MRRF N4 overview for new players

Merovingia have had an interesting few years. From being totally ignored, they've had a bit of a tweak with HSN3 and then a full revamp as their production has been mothballed. Then N4 dropped in the middle of the global pandemic and I think changes to MRRF have largely gone unnoticed.
Lets take a look at how the french look now:



Disclaimer: Even if I write something up as "avoidable" it doesn't necessarily mean its the worst thing ever, merely that there may be "better" alternatives or perhaps that profile is meta dependent or requires a certain synergy to work. I'm firm in the belief that anything can work in infinity, given the right situation and tactical application and i'll endeavour to explain why I label something up as avoidable.



Overview:

The French are a nice and compact sectoral that didn't lose too much or gain that much with the switch to N3 but gained a lot with the release of N4 and some very fortuitous changes to the game engine and mechanics boost our units nicely.
Light infantry remain strong and our heavy infantry received a lovely points drop and AVA boost to bring them back online for us (wildcards too!). On top of this, our Moblots have been given the highlander grey treatment in that they benefit from super cheap power ups from metro links. A spate of haris and wildcard options gives us the ability to get the most out of those loup and briscard teams too.
Although we're not exactly overwhelmed with unit profiles and options, what we do have is very solid, though we tend to be on the lighter side when it comes to big guns and armour plating.
None of our stuff is particularly expensive however, and I suspect it will be pretty standard to find an MRRF force clocking in at the cap of 15 units.

So why play Merovingia?

We trade off the big guns and armour plates of the Kazaks, dump the tartan and the broadswords of the scots and come out fighting with our flexible and dependable LI.
We gain a few techy bits like MSV1, linkable hackers and a proper TAG!!
If you're coming here for solid Heavy Infantry and missile launchers a-plenty, you're in the wrong place, but we do have one of the best skirmishers in the game and multiple excellent link team choices to support them with.

Pros
+Good specialist coverage through Hackers/FO/Paramedic/Doctor/Engineer vs other Ariadnan forces
+a real life TAG in ariadna!!
+MSV1 in abundance
+Deadly link teams
+Largely cheap units means max order pools
+Extremely competent and well costed skirmisher
+Good selection of units with advanced deployment rules
+Good selection of Merc units
+Cheap Sappers for ARO
+Multiple unit options for D-Charges
+Tend to run SWC-lite

Cons
-Few traditional "Big guns"
-Expensive access to reliable smoke, good access to less reliable smoke
-Compact sectoral with few unit choices
-Largely poor in CC
-Few durable units
-Now out of production for most of the range


Light infantry:


Metros:

At first glance these guys seem totally uninspiring; crappy stats, redheaded step-child versions of CH skills and a measly solitary specialist profile.
That said, 8 pts for a rifle and an order is nothing to be sniffed at, and you can very easily fill your order pool to fuel your big hitters with these guys or run a cheap core in a 2nd group.
The camouflage options have received a healthy boost through changes to the infiltration mechanic, no longer forced to deploy at -3 on a roll, they can now safely deploy under camo state up the board. Their poor BS means this isn't a great option for a gunfighter, but the D-Charges profile is good for missions like countermeasures and highly classified and they can score zones passively just by existing in missions like supremacy and frontline. They're also helpful for the "who's-a-chasseur-and-who's-a-mine" game, clogging up the midfield with camo to force discovers, sensor usage etc to bleed enemy orders with.
Where they shine though is in a link team, either led by Jaques Bruant, Wolfgang, a Moblot or not, they provide a cheap source of efficient orders and a very cost effective HMG to place in a defensive position. They'll often win out against many unlinked troopers however as fully linked, they get boosted to bs13 before range modifiers and tend to chuck large amounts of dice thanks to their link bonuses. Spec fire and HMG options with a paramedic make them a decent light infantry choice for getting work done and you can literally get a full link team with specialist, two weapons and a lieutenant for less than 60 points.

