Is there an existing thread re. how to play the ARO game as JSA? I tend to get stomped in my reactive turn, unless I'm insanely lucky. I get the concepts (layered/defence in depth approach, using flash pulses, linked missiles, ryuken in supression, mines, surprise engaging enemy rambos), but actually using it in practice I struggle with. JSA has some excellent active turn pieces, but keeping the all the little cogs alive to fuel an assassin run is where im falling down. Halp :(
Ryukens are your most useful piece to control the table. You also have the threat of a TO reveal (Oniwaban BSG or Ninja AHD if you ever take that profile.) Most Keisotsu are worth upgrading to the FO to get the linked flash pulse.
Karakuris are a good piece to hold a line: Total Immune "ARM" 9 with a short-midrange toolkit of weapons is hard to trifle with. I'm also a bit partial to Ryuken HRL, since you can choose when to pull the trigger and reveal shoot; the mine they drop can make your opp second guess which marker should the troopers aim at. 2 ML Tanko with Musashi Haris are also tough to face against. Yuriko's Panzerfausts are cool ARO pieces, after she fired them, Hyperdynamics can help her get back to cover with a relative good dice. But yeah, the best JSA ARO piece is going first and pummel them to the ground.
In Yu Jing forum I often write "don't take AROs across the table", this is even more true for JSA. Make yourself inaccessible and force them to come to you, because every order they waste getting closer is an order spent in your favour because you want them close. Ryuken mines should attempt to position so that it takes an extra two orders to get to your key pieces, disposable Keisotsu positioned so that it takes a further one or two orders to get into your DZ, with the key goal always being that an opponent doesn't have enough orders to eat your Geisha/Samurai without seriously overextending. Tanko and/or Yuriko might be necessary sacrifice to slow down or give pause to TAGs that will every so often realize that AP Mines are effective DAM 4 or 5 and can't crit.
Has anyone tried what I call the flexicore? 2 domaru, 3 tanko (2ML) and a Daikyokai. The core starts with the two ML tanks AROing and then reform the core with the Daiyo and the domarus
There is no such Fireteam: Core, that contains Domaru and Daiyoukai. The only Fireteam Domaru and daddy D can form is a Haris, with one Domaru (Fireteam: Haris), one random Domaru and a Daiyoukai.
If you have extra SWC sitting around and a Keisotsu link already, I'm also always a fan of the linked Keisotsu ML. It's annoyingly cheap and high-threat for the cost. Consider it disposable though. If there's any way to stack Yruiko right above him vertically (to make pie-slicing a lot harder), do so.
"Special Fireteam" in the builder doesn't mean you can break the rules of Fireteams to make this special one =) http://infinitythewiki.com/en/Fireteam:_Haris
I'd love to hear your take on the HRL Ryuken-9 @meikyoushisui and @Mahtamori as an ARO piece. I don't often see it being mentioned, and I understand that he competes with the SMG Ryuken-9 which is bonkers good as well, but with Ninjas and Oniwabans aplenty, you could construct a list that employs the HRL for ARO and Active duty very successfully. Thoughts?
I loved the Raiden, but I think the Ryuken is just a twinge under-performing by comparison. It's slightly costlier and has lower ARM due to no longer being MI, and I don't think the Heavy Pistol is an improvement it needed nor wanted. So being an old fart to JSA I'm not charmed. Being less comparative to olden days I'd only note that I haven't used the new one, JSA has few camouflage tokens to create shell games in home territory, but on the other hand I think Fireteams are even more common now a days than before. I think you can't do wrong with experimenting with it, since 3 Ryuken SMGs is a bit much, but this necessitates Oniwaban play due to SWC I think. Try to either counter-deploy a Fireteam to arrest their movement or to put the bugger so that it doesn't get shot at directly from the opponent DZ, preferably in a spot where most people would expect the mine to be.
