IA is up, and I think many of us are busy building lists. I myself played couple of times (yet), and kinda impressed by the army. I want to pull out IA's hidden potentials. K, in short, I wanna start a thread about our link glue agent, Haidao. Very versatile unit of IA. Haidaos got; Decent BS, Normal PH, Normal WIP ARM 3, Enters into niche level. magnificient BTS 0, which gives us a proper suspect that these guys are actually an Irmandinho wearing stolen power armors. NWI + Shock immune; No worries for mine. At least. Free Agent : Which I am really focusing on. Ability to pop off from one group to another mean they can easily join the group you want them is huge, especially on late game or link team fabrication. The options are pretty solid compared to their points. Normal Haidao : 24pts, CR+D-Charges. Pretty budget option. Would pick one when things get tight, but won't do it willingly. Red Fury : 29/1. Pretty aggressive option. Although IA got one solid fat HI who carries one, Haidaos can Link. And BS 13 5 shots are not to sneeze at, despite we can bring infamous HMG Zuyong 2.0. KHD : 26pts, Boarding shotgun. A budget but debated option, since Haidaos got no BTS; risks are high. They need the tinbot or Fairy Dust for actual cyber-warfare. MSV MSR : 37/1.5pts. 'Nester' or aggro turret option. Suitable for zhanshi cannon fodder link, still don't expect it live long enough; it exchanged Mimetism with NWI. Engineer : 28pts, and becoming a specialist. Since Panggos are our FTO and (relatively) vulnerable target for link-blow, having one combat engineer seems plausible. CoC Haidao : Sporting a Combi and D charges, I suspect sooner or later people will try to frag Daoying Lts with their GLs. A fine insurance, cheaper than Tai. Overall, I like the concept and stats. Still this unit can show many potential, jumping over groups and serve as a wildcard trooper. Zuyongs are powerful enough in Haris, so I think it would be cool using him in Zhanshi bullet link, fueling some ML or MSR support, and then jump off to form another team. If you guys got some idea or experience, please share. Cause #WeareInvincibles.
I do suppose Hai Daos can be used to create super-cheap HI led fireteams. Yu Jing ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 5 ZHANSHI Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 11) ZHANSHI Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 11) ZHANSHI Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 11) ZHANSHI Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 11) HǍIDÀO Red Fury / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (1 | 29) 1 SWC | 73 Points Open in Infinity Army Not sure about Free Agent, but that's probably because I have a tendency to play single group lists.
Free Agent on him is super weird because he's normally gonna be wildcarding into a Fireteam, which means he's normally in the primary order group to begin with and even if he's not you don't jump link team members between order groups. It's not like a Pheasant twiddling its thumbs in the second group with CoC. Maybe useful on the MSV2 MSR if you're using it as an ARO piece in Vanilla?
btw. his ability to be wild card in 1 fireteam, does it mean, only 1 haidao can use this, so if you have 2 fireteams only 1 can be par of either, or can you have 1 in both fireteams?
I love the MSV2 MSR profile. That guy is a beast. Haven't tried the KHD since Fairy Dust via Daoying HD Lt2 + TinBot Deflector 2 is really good hacking defense, but I see myself using it in the future.
Tremendously good unit. Very useful. Great unit. Other HIs? Total Disasters. Better than any PanO equivalent. Everyone agrees. Believe me.