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8
MÉTRO Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 8)
MÉTRO Heavy Machine Gun / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 19)
MÉTRO Rifle, Grenade Launcher / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 12)
MÉTRO (Camouflage [1 Use], Infiltration]) Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 11)
MÉTRO (Camouflage [1 Use], Infiltration]) Rifle, Panzerfaust / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 12)
MÉTRO (Camouflage [1 Use], Infiltration]) Rifle, Grenade Launcher / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1 | 15)
MÉTRO (Paramedic) Rifle ( | MediKit) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 10)
MÉTRO (Lieutenant) Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 8)

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Standout profiles:

-Rifle 8pts
-Paramedic, Rifle 10pts
-LT, rifle 8pts
-HMG, 19pts 0.5SWC
-LGL + Rifle 12pts 0.5SWC

The rifleman represents the cheapest regular gun-armed order we can get on the board and makes for a reasonable DZ guard to discourage AD troopers from arriving in your backfield. Aside from this, filling out a link on the cheap and playing "guess the LT" is great for these guys. The aforementioned LT is great because it doesn't cost much in terms of pts, is free in SWC and is easily hidden amongst plenty of cheap duplicates.
The paramedic is a straight 2 point upgrade over the rifleman and brings a specialist profile that can cap objectives (sometimes gaining +3wip or double rolls for objectives dependent on missions), can achieve experimental drug and HVT:Innoculation. Whilst paramedics aren't as great at healing as doctors, this guy is likely to get a nice tow up the board with his metro teammates and is therefore more order efficient than running a 112 up the board. Passive changes to paramedics mean that healing high PH troops like Duroc and Chasseurs is worth a stab for zone scoring missions. A late game heal can sometimes swing games, especially in zone controlling or annihilation missions so always worth having at least one in your link!
The HMG is a stellar profile for link teams. cheap in both pts and SWC, a couple of these can give a defensive link a lot of punch and even a solo gunner makes for a decent roadblock when put on suppressive fire.
Speculative fire has become a solid way of killing exposed designated targets and is a great answer to REM fireteams and such that have proliferated with Onyx and OSS that have poor dodge stats. For the cost, its well worth having the option, even if you don't use it. Situationally clearing mines, suppressive fire and incidentally hitting camo markers by targetting nearby models or unconcious enemies is extremely useful! Passive changes to the targetted state also benefit MRRF due to our easy access to forward observers.



Avoidable Profiles:

All the others really...

The camo infil profiles are interesting, but they're BS10 and lack surprise attack. I can see an argument for taking a couple for zone scoring missions as they start off scoring zones for 0 orders. The D-charges profile is situationally useful as discussed above.



Paracommandos:

Aerial deployment has had a good overhaul in N4 and the parachutist rule is much more flexible now. Para-commandos as such are in an excellent place and have seen some profile tweaks too.
They're useable both as attack pieces or as specialists.


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5
PARA-COMMANDO Rifle, Chain-colt / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 20)
PARA-COMMANDO AP Spitfire / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1 | 31)
PARA-COMMANDO (Forward Observer) Boarding Shotgun, Flash Pulse, D-Charges / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 24)
PARA-COMMANDO (BS Attack [+1 Dam], Forward Observer]) Boarding Shotgun, Flash Pulse, D-Charges / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 26)
PARA-COMMANDO (Paramedic) Submachine Gun ( | MediKit) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 21)

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Standout profiles:

-AP Spitfire. The replacement for the old HMG profile, this guy's weapon now suits the range bands of an AD attack piece much better. BS12, mimetism and a terrain skill make these guys very versatile attackers, especially on dense boards with lots of nooks and crannies on the board edges.

-Boarding Shotgun/Forward Observer 24/26pts. WIP14 specialist with AD: parachutist and mimetism? FO status opens up telemetry and HVT designation classifieds and now this profile sees the addition of D-charges and optional +1 Damage skill. A close quarters weapon like this pairs well with AD and mimetism and passive changes to shotguns make these guys very scary specialists.

-Paramedic/SMG 21 points. Again, another option for forward operating specialists, the SMG syncs well with forward operating troops with mimetism and the WIP14 and low asking price make this guy a steal, even if he never heals anyone. Some ITS missions feature +3WIP bonuses or extra rolls to docs and paramedics making him a very good choice for those missions.


Avoidable profiles:

None really, the rifle profile is now separated from the specialist profile yet keeps his access to a DTW. For missions where you don't need a specialist and don't want your SWC using up, he's viable due to low asking price.



