[ISS] Crane Agents

3 Cranes + 2 Celestials is very costly. Almost inevitably you'll lose your order base and be left with only your "TAG" which due to weapon set up tends to be sufficiently easy to pin down that it's not a great combo.

I think not going overboards with Cranes is the way to go. A Crane or two, focusing on either abusing the new FAQ (Cranes have Stealth, Celestial Guards do not and the Control Device is handily Comms Equipment which means you can get the Crane to do Normal roll Oblivion against Hackers quite easily) or trying to get your melee murder machines into CC using smoke (not as easy as it sounds)

There's quite a few people with more success using ISS who swear by the Spitfire Crane.

 

Wu Ming + Zhanying core is a more expensive and durable pain train with additional perks (nimbus, breaker ammo, mines, HRL, Chain Rifle, E/Mitter) while the Crane/CG core is a bit cheaper (or about the same with 2 Cranes) with smoke, B3 Nanopulsers and B3 BS 10 Triangulated Fire on the Crane instead.

Imperial Service
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5
CRANE IMPERIAL AGENT (X Visor) Spitfire, 2 Nanopulsers / Pistol, DA CCW. (2 | 54)
CRANE IMPERIAL AGENT (Sensor, X Visor) MULTI Rifle, 2 Nanopulsers / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 52)
CELESTIAL GUARD Hacker (Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 21)
CELESTIAL GUARD (Kuang Shi Control Device) Combi Rifle + Light Smoke Grenade Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 13)
XI ZHUANG Combi Rifle + Light Flamethrower, MadTraps / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 20)

3 SWC | 160 Points

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Imperial Service
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5
WÚ MÍNG HMG / Pistol, Knife. (2 | 39)
WÚ MÍNG (Fireteam: Duo) Chain Rifle, Submachine Gun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25)
WÚ MÍNG (Fireteam: Duo) Combi Rifle + E/Mitter, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 32)
WÚ MÍNG Boarding Shotgun + 1 TinBot B (Deflector L2) / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 33)
ZHÀNYING (Sensor) Breaker Combi Rifle, Nimbus Grenades, MadTraps / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 28)

2.5 SWC | 157 Points

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Oh and I should comment on Wu Ming vs Crane link situation.

Wu Ming are funny, but they lock you out of the sectorial's greatest tactical tool (reliable smoke) because any Celestial Guard with smoke you take is going to be running around without a Fireteam. (It is for this reason that I think that the biggest way to even out ISS' range of options is to give Celestial Guard a Haris profile as it would mesh well with Pheasant Cores and Wu Ming Cores which are both lists distinctly on the lower end of the balance scale - even though it'd slightly improve "vanilla" ISS (which is where you use the vast amount of mercs to have ISS play more like a vanilla faction))
Typically running a Wu Ming list means you'll have one death star with a lot of shotguns while running Crane+CG means you'll have a semi-death star that's highly reliant on keeping the weak units alive and delivering the strong unit. The Wu Ming list will be harder to stop as it keeps trucking after taking abuse while the Crane list will be harder to hurt but tends to stop when the opponent finally manages to apply abuse.
Crane lists will be naturally weak to Kamau and you'll need to use some of the points you save on the main link to get unit options that are capable of dealing with Kamau while a Wu Ming list will have a HMG that you can face off against the Kamau with for marginally beneficial odds.

Also to keep in mind is that Wu Ming tends to have a harder time getting specialists, but curiously can get rather adequate Hacking support through Tinbotted Zhanying. Cranes on the other hand can be supported by the excellent Xi who for some missions can be fun to combo with a Panggolin in order to saturate your DZ with glue - don't forget that he's got No2!

P.s. I haven't properly played ISS over the past few years, so I haven't actually used them against any of the new factions like Varuna nor OSS. Been focusing obsessively in trying to make IA work because I really want IA to work...

 

Double Crane fireteams are pretty sturdy but I think they are overkill

I usually run the simple and proven composition

Imperial Service
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5
CRANE IMPERIAL AGENT Lieutenant (X Visor) Spitfire, 2 Nanopulsers / Pistol, DA CCW. (2 | 54)
CELESTIAL GUARD Hacker (Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 21)
CELESTIAL GUARD (Kuang Shi Control Device) Combi Rifle + Light Smoke Grenade Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 13)
CELESTIAL GUARD (Forward Observer) Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13)
XI ZHUANG Combi Rifle + Light Flamethrower, MadTraps / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 20)

3 SWC | 121 Points

Crane as a pointman cleans the field aftrer th initial run of Rui Shi, delivers specialists to the objective and sets up with madtrap defense (people really overvalue their threat and I love exploiting it) where needed.
I tend to take Crane lt in the ISS with pheasant backup since there is too much specfire in our meta and I'm tired of cheerleader LTs getting splatted by grenade launchers.

