Hi everyone, I just came back to the game after about a year off and found a few new factions :). I've had a look at Druze and really like the ARO range that links give hackers. I've read a few tactics pages mentioning keeping repeaters back until enemy hackers are dealt with and was wondering if anyone had tried to win the hacking battle by weight of numbers? The proposed list below is very rough, the base idea is to have a 5 man link with 3 hackers. Set up repeaters in your turn, then during the enemy turn if they want to hack through your net (or move within it), they get 3 hacking AROs. If they want to attack with a hacker that means 2 rolls are uncontested unless I've forgotten more than I realise. Has anyone tried this? It means your core link is stuck in the backline staring at screens so you need other units to move forward and do the work with objectives but I think it's an interesting possibility, if a little imbalanced. Druze Bayram Security ────────────────────────────────────────────────── GROUP 1 10 DRUZE Lieutenant (X Visor) Combi Rifle, Chain-colt / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 23) DRUZE Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) Combi Rifle + Pitcher, D-Charges / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 28) DRUZE Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) Combi Rifle + Pitcher, D-Charges / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 28) DRUZE Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle + Pitcher, D-Charges / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25) DRUZE (X Visor) Shock Marksman Rifle, Chain-colt / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 27) BRAWLER (Multispectral Visor L2) MULTI Sniper / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 28) KAMEEL (Total Reaction, Repeater) Rifle + Light Shotgun / Electric Pulse. (0 | 21) PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16) PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16) DRUZE (X Visor) Combi Rifle + Light Grenade Launcher (E/M and Nimbus) / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 27) GROUP 2 2 2 HUNZAKUT (Forward Observer, Deployable Repeater) Rifle + Light Shotgun, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 18) HUNZAKUT (Forward Observer, Deployable Repeater) Rifle + Light Shotgun, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 18) FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8) PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16) 3 SWC | 299 Points Open in Infinity Army
I guess you also want a EVO and a Peacemaker Remote in a list like that to make most of it. The Peacemaker Repeater in combination with the Hunzakut is what makes Hacking a dread from the first turn on. Also if you don't have any hackable units you still can boost the Peacemaker to go on a little rampage. And a maximum Hacker Druze Team for me would be something like: Brawler AHD Valerya Druze KHD Then you can add a Brawler MSV2 thanks to Valerya now (not 100% sure if thats legal responsibility for nownnbut I think so), and another Druze like the HMG or EMGL. Or even a Brawler HRL to get a cheap heavy weapon.
Good points, thanks. I think Valerya should work, it's a legal 4-person team without her and she can join anything which makes the result a legal 5-person link. I hadn't considered the brawler hackers but they really bring the cost down, +1 WIP isn't worth that much. Have you tried this sort of thing? I'm guessing it works terribly vs Ariadna but against more tech heavy armies is there anything they can do? I'm thinking infiltrators and camo would work to a degree but I can't see an enemy back-hacking you and the hackers work as backline defence as well. What am I missing? (Otherwise this is too good to be true and if it was I would have heard about it from someone else.)