Loup Garou:

Ever the deadly link team, their viral rifles have torn through light troopers and those with low BTS for several editions and nothing changes here. A few minor tweaks on kit leaves these guys looking just as strong as before, the swap out of stun grenades is largely a wash as the addition of a proper LGL offsets it. Good access to wildcards add specialists and armour piercing weaponry into the arsenal which offsets their issues from previously editions nicely. They do make excellent datatrackers (the viral rifle especially) given their high lethality and their plentiful ADHL rounds are great problem-solvers when the big nasties turn up. Shotgun changes give them good point defence with templates and teh sniper rifle gives them reach, but I think I'd always want to take these guys as a core, probably with a wildcard specialist Moblot and Wolfgang as a doorkicker, or a Haris with a viral rifle, and wildcards to taste.

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4
LOUP-GAROU Viral Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 21)
LOUP-GAROU Boarding Shotgun, Adhesive Launcher / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 19)
LOUP-GAROU Viral Rifle, Grenade Launcher / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1 | 25)
LOUP-GAROU Sniper Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 20)

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Between these profiles you can deal with nearly any threat. Low BTS? hit it with viral. Immune to viral or high BTS? glue it or hit it with AP shotgun slugs. The X-visor really helps give these guys a long reach and they are the core of any link team imho. The sniper rifle obviously gives you some nice long-range and high damage options and is thankfully low enough in SWC cost that it doesn't break the bank. The X-visor helps with its close range bands too if you don't want to resort to pistols or need the high damage code. I think the sniper rifle will struggle a bit more this edition though due to prevalence of high armour and tags. AP weaponry on wildcards may be a better spend


Avoidable profiles:
-Sniper Rifle 0.5swc/20. Not bad per-se but can be substituted for other AP options for big game hunting.

Zouaves:
These guys have always been in an odd spot. In previous editions they all cost SWC which was a big disincentive but for me, the biggest problem Zuoaves face is that their specialist roles are done more reliably for the same cost as chasseurs. Internal balance has not been kind. Yes, Zuoaves have "Dogged", but chasseurs have camo and stealth so can avoid being hit in the first place and have full infiltration which is better for objective missions.
For me, Zuoaves play into the ARO/board presence role best.

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8
ZOUAVE Rifle, Panzerfaust / Assault Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 20)
ZOUAVE Rifle, Panzerfaust, E/M Mines / Assault Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 21)
ZOUAVE Rifle, Grenade Launcher / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1 | 20)
ZOUAVE (Forward Observer) Rifle, Flash Pulse, Panzerfaust / Assault Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 21)
ZOUAVE (Sapper) Heavy Machine Gun / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 29)
ZOUAVE (Sapper) Sniper Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 25)
ZOUAVE (Paramedic) Rifle, Panzerfaust ( | MediKit) / Assault Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 22)
ZOUAVE (Lieutenant) Rifle, Panzerfaust / Assault Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 20)

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Stand out profiles:
-Sapper Sniper
-Sapper HMG

The Foxhole state starts for free in deployment and their forward deployment +8" means they can get to good firelanes and elevated spots for free in deployment phase (0 orders spent!).
Also, for 0 orders you also gain mimetism, courage and 360 degree cover!
Sticking a HMG forward into a good firelane and suppressive fire makes for a good, cheap ARO piece and likewise, a sniper out on ARO duty doesn't break the bank and forces your opponent to think about how they're gonna deal with it. Dogged syncs well with this, however, you are going to lose the Zuoave, but they're low cost in points and orders.


Avoidable profiles:
-All the others!

The LT isn't a terrible choice per se, but you'll waste his mech deploy if you skulk him and risking LOL isn't a great idea if you do want to use him aggressively. Open info WIP means savvy opponents won't go for metro decoys.

Paramedic isn't fantastic, but the mech deploy at least gets him near to the action to save orders on a 112 to go and heal. The ability to heal at range is a bonus too, but I'd rather have the FO as i see more utility in it. It is a good pick for ITS missions where paramedics receive a +3WIP bonus however.

Again, the grenade launcher is a nice bit of utility and the mech deploy gets him into the range bands where he can forseeably utilise it with a decent chance of hitting something, but a full SWC is a high asking price and speculative fire is dodgeable and lacks the +3 band, lowering its damage output and reliability. It is nifty for lifting enemies out of supressive fire by forcing a dodge ARO however, but the metro does it similarly and cheaper in points/swc.



