I'm just playing with other stuff first. They will probably be part of my regular forces, once I figure out how to do a conversion for one.
That's exactly right. You've heard about Proletarian's AuxBots event, then! I bought a couple OOP Acon boxes while they were still around and trying to work with the old Regulars is such a pain as they're all mounted by one foot. Out of the six, I've had half of them snap at the ankle. Consequently, I've started using Fusiliers and converted the female Icestorm Fusi with a GS hacking visor and then shaved down her combi to add a small bit of plastic rod and a GS handgrip and detailing under the barrel as her LGL. My plan is to paint up a set of the Fusiliers in green to distinguish them as Regulars compared to my blue Fusiliers.
That's definitely a good question. I've run it both ways. I think the "minimalist" approach to running a Bulleteer is certainly functional, though I very quickly notice when I don't have Marksmanship or a Machinist to help it out. A 6-4 ODD Spitfire is never bad, but it's also a big-base mini that falls over surprisingly quickly. One of the great design elements about the Bulleteer Spitfire is that its capabilities scale up or down very quickly, depending on the additional support that you give it. Going the full route with supportware (minimum 23 in Acon) plus a KHD to remove enemy roadblocks (30 points) and a Machinist with Palbot (18 points) you're close to 100 points of investment. And with all those tools, it really can deliver 100 point of results. That being said, the cheap, unassisted version is going to benefit players with high game IQ, who can recognize dangers (avoid mines, hacking zones, koala/madtraps, warbands, etc.) and leverage the Bulleteer's advantages at a critical time. They'll only pay 23 points, but can achieve significantly better results if they apply extreme finesse to getting the most out of the Bulleteer.
So, I wound up coming in last for today's event, so you can take these insights with a grain of salt, but I feel like I can say a few things: - In an environment where we're seeing more and more NWI, a Sierra with Assisted Fire is a fine, fine thing. That said, I only had one HD (and a KHD) in my list, so even thought I was running two Sierras, I could only give Assisted Fire to one. Being able to run Assisted Fire on multiple Sierras would be better, but I don't know that you'll really want to run that much of a hacking presence in VIRD - which leads to my second point... - I ran 2 Shock Marksman Helots and 1 SMG/LRL Helot in my list today and they were amazing for their points. I would have loved to have run 3 SMG Helots, but didn't have the SWC so ran the Shock Marskman instead - and I'm glad I did. They paid the bills. While this may seem tangential to the discussion of Remotes, it's not - because it's about opportunity cost. Is a 23pt Spitfire Bulleteer better than 22 points worth of 1 SMG and 1 Shock Marksman Helots? Depends on what you're trying to do, naturally. But because Helots are AVA3 in VIRD, this becomes a non-trivial decision. Can you make a Remote-heavy VIRD list? Yeah, I definitely think you could. But I'm in agreement with what others have said here in that I don't think that running Remote-heavy with VIRD is particularly better than running it in Acon or NCA.
Veering off-topic again, just wanted to say cheers for posting this tidbit. I hadn't had a chance to really go back into my Aconte more than a few games after the update drop and this inspired me. I hadn't really seen Dart contextualised as an anti-skirmisher skirmisher, but she really clicked in the role and did a fantastic job hunting down enemy Zulu Cobras in a game today.
Thing is the Remotes are at their core there to patch up the gaps and holes in your list. Need some cheap ARO? Fugazi are your friends. Want a toolbox Sensor/Specialist? Pathfinder is your boy. Need a very efficient budget gunner? Bulleteer comes to mind. All in all Regular Remotes aren't quite good enough to build a list on their backs. That's not what they're for. They're supplements to your lists real core, Fireteams, TAGs, Swiss Guards etc. The bigger problem with mass Remotes is twofold. You'll run out of space in your DZ to hide them, that's the simple reality of large amounts of S3/4 bodies that can't go Prone. With the exception of Fugazi, Remotes are also very weak in ARO. Partial cover can be hard to claim against a smart opponent, they're low ARM, vulnerability to DTWs, CC and Hacking makes it risky to build any sort of plan around them. None of that is a problem if you just add a few of them, but if most of your Gunners are Sierras and Bulleteers, you'll find there are problems they can't solve. As a result VIRD seems to be the worst place in PanO to go Remote heavy to be honest. You have higher quality ARO pieces than a Sierra, higher quality Sensor than the Pathfinder and Helots for cheap expendable ARO so your Fugazi can be a second line of defense. In between EB and ZC you might wanna skip over the Bulleteer in favour of a more versatile or mobile attsck piece. With VIRD being very good at running mass unhackable troops, only AVA2 Fugazi and Hackers that are more about shooting than actual Hacking the EVO is also not ideal. @barakiel already answered the question if you should bring supportware and an Engineer for your REMs. But I'd like add unless you bring a TAG, you'll be paying more for support than the actual troop. For a single Bulleteer and Pathfinder with a bunch of 8 point REMs I'd skip the HD and Engineer. I'd get a ZC KHD that doubles down as a combat troop to unlock Remotes instead. If you're running a TAG might as well pick up that Bulleteer or Sierra to make use of that Machinist and Supportware (as you're probably not bringing one just for Exorcism).