I don't like your original list for a couple of reasons. Mainly hacking isn't as prevalent a threat as to dedicate your entire list to winning a hacker fight. Secondly, the Druze AHD is hard to take when you have the cheapest AHD in the game, the Brawler, available to you. Overall the list suffers from lack of depth, I feel The list needs to spend less points on redundant hackers and take a few more of the tools that DBS offers. I agree with @McNamara that those three hackers and an EVO is the best DBS combo for hacking. If I were to play a hacking heavy Druze list based around what you posted it would look something like this. More Fugazis for fast repeaters, and cheap Flash Pulse AROs. An EVO to coordinate offensive hacking, give out Overclock, and improve Sat Lock chances for the Pathfinders. The Peacemaker also integrates well with the multiple hackers. All of the hackers are cheapish and have relevant uses even if you cannot hack your opponent like Ariadna. Even the Brawler AHD with her SMG is not a bad specialist to send after an objective and then hold it with suppressive fire, if there aren't any REMs, TAGs, or HI for her to lock down. It also throws in the HMG Druze which is a pretty damn nice unit. I also took fewer Druze overall to add to the order count by getting some of the cheaper options. It sucks to drop the Marksman Rifle, but the HMG is generally better if you can afford the SWC. The list gives up surprise units like the Bashis and Saito, but it has some tactical options the original list didn't have while adding more hacker utility and firepower. Druze Bayram Security ────────────────────────────────────────────────── GROUP 1 10 DRUZE Lieutenant (X Visor) Combi Rifle, Chain-colt / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 23) DRUZE (X Visor) Combi Rifle + Light Grenade Launcher (E/M and Nimbus) / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 27) DRUZE HMG, Chain-colt / Viral Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 29) DRUZE Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle + Pitcher, D-Charges / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25) VALERYA GROMOZ Hacker (Hacking Device UPGRADE: Expel) Combi Rifle + Pitcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 21) BRAWLER Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) Submachine Gun / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 17) BRAWLER (Multispectral Visor L2) MULTI Sniper / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 28) PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16) PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16) KAMEEL Hacker (EVO Hacking Device) Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 25) GROUP 2 3 2 HUNZAKUT (Forward Observer, Deployable Repeater) Rifle + Light Shotgun, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 18) HUNZAKUT (Forward Observer, Deployable Repeater) Rifle + Light Shotgun, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 18) FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8) FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8) PEACEMAKER Heavy Shotgun + AUXBOT_3 / Electric Pulse. (0 | 21) AUXBOT_3 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (- | 4) 5 SWC | 300 Points Open in Infinity Army
Yeah, the list is terrible, it was basicallly a midnight "Hey, what if" that was just meant to ram a lot of hackers in. The idea was more Druze can use hackers easily and maximising the SS2 AROs is good, for normal hacking and also that it would prevent counterhacking (Maybe not prevent it totally but it would make any attempt get hit by 2 uncontested AROs - hopefully making it painful to contemplate.).
I had a second go at the list, wanted to use everything I could. I like the HMG but it's primarily a defensive link so I thought the sniper would be a better fit. I might be showing my Aleph roots here, I'm not used to using HMGs. I also stuck the Clipper in to add a little bombardment to the options. There are a few different link options with all the druzes, I figured that if the map looks like the main hack strat is going to fail then just swap a few things out and go a bit more aggressive. I looked at the Bashis but can't justify removing anything for them. Saito I want but can't really see fitting. Druze Bayram Security ────────────────────────────────────────────────── GROUP 1 9 1 CLIPPER DRONBOT Smart Missile Launcher / Electric Pulse. (1.5 | 18) BRAWLER Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) Submachine Gun / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 17) DRUZE Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle + Pitcher, D-Charges / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25) VALERYA GROMOZ Hacker (Hacking Device UPGRADE: Expel) Combi Rifle + Pitcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 21) BRAWLER (Multispectral Visor L2) MULTI Sniper / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 28) DRUZE (X Visor) Combi Rifle + Light Grenade Launcher (E/M and Nimbus) / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 27) PEACEMAKER Spitfire + AUXBOT_3 / Electric Pulse. (1 | 27) AUXBOT_3 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (- | 4) KAMEEL Hacker (EVO Hacking Device) Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 25) DRUZE Lieutenant (X Visor) Combi Rifle, Chain-colt / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 23) HUNZAKUT (Forward Observer, Deployable Repeater) Rifle + Light Shotgun, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 18) GROUP 2 4 1 PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16) FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8) KAMEEL (Total Reaction, Repeater) Rifle + Light Shotgun / Electric Pulse. (0 | 21) FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8) HUNZAKUT (Forward Observer, Deployable Repeater) Rifle + Light Shotgun, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 18) 6 SWC | 300 Points Open in Infinity Army
Saito is not necessary in every DBS list, but with certain scenarios; he's an absolute must have. Bashis are amazing profiles for the points, but again aren't auto includes. It's nice to have unexpected threat vectors though.