112
The 112 is our only "true" doctor but lacks the army-wide support most other factions get that actually makes doctors useful (on the infantry profile). Without an army full of cubed profiles, we can't often make use of the command token re-roll and the WIP13 is likely to "off" your un-cubed patients rather than help them rather frequently. The other main issue is the lack of G:synced bots, which means he's got to spend a lot of orders to get upfield to try and heal. The medikit is a nice touch, being able to shoot healing syringes so as not to expose your doc to the gun that killed his patient, but his pretty average BS means you might waste orders trying it and a linked paramedic at least gets higher burst and BS bonuses to enable that tactic.
Thankfully, he is the price most people pay for their line trooper paramedics, so he doesn't exactly break the bank. Worth a pop I suppose if you've got a strong defensive link team he can lay prone behind or as a cheap specialist.
Being armed with a light shotgun, fairly low BS and no way to get up the board but to footslog means he is not going to be a great gunfighter, but hey, he's cheap! Several missions also reward doctors with a situational +3WIP for objectives purposes and surviving army point scoring missions obviously favour those that can heal.
Again, recent changes to a profile have added the motorised version of the 112 into the force now. Whilst he retains the shotgun, he gains a bike for speed and a smoke light grenade launcher attached to it! This increases his silhoutte sizeably but he then becomes 8-4 MOV, enabling early game smoke and late game objective dashes or zone scoring. He's not impetuous either, meaning when he dismounts, he gets cover. AVA 3 and 0 SWC means we can get vastly better smoke coverage than in previous editions and the bike means we've got a lovely fast specialist which is nifty for missions with exclusion zones that hurt chasseurs and paracommandos. Changes to shotguns mean he can easily zoom up and splatter clumped targets or dismount, take cover and play an ARO piece or corner guard too. Overall, I'd say the motorised version is the better of the two and I'd be tempted to take more than one where possible.

Dozer

The Dozer is one of two engineer profiles available to us in Merovingia and is the generic engineer for Ariadna as a whole.

They haven't got a huge amount to fix compared to our allies and enemies but they don't break the bank and are rifle armed so are effective at greater ranges than their medical compadres. WIP 13 isn't fantastic but they are necessary if you want to unlock our REM choice, the Traktor Mul or repair our TAG choice, the Anaconda.

A reasonable points drop helps get them into your forces too, they're not going to break the bank at any rate. Being able to complete Test Run should be enough to get them into many ITS lists with a Mul or two as classified objectives are often the difference in placings over the course of a couple of games! They can also remove immobilised, targetted and isolated effects from friendlies so definitely come in handy, though the order efficiency of it will always be situational.


Medium Infantry



Briscards:
These guys are the other strong contender for your core link team slot. Passive changes in N4 to MSV 1 make briscards excellent additions, especially with proliferation of mimetism across the board and being able to see through smoke (though at heavy penalties). Solid wildcards further expand tactical options, and the weapon range band coverage here is superb; armour piercing sniper rifles through to assault pistols mean you can cover everything with this team and a native BS12 means they can use them. Paired with 112 smoke and a good doorkicker wildcard like Wolfgang you've got a very solid all-round team. Baked-in haris gives them flexibility to sit in a 2nd group and do their own thing too or play the defensive ARO game with an AP sniper/HRL.

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6
BRISCARD Marksman Rifle / Assault Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 23)
BRISCARD (BS Attack [Shock]) AP Sniper Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1 | 25)
BRISCARD Heavy Rocket Launcher / Assault Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 19)
BRISCARD (Forward Observer) Marksman Rifle, Flash Pulse / Assault Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 24)
BRISCARD (Paramedic) Marksman Rifle ( | MediKit) / Assault Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 25)
BRISCARD (Lieutenant) Marksman Rifle / Assault Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 23)

2.5 SWC | 139 Points

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Stand out profiles:
All of them!
There's no bad option here.
Veteran status and MSV 1 confer ability to complete several classifieds even on the basic link-filler marksman rifle profile!