You could build where he's in a cheap Core team in another combat group that's on ARO duty. Invincible Army ────────────────────────────────────────────────── GROUP 1 9 MECH-ENGINEER Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15) YÁOZĂO Electric Pulse. (0 | 3) ZHĒNCHÁ (Forward Observer) Submachine Gun, D.E.P., Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 34) ZÚYŎNG (Fireteam: Haris, Tactical Awareness) Combi Rifle + 1 TinBot B (Deflector L2) / 2 Breaker Pistols, Knife. (0.5 | 34) TAI SHENG (Chain of Command) Mk12, Chain-colt, Stun Grenade / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (0 | 49) HǍIDÀO Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Boarding Shotgun / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 26) PANGGULING FTO (Repeater) Light Shotgun / Electric Pulse. (0 | 13) DĀOYĪNG Lieutenant L2 Boarding Shotgun / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 21) PANGGULING (Minesweeper, Repeater) Electric Pulse. (0 | 8) CHAĪYÌ Yaókòng Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8) GROUP 2 5 HǍIDÀO (Multispectral Visor L2) MULTI Sniper / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 37) SON-BAE Yaókòng Missile Launcher / Electric Pulse. (1.5 | 17) ZHANSHI (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12) ZHANSHI (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12) ZHANSHI Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 11) 3.5 SWC | 300 Points Open in Infinity Army It is nice knowing he can switch over, but it will rarely get used.
The free agent seems more likely to be used in Vanilla than IA, where you only have ONE Hai Dao and it isn't abandoning any fireteams as it bounces about the combat groups.
I really cannot wait to try this out alongside another hacker or two in a link with the Tinbot. It's going to make close infowar with HI actually fun to do.
I think Wildcard is only going to come up on him in Vanilla. IA is almost always going to be limited insertion. I'm saying for the most part. I guess there might be times you can try in IA. The Engineer saved Tai Sheng on the weekend from Immobilized 2. Worth it on any team going forward.
I feel like in the frame of being an HI, the Haidao has subpar PH, but I enjoyed the write-up. I play my first IA game tonight against TAK, so we'll see how our super glue HI performs!
putting a KHD in the link makes a very solid statement that someone is NOT hacking your HI. If they don't go after the KHD, they're going to eat a Normal Roll coming from the KHD, if they do go after the KHD they're going to be at WIP-6. Yeah, a hacking Haris does seem to be an evil idea: Invincible Army ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 3 ZÚYŎNG (Fireteam: Haris, Tactical Awareness) Combi Rifle + 1 TinBot B (Deflector L2) / 2 Breaker Pistols, Knife. (0.5 | 34) SHÀNG JÍ Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) Combi Rifle + Light Flamethrower / Pistol, Shock CCW. (0.5 | 43) HǍIDÀO Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Boarding Shotgun / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 26) 1 SWC | 103 Points Open in Infinity Army
The one really interesting thing about the Haidao KHD to me is that it is our very first KHD that doesn't have a native marker state. So it gets a lot more mileage out of Cybermask than the Ninja, Hac Tao, or Kanren. This makes it kind of interesting as tough but cheap specialist with some evasiveness to it. Being able to waltz past mines or through zones covered by perimeter equipment is a neat trick for something with its price tag and ability to take a hit. Might not always be the most efficient play and AVA1 in vanilla means it will be a hot commodity with a lot of very useful profiles vying for attention, but I could see them being great in a second combat group where they can eat an independent order pool to move in to position while still being easy to re-slot in to the main group to fill out casualties. Also something to keep in mind if your KHD Haidao gets its link shot out from around it before it gets to its objective.