 

Yes I've tried it just for the fun of it and liked it a lot! It's expesive but fun. I don't remember exactly what I took before but below is probably what I would do. It all depends on the mission of course. But the three Crane did pretty well getting up to an objective and holding it.

Imperial Service
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10
CRANE IMPERIAL AGENT Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) MULTI Rifle, 2 Nanopulsers / Pistol, DA CCW. (0.5 | 53)
CRANE IMPERIAL AGENT (Sensor, X Visor) Boarding Shotgun, 2 Nanopulsers / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 47)
CRANE IMPERIAL AGENT (X Visor) Spitfire, 2 Nanopulsers / Pistol, DA CCW. (2 | 54)
XI ZHUANG Combi Rifle + Light Flamethrower, MadTraps / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 20)
CELESTIAL GUARD (Kuang Shi Control Device) Combi Rifle + Light Smoke Grenade Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 13)
SOPHOTECT Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 31)
RUI SHI Spitfire / Electric Pulse. (1 | 20)
DAKINI Tacbot Paramedic (MediKit) Combi Rifle / Electric Pulse. (0 | 15)
CELESTIAL GUARD Lieutenant Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13)
PHEASANT IMPERIAL AGENT (Multispectral Visor L1, Marksmanship LX) MULTI Sniper Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 32)

5.5 SWC | 298 Points

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@Mahtamori mentioned how the Crane is weak to Kamau links and I think he's right. Not only Kamau links, but any long range ARO is upsetting for the Spitfire. However, Cranes are really cool with their sensors and MA (and anything in Spit-range feels threatened) so... What do you do?

I like running two combat groups, one with a Crane + CG Core and the other with a Hsien Haris. This gives you a really tough perimetral defense (with double MadTrap setup) and an amazing HMG platform that need just a Nimbus Grenade to destroy any long range ARO (including Kamau MSR). Is it pricey? Sure. Is it really that expensive? I think not, you are getting a lot for your buck:

Here we go again...
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GROUP 1 9 1 4
HSIEN HMG, Nanopulser / Pistol, AP CCW. (2 | 61)
ZHÀNYING (Sensor) Breaker Combi Rifle, Nimbus Grenades, MadTraps / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 28)
ZHÀNYING (Fireteam: Haris, Sensor) Breaker Combi Rifle, Nimbus Grenades / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 27)
CELESTIAL GUARD (Kuang Shi Control Device) Combi Rifle + Light Smoke Grenade Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 13)
KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)
KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)
KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)
KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)
CHAĪYÌ Yaókòng Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
WARCOR (Sixth Sense L1) Flash Pulse / Stun Pistol, Knife. (0 | 3)

GROUP 2 9 4
CRANE IMPERIAL AGENT Lieutenant (X Visor) Spitfire, 2 Nanopulsers / Pistol, DA CCW. (2 | 54)
CELESTIAL GUARD Hacker (Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 21)
XI ZHUANG Combi Rifle + Light Flamethrower, MadTraps / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 20)
CELESTIAL GUARD (Kuang Shi Control Device) Combi Rifle + Light Smoke Grenade Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 13)
CELESTIAL GUARD Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12)
KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)
KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)
KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)
KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)

6 SWC | 300 Points

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You give up a couple things though: no Ninja, which kinda sucks, and no doctor (because who has 31 points to spare, am I right?). But well, if you want to employ the best imperial agents the empire has access to, you're gonna have to make some concessions.

All in all, I love this setup. I usually play it by keeping a set of KS back in a Core, then forming the Crane link with a Command Token. The Haris team takes on the long range gunners and then the Core can do pretty much anything it wants. Camo? Sensor, maybe Intuitive Attacks. Something you want to smack in CC? Throw smoke and gang up on it. Buttons? Specialists with WIP... I guess? You can also throw smoke to cover up your advance.

Maybe it doesn't fit every playstyle, but it's worked for me (and it's fun).

 

It's really only the Kamau. Crane links bring their own smoke and can pretty easily close the distance against most defensive links.

