs by now, I've developed my entire approach as a player to not really utilize or value that extra Order. Even PanO's good LT choices, like Joan, I've never really been comfortable pitching into combat before. My PanO tends to be a castle in my DZ that I make forays out of.

That approach doesn't completely translate to JSA, but it does come pretty close. You may not have Fusilier/Regular links, Auxbots or Mines, but the Keisotsu link does alright on defense, and Ryuken-9 with Koalas can do the trick too.

I like your thoughts on the Kempetai as a combatant too, and not just as as 21 point tax that you pay for having an aggressive LT. As someone who likes to transition their line trooper links into an offensive role in the late game, I can see the appeal of having a great link leader who can serve as Specialist, overwhelming close-range combatant and (as you rightly point out) a high WIP trooper for either reliable button pushing or reliable Discovering.

I've been building a few lists where I've ended up with an unusual volume of points left, where I could afford the Spitfire but not the Marksman Rifle. Certainly the Marksman Rifle firmly overshadows the Spitfire, but the Spitfire isn't a bad choice either. Of course I love Marksman Rifles, but the bad bout of luck that I had this tournament made me grumble about only Damage 13, only Burst 3 (obviously I wouldn't change things these at all, but the number of times where a Spitfire might have made a difference over the Marksman Rifle in this tournament was hilarious and embarrassing.)

As you get underway, I want to hear about your O-Yoroi exploits and how it performs for you. Ultimately I don't know that our lists or approaches will be that different; the points you spend on the O-Yoroi could pay for the double Oniwaban I've been fielding. Rui Shi vs Marksmen Rifle Kempetai is fairly different in terms of function, but still fairly similar overall.

And I hope the Ryuken-9 perform well for you as well. Blazing away out to 24 inches with an SMG feels odd from a tactical decision-making perspective, but it's yielded some very good results for both the active and reactive turn. Three dice on 9s against most targets isn't a bad place to be at all.

Oh, last comment on bikes. Speed is really the only thing they have going for them, but it can be a great thing. If your opponent makes the mistake of leaving the table uncontested with mines, AROs, etc. then a bike specialist can achieve entire mission lineups in one turn of uninterrupted button pushing. In one of my practice games, I spent an entire 10 Order + Impetuous on the Kuroshi Rider to wrap up Unmasking, and it was pretty glorious. After the game I measured out the distance she covered, and it was about 9 feet / 2.4 meters of linear distance traveled, pushing buttons and blasting away light targets as she went. It was kind of a perfect storm of circumstances, but sometimes there are gameplans or tactical possibilities that only an 8-6 unit can achieve. It's a fun notion to factor into listbuilding or a tactical gameplan... "If my turn was completely uncontested and uninterrupted, what could I achieve here?"