I feel like at that point you may as well bulk it out to a full core with a Zuyong HMG and Pango I guess if you want to play something weird you could attempt a full on Infowar IA list Invincible Army ────────────────────────────────────────────────── GROUP 1 10 SHÀNG JÍ Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) Combi Rifle + Light Flamethrower / Pistol, Shock CCW. (0.5 | 43) ZÚYŎNG (Fireteam: Haris, Tactical Awareness) Combi Rifle + 1 TinBot B (Deflector L2) / 2 Breaker Pistols, Knife. (0.5 | 34) HǍIDÀO Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Boarding Shotgun / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 26) ZHANSHI Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 11) ZHANSHI Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 11) ZHANSHI Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 11) SON-BAE Yaókòng Missile Launcher / Electric Pulse. (1.5 | 17) ZHANSHI Missile Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 16) DĀOYĪNG Lieutenant L2 Hacker (Hacking Device) Boarding Shotgun / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 29) TAI SHENG Mk12, Chain-colt, Stun Grenades / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (0 | 45) GROUP 2 4 PANGGULING Hacker (EVO Hacking Device) Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 25) MECH-ENGINEER Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15) CHAĪYÌ Yaókòng Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8) CHAĪYÌ Yaókòng Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8) 5 SWC | 299 Points I think the real trouble with this is because of the garbage tier repeater coverage you can only use the infowar reactively, and you need to push the enemy into range of you to fight them. So you have to find this weird mix of balancing firepower and hacking ability or it all goes to shit. Maybe this works better Invincible Army ────────────────────────────────────────────────── GROUP 1 10 SHÀNG JÍ Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) Combi Rifle + Light Flamethrower / Pistol, Shock CCW. (0.5 | 43) ZÚYŎNG (Fireteam: Haris, Tactical Awareness) Combi Rifle + 1 TinBot B (Deflector L2) / 2 Breaker Pistols, Knife. (0.5 | 34) HǍIDÀO Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Boarding Shotgun / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 26) ZHANSHI Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 11) ZHANSHI Lieutenant Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 11) ZHANSHI Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 11) SON-BAE Yaókòng Missile Launcher / Electric Pulse. (1.5 | 17) ZHANSHI Missile Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 16) ZÚYŎNG (Fireteam: Duo, Tactical Awareness) HMG / 2 Breaker Pistols, Knife. (1.5 | 38) LÙ DUĀN Mk12, Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (0 | 21) GROUP 2 4 1 YÁOZĂO Electric Pulse. (0 | 3) YÁOZĂO Electric Pulse. (0 | 3) PANGGULING Hacker (EVO Hacking Device) Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 25) MECH-ENGINEER Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15) CHAĪYÌ Yaókòng Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8) Zhanshi YĪSHĒNG Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15) WARCOR (Aerocam) Flash Pulse / Stun Pistol, Knife. (0 | 3) 6 SWC | 300 Points
Well, I played my first game with IA and got walloped. Played Power pack into TAK camo spam, and failed miserably. Went second, which I feel is a death sentence for IA, Haidao ate a T2 crit and died instantly, Antipode pack walked into my link and cut them down to a Haris, and I died to massed camo after that. Not the best showing, and this might just be salt, but I think that's gonna be par for the course playing against my meta. Everyone and their mother is playing TAK or massed camo to deal with TAK, and I don't think IA holds up against it.
Getting the 4 member bonus from a Fireteam: Core is really useful for hackers though, especially if you have any repeater bots.
At least you tried, and since TAK had more time to sharpen their rosters so its no shame. Still I would like to see the roster you used, might pick something from it. Nice seeing people fielding IA.
Invincible Army ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 10 ZÚYŎNG (Fireteam: Duo, Tactical Awareness) HMG / 2 Breaker Pistols, Knife. (1.5 | 38) HǍIDÀO Engineer Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 28) ZÚYŎNG (Fireteam: Duo, Tactical Awareness) HMG / 2 Breaker Pistols, Knife. (1.5 | 38) HAC TAO (Executive Order) HMG, Nanopulser / Pistol, DA CCW. (2 | 69) HǍIDÀO Engineer Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 28) YÁOZĂO Electric Pulse. (0 | 3) Zhanshi YĪSHĒNG Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15) YÁOZĂO Electric Pulse. (0 | 3) DĀOYĪNG Lieutenant L2 Hacker (Hacking Device) Boarding Shotgun / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 29) DĀOYĪNG Hacker (Hacking Device) Boarding Shotgun / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 29) CHAĪYÌ Yaókòng Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8) CHAĪYÌ Yaókòng Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8) 6 SWC | 296 Points Open in Infinity Army Here you go. I had never looked at Power pack until about 2 minutes before game time, so I probably wouldn't take this list into that mission. Idea was that I didn't need a Core team if I had a Hac Tao, and it kind of worked. I got a few good kills in, put him in loss of lieutenant for his last turn, rushed the console to stop him from winning, and failed the WIP role to connect it with my last order of the game. IA sure will take some time to get used to, and I'm not sure they'll ever really be competitive, but they have the prettiest models so I'll keep trying.