Heavy Infantry:
Not what this faction is about at all, but the Moblots are blessed with a very flexible loadout of profiles and are now wildcards, granting access to BS13 AP/shock specialists to teams as well as heavy machine guns that currently benefit from +3BS and +1B making them a good option for a pointman for cheaper teams like metros that can't stand on their native BS10 well.

Moblots:

These guys are probably one the biggest winners from the changeover to N4
Outside of links, a broad variety of profiles including infiltrators make them worth considering as a solo unit. They also fall under the category of veteran troops, so can complete many classified objectives and receive free situational kit in some ITS missions. Baked in BS Attack: Shock and terrain skills are both handy and the Haris skill baked-in is nifty too given the range of skills they have.
changes from DEP to Panzerfausts are nice here also, the extra ammo and range give some ranged punch and the shotgun changes mean they bring DTWs to the party too!

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10
MOBLOT Heavy Machine Gun / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 28)
MOBLOT AP Rifle, Light Shotgun / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 23)
MOBLOT Boarding Shotgun, Panzerfaust / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 23)
MOBLOT (Infiltration, Mimetism [-3]) AP Rifle, Light Shotgun, E/M Mines / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 32)
MOBLOT (Infiltration, Mimetism [-3]) AP Rifle, Light Shotgun, Panzerfaust / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 32)
MOBLOT (Engineer, Deactivator) AP Rifle, Light Shotgun, D-Charges ( ) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 27)
MOBLOT (Paramedic) AP Rifle, Light Shotgun ( | MediKit) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 25)
MOBLOT (Sapper) Heavy Machine Gun / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 30)
MOBLOT (Lieutenant) AP Rifle, Light Shotgun / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 23)
MOBLOT (Lieutenant) Heavy Machine Gun / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1 | 28)

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Standout profiles:

-HMG. A great option for link teams, the BS and burst boost sync lovely with this chap
-Engineer AP rifle,shotgun, D-charges. For a link team, invaluable. Excellent linked gunfighter with both AP and shock on his rifle and gets the order efficiency of being exactly where the action is by being part of the team anyway. Wildcard here is golden as he can join any other team in the force.
-Paramedic AP rifle, shotgun, medkit. As above really. order efficiency of getting up the board or being able to revive downed team members as well as covering off classifieds by the bucketload.
-Boarding shotgun, panzerfaust. Makes a good link filler, the Panzer is a good one-shot that benefits from link bonuses and changes to reloading spent weapons sync well with cheap baggage bots in 2nd groups.


Avoidable profiles:
-Sapper HMG 30pts 1.5swc
Unfortunately there's not much benefit over the Zouave who simply just does it better with his mech deploy combined with dogged and suppressive fire.

Mirage 5

Mirage 5 benefit from an absolutely gorgeous new sculpt and changes to the parachutist rule give them stacks of flexibility. Passive changes to impetuous make Duroc far easier to control and total immunity also makes him fairly durable. Changes to martial arts mean he doesn't automatically have stealth anymore, so approaching behind people is more difficult, but his PH16 smoke and changes to dodge also open up plenty of routes into CC or past bad AROs.
Margot is a BS14 Moblot with parachutist: deployment zone and an underslung grenade launcher. She is exsquitetly equipped to punish poor deployment by an opponent and can find a gap in ARO coverage with ease and tear through a backline with her high BS AP and shock rifle. Terrain skills and character status are also excellent, character status grants her the ability to complete several classifieds, this also applies to Duroc too.
They're not cheap and they are a bit obvious because of it but my god are they good at what they do!
Chasseur minelayers and metro camouflage tokens can go some way to masking the points defecit by holding them off board, especially as paracommandos are also a thing. A canny opponent will suspect and set up defences accordingly, but that can also work in your favour!

Skirmishers:

Chasseurs:
Ah the chasseur, single handedly won me so many games in N2 and 3. Cheap, deadly, efficient.
The profiles remain strong in N4 with camo-3, surprise attack-3, infiltration, terrain:total, sixth sense and a versatile loadout of equipment. The loss of the sniper is a bit upsetting (not that i suppose it was very popular, more that i'd converted one!)