 

I am not familar with why the Kamau is so badass. Is this because you can wildcard an MSV2 sniper in a link with Varuna?

 

BS13 base Mimetic core linking MSV2 sniper, and yeah you can toss it in a cheap ass defensive link. Statistically difficult to win fights against .

 

Lets put it that way: if you are playing in a competitive meta in 2019, the first question you should ask yourself while listbuilding is "How would I deal with Kamau?"

 

And let's not forget Shock Immunity. You basically need to inflict two wounds in one FTF (or tempt your fate with Major Lunah), otherwise he'll just go unconscious/prone behind cover only to be revived in your opponent's turn.

And even a B4 HMG Haris Hsien behind Nimbus has only ~25 % chance of achieving that ...

 

What about some Triangulated fire on B4?

 

The only models in the game that can do that are Rafiq red fury in Haqqislam (whole field) and Zulu Cobra (up to 24")

 

Sixth Sense L2, MSV2, plus Mimetism, all on a BS13 native trooper.

Even something hideous like a BS14 HRMC (Szallie or Yan Huo) only has about a 35% chance of winning the FtF, and has an equal (ish) chance of losing said FtF.

Spoiler: Math to back up that claim

Yān Huǒ Invincibles - HMC vs. Kamau Amphibious Intervention Teams (MSV 2) - MULTI Sniper Rifle (Stun Mode) (both sides in cover)
Active Player
36.12% Yān Huǒ Invincibles inflicts 1 or more wounds on Kamau Amphibious Intervention Teams (MSV 2) (Unconscious)
11.01% Yān Huǒ Invincibles inflicts 2 or more wounds on Kamau Amphibious Intervention Teams (MSV 2) (Dead)

Failures
23.20% Neither player succeeds

Reactive Player
40.68% Kamau Amphibious Intervention Teams (MSV 2) hits Yān Huǒ Invincibles (Stunned)


Szalamandra Squadron - HMC vs. Kamau Amphibious Intervention Teams (MSV 2) - MULTI Sniper Rifle (Stun Mode) (both sides in cover)
Active Player
37.02% Szalamandra Squadron inflicts 1 or more wounds on Kamau Amphibious Intervention Teams (MSV 2) (Unconscious)
11.99% Szalamandra Squadron inflicts 2 or more wounds on Kamau Amphibious Intervention Teams (MSV 2) (Dead)

Failures
40.78% Neither player succeeds
Reactive Player
22.20% Kamau Amphibious Intervention Teams (MSV 2) hits Szalamandra Squadron (Stunned)

Szallie's BTS9 really helps address the return fire.

If you're not asking "How will I deal with a linked Kamau" in your listbuilding, you're doing listbuilding wrong.

 

Triangulated Fire is an Entire Order, the Fireteam burst bonus only applies to Short Skill BS Attacks.

 

There are a million ways to deal with a linked Kamau. Unimaginative players will throw tons of numbers at you, all of which assume that you are a complete idiot and engaging the Kamau in cover, it its good range bands, and without even attempting to kill one of its teammates. If you engage your brain for a couple seconds you'll realize the Kamau's potency drops extremely sharply once you eliminate a single linked Fusilier, flank it, or just simply get within 16" with a solid attacking piece. God forbid you get a single Chain Rifle on target, which will greatly upset the ARM1 model.

On the topic of Cranes, you probably want either one or three for your core link. Three is more of a lifestyle choice, but basically any 3 Cranes plus Xi Zhuang and a Kuang Shi Control Device is a fireteam to be reckoned with. Cranes also make for very solid unlinked Lieutenants as they're extremely difficult to assassinate and can make good use of the LT order to declare Sensor.

If you're just starting out with Cranes I'd recommend the single Crane + 4 Celestial Guard core fireteam. It'll give you a good feel for the Crane's strengths and weaknesses and provide you a good idea of whether you'd rather triple down for the heavy-duty 3-Crane core, or if you'd prefer to dedicate your fireteam slot to some other option.

 

Other people tend to forget that your opponent also plays the game and will find ways to force you into exactly the situation described above, so it must be considered.

Jokes aside, of course there are ways to deal with the Kamau core sniper, but it's still the main thing to worry about when facing Varuna and for good reason. If you have no way of mitigating this, you will probably have a hard time against them.