It's bad, but I'm largely of the opinion that the old Raiden was bad too (listbuilding trap -- if you got into a situation in JSA or vanilla YJ where a Raiden was the right choice, you had already made some really sub-par choices about SWC allocation, IMO). His chassis is just unsupportive to his job. BS12 with no visual mods. His camo marker is super obvious since there's nothing else in JSA that would put two camo markers in your DZ (anything that would is less scary than the Raiden) so the shell game is also pretty weak. I also lean away more and more from playing direct AROs outside of PanO, especially the way game-wide BS has scaled out of control in the past year and a half. My Ryuken is likely to waste just as many orders and lets me invest SWC somewhere else.
The TR bot is actually very good in JSA. While its cost is absolutely brutal to pay for, it's not a bad HMG platform, and Burst 4 Shock Ammo is really helpful for supporting Ryuken-9. Don't underestimate the Kempetai Marksman watching some of the short approaches too. It's a nice tool to challenge chain rifle warbands rushing your vulnerable Ryuken-9.
You're kinda not gonna solve the problem. I tend to spam Keisotsu FO's and have those overwatching corridiors in your half (invisible from the enemy DZ) Yuriko's Panzerfaust and Mine is as good an ARO you'll get while keeping the MSV2 Kemp and your HMG alive for the Active Turn. Keisotsu MLs have been a massive waste of SWC for the majority of the time, stopped using them long ago. I've also fallen out of love hard with Ryuken SMGs as active pieces (lack of a 16" +3 bubble really hurts their damage, lack of Marker State means they have to fight at 0 Rangebands a lot) other for the quite necessary access to a midfield Minelayer or two. Don't have any good advice for you other than layering the Mines, Koalas and Flashpulse AROs from as many bodies as you can get to slow the other guy down enough. The TR bot can work and you'll most likely have double use from your Engineer/Hacker for the Rui Shi anyway so it doesn't hurt to add one. Although it will very likely have to be your Reserve piece to avoid getting countered by -12 MODs or just a brute force Active Turn piece it can't expect to beat outside of lucky crits.
I don't know why you feel that the Keisotsu MLs are SWC waste. I mean, in whatever other unit would you spend the SWC? Karakuris are 0s, Oniwabans are 1 at most, Ryukens are 0.5, Ruishi is the other hefty cost at 1.5, most heavy hitters don't cost a ton of SWC. Unless you're packing TAGs and Spitfire Domarus... Also, most Specialist don't use up SWC, the KHD Ninja, the Keisotsu FOs, Shikami, etc. I tend to have 1 or 2 Keisotsu ML for ARO duty. 2 dice on 13s that can force up to six saves is quite good, I believe. And if you force someone to move outside their +3 range, then that means that they are in the +3 range of every other gun you have. What would be you take on the Ryuken HRL? I'm kinda interested in this unit. It intrigues me.
Rui Shi, TR Bot, Yuriko, Ryuken, Keisotsu HMG, Kempetai MSV2, Hakcer etc adds up quickly. I'm not really spending all 6, but usually at least 5 on other things which already gets in the way of the ML. I've stopped running even BS12 LI MLs without TO ARO support for synergy. BS10 is just not reliably going to do anything vs any semi competent HMG. It's still gonna be devastating if you do, however we're often talking about 3:1 odds to end up with a dead Regular Order and a Link down to 4 members. Just not worth to include as part of a reliable strategy over another Minelayer, HMG etc. A Flashpulse is cheaper, 0 SWC and ends up with a better FTF within 24" where you can stack them with Mines, Koalas, TO Engage etc.
I agree, the state of link teams has evolved to the point that I don't think keisotsu missiles cut it anymore. While you can get use out of it, I think the REMs (and their unfortunate SWC tax) are a better use of SWC.
Template AROs tend to slow a fireteam down a lot more than a direct hitting ARO, but there's a risk that a Keisotsu ML is simply too much investment in terms of SWC to be worthwhile anyway.