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4
CHASSEUR (Forward Observer) Rifle, Light Flamethrower, Flash Pulse, Shock Mines / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 20)
CHASSEUR (Minelayer) Rifle, Light Flamethrower, Shock Mines / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 20)
CHASSEUR Rifle, Adhesive Launcher, D-Charges / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 19)
CHASSEUR Rifle, Light Flamethrower, Shock Mines / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 19)

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Standout profiles: Basically all of them are excellent. Passive changes to targetted state, requirement for specialists for many missions and requirement for board control mean you're likely taking at least one of each of the minelayer and the forward observer, though I suspect a lot of players will make use of the full AVA 4 here and take two of each.
Being unhindered by difficult terrain, able to sneak past bad AROs, target for spec fire and complete a swathe of classifieds is pure awesome

Avoidable profiles:

-Rifle/LFT/mines 19pts. In ITS just take the FO/minelayer profiles for the tiny upgrade price.
-Rifle/ADHL/D-charges. Unless you need the d-charges for missions, you will want the FO/minelayer more.



REMs:

Traktor Mul

Previously a slightly complex mishmash of firing modes, circular template shenanigans and non-hackable guided munitions, they've been streamlined and stripped back a bit now.

Minesweeper: 5 pts
Super cheap regular order, brings baggage (for reloading disposable/deployable weapons). Not often worth the orders to make use of either strategy but if you're taking a dozer anyway, this opens up a cheaper order than a metro. Being unarmed it is poor for Test run as enemies just largely ignore it, but baggage confers enough bonuses for zone scoring and reloading deployables that you can't go wrong with it.

Katyusha MRL: 9pts
Cheap, but very short range DA ammo launcher. Capable of guided and speculative firing, this really needs the support of your forward observers if you're going to shoot at more than 16" away. It is easy to deliberately get killed by an ARO so can be a great one to achieve Test Run off by picking a crappy fight, losing it, then repairing it once it loses.


Uragan MRL: 16pts
A little more pricey, but picks up B3 and total reaction plus AP+Shock ammo effects in the mix.
Good for defending a suspected drop zone or objective, but suffers from the same horrible range bands as its Katyusha cousin if you want to use it more aggressively. Can spec fire and do guided, but both really require FO support from elsewhere in the list and the guided mode is hackable now.
This does make a good option for getting fragged to achieve Test run, opponents don't like TR bots and will target them. G: remote presence confers several unconscious levels which makes it overly durable too.



Mercs:

Alguacile Hacker

This profile has so far seen a moderate points drop and a boost in hacking's utility throughout version changes but probably the biggest benefit it has gained is the ability to count as a metro for link team purposes. Being able to now get into the fray alongside his linked metro and wildcard buddies mean he's less of a situational order hog and more utilitarian, especially for missions where you get a bonus for objective interaction as that often makes him wip16!.
Its still a long way from an auto-include, but as a specialist she won't break the bank, comes with a combi rifle and a standard hacking device. A lack of repeater coverage limits the utility, but the order efficiency of being in a link means they're better off than a wardriver.
Moderate WIP is offset by moderate pricing and this choice has certainly become a little better, though lacks army wide support like repeaters, pitchers and such that other armies take for granted. It is however able to achieve a slew of classifieds on its own and should see plenty of table-time because of that alone. It also has a cube and is relatively healable by the 112 because of it. This can be a boon if you draw the experimental drug classified objective. Sixth sense in a 5 man link can really increase the utility of the hacking device against a few opponents trying to use stealth on you too so don't forget it!


Anaconda
This light tag has had a few overhauls since the original NA2 overhaul.
Tactical awareness grants an extra order useable by the TAG and having the +1 damage built in means its a BS13 HMG with DAM16 or an armour piercing DAM15 spitfire. The extra damage applies to its panzerfaust and point defence weaponry too and the armour 7 makes it able to take a hit.
He's also repairable by both our engineers, though as a piloted TAG, you're not getting any re-rolls with those command tokens so it can be risky.
The main issue the anaconda faces is that it has no way to overcome visual modifiers. All else being equal, mimetism on an opponent means it's hitting on 10s, so the anaconda is definetely better off bullying light opponents and leaving the mimetic troopers to the briscards.
At 55 points the TAG is a solid gun platform. You can easily still max out your orders whilst taking one. If you flub the repair roll, you still eject a specialist op pilot with a BS12 spitfire too!