 

To be fair, you first have to navigate through jammers and helots before you get to the fusilliers, and I can't help but feel like any varuna player would be delighted to see you spend all your orders going for the middle of his spider web. If you don't have what it takes to gun down the kamau it's usually best to keep your head down and ambush the units he sends going for the objective, and in the end forces the fireteam to leave it's cozy spot.


On the crane fireteam, I've had some success with 2 cranes in it: The multi-rifle + sensor profile has always been my favorite one as I highly rate both sensor and shock ammos when going for a midfield brawl, and the spitfire is kinda auto-include but... is it really? I think ISS could do just fine using rui-shi/garuda/dakinis to mop-up AROs, and then unleash a crane team with just the multi-rifle/sensor and his goons in the midfield to kill skirmishers and push buttons.

Imperial Service
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GROUP 1 9 2
CRANE IMPERIAL AGENT (Sensor, X Visor) MULTI Rifle, 2 Nanopulsers / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 52)
XI ZHUANG Combi Rifle + Light Flamethrower, MadTraps / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 20)
CELESTIAL GUARD (Kuang Shi Control Device) Combi Rifle + Light Smoke Grenade Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 13)
CELESTIAL GUARD (Forward Observer) Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13)
CELESTIAL GUARD (Forward Observer) Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13)
CELESTIAL GUARD Hacker (Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 21)
RUI SHI Spitfire / Electric Pulse. (1 | 20)
KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)
KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)

GROUP 2 8 1 2
GARUDA Tacbot Spitfire / Electric Pulse. (1.5 | 28)
MAJOR LUNAH Viral Sniper / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 29)
SOPHOTECT Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 31)
YUDBOT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
CELESTIAL GUARD Lieutenant Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13)
CELESTIAL GUARD (Kuang Shi Control Device) Combi Rifle + Light Smoke Grenade Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 13)
KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)
KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)
CHAĪYÌ Yaókòng Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
WARCOR (360º Visor) Flash Pulse / Stun Pistol, Knife. (0 | 3)

5.5 SWC | 300 Points

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I still don't know If i'd rather have Lunah or a linked CG MSR. I guess both could work really.

 

All of these where calculated in good range for the Yu Ching weapons.

I could be doing this wrong because its my first time on the dice calculator. On my end in a direct fire fight Ru Shi takes the cake with Assisted Fire.

Spoiler: Ru Shi Vs Kamau

Active Player
48.88% Yáoxiè Rui Shi inflicts 1 or more wounds on Kamau Amphibious Intervention Teams (MSV 2) (Unconscious)
20.15% Yáoxiè Rui Shi inflicts 2 or more wounds on Kamau Amphibious Intervention Teams (MSV 2) (Dead)

Failures
25.21% Neither player succeeds
Reactive Player
25.91% Kamau Amphibious Intervention Teams (MSV 2) inflicts 1 or more wounds on Yáoxiè Rui Shi (Unconscious)
3.32% Kamau Amphibious Intervention Teams (MSV 2) inflicts 2 or more wounds on Yáoxiè Rui Shi (Unconscious 2)

The next best I found was the Hsien.

Spoiler: Harris Hsien vs Kamau

Active Player
47.09% Hsien inflicts 1 or more wounds on Kamau Amphibious Intervention Teams (MSV 2) (Unconscious)
19.15% Hsien inflicts 2 or more wounds on Kamau Amphibious Intervention Teams (MSV 2) (Dead)

Failures
29.54% Neither player succeeds
Reactive Player
23.37% Kamau Amphibious Intervention Teams (MSV 2) inflicts 1 or more wounds on Hsien (1 W)
2.50% Kamau Amphibious Intervention Teams (MSV 2) inflicts 2 or more wounds on Hsien (Unconscious)

On the topic of the crane he is not my top choice.

Spoiler: Spitfire Crane vs Kamau

Active Player
41.76% Imperial Agents, Crane Rank (X Visor) inflicts 1 or more wounds on Kamau Amphibious Intervention Teams (MSV 2) (Unconscious)
14.57% Imperial Agents, Crane Rank (X Visor) inflicts 2 or more wounds on Kamau Amphibious Intervention Teams (MSV 2) (Dead)

Failures
31.71% Neither player succeeds
Reactive Player
26.53% Kamau Amphibious Intervention Teams (MSV 2) inflicts 1 or more wounds on Imperial Agents, Crane Rank (X Visor) (1 W)
3.19% Kamau Amphibious Intervention Teams (MSV 2) inflicts 2 or more wounds on Imperial Agents, Crane Rank (X Visor) (Unconscious)