Warcor
3pts for a flash pulse toting model is ok. Not a lot to recommend here other than flash pulsing with its pretty decent WIP of 13 which is fine for a distraction/speed bump. Using its irregular order as a regular one with command tokens is pretty viable and its not a terrible way to spend 3 points, your opponent will deal with it, costing an order or maybe more if you get lucky. If left out on ARO duty, he's an easy one to heal with a cube too. Situationally useful in countermeasures and highly classified.

Wardriver
The second hacker available to MRRF, these guys bring a choice of Zeropain hacking device at 0SWC or full hacking device for 1SWC. It is married up with a pretty standard LI profile, though it does tote some BTS for defensive usage and carries a boarding shotgun as its BS weapon. It also carries a cube, making it reliably healable, even by a 112! Given the Alguacile hacker costs less SWC and is linkable for safety, this guy is a backup hacker if ever I saw one, but it is worth noting that you'll need to go for the full SWC to access the most out of this guy if you're wanting to do real hacking with him ("spotlight" on the full hacking device opens up telemetry and HVT:Designation as well). He does get Sixth sense which gains some nice benefits with that boarding shotgun in close-up situations, but he's difficult to get up the board and suffers from a lack of repeater coverage in the faction.
Useful in missions like highly classified given the enemy will ruthlessly target your alguacile hacker to deny you those points, but I'd always pick the alguacile first before a wardriver.
The direct template weapon mode on the shotgun is nifty now. at 12 points and 0 swc, having a plan D specialist doubling as a disposable corner guard isn't terrible for last-turn hail mary's.

Characters:


Brigadier Jaques Bruant

Well renown as a bit of a badass in N2, his molotok was a great little gun. That has changed somewhat now, gaining a full AP spitfire profile. His X-visor gives him extra long reach, especially when combined with the +3BS from a full team. In addition, he carries d-charges, allowing him to obtain the sabotage classified objective as well as blow up walls, doors and scenery which is pretty neat. He's not a bad datatracker either thanks to his good gun and loosing limited camo isnt too much of a dram given its a one-shot anyway.
He has been given Wildcard status which makes him extra useful for adding high burst AP weaponry to loup and briscard teams and all profiles have d-charges. Being a character and a specialist operative means he's an absolute godsend for classifieds as well as button-pushing. He's an excellent addition to a Loup garou team! The mimetism and native bs12 make him a great point man too, the extra burst and BS from a team make him an excellent gunfighter.

He does also have the ability to be a solo-operating skirmisher too. at 30points with infiltration he makes a more all-round skirmisher than the chasseur but for 50% more. Whether you need that is clearly up to you, but i suspect most will stick with chasseurs outside of requiring his character status for countermeasures/highly classified.

Knauf

Knauf is one of the newer additions to the FRRM and by god does he plug some holes. MSV1, mimetism, multi-sniper on a BS13 profile that also has shock and +1 burst baked in? Amazing for us frenchies, literrally the big gun we were crying out for.

He's also able to fall back on the very solid AP Heavy pistol side-arm for when things get too close for the sniper rifle, giving him potent damage output regardless of range bands. He's no slouch in CC either, I mean, he's not a dedicated specialist but CC21 with an AP heavy pistol means he'll have decent odds against all but dedicated killers like shinobu and oniwaban. 32 points is the asking price and in my opinion, well worth it. The key thing to do with him is not to use him as an ARO piece early in the game, as tempting as it might seem. He's still vulnerable to Albedo and white-noise 'n shoot on top of it.
Terrain: total, MSV and Character status mean he's actually pretty good at claiming classifieds now and his B3 AP/Shock heavy pistol mean he's pretty damn solid at getting up close and personal if the situation requires it

Wolfgang Amadeus Wolff
The newest addition to MRRF, Wolff is new for N4 and this is the other gap-filler.
A Wildcard bounty-hunter, Wolff is a beast of a door-kicker.
He's a wulver by-statline and brings a mix of beserk, martial arts and climbing plus alongside CC22 and a DA or Para-6 CCW to chop fools up with. His Multi-rifle ends up at B5 in a link too so can do serious damage up close with AP rounds too.
2 wounds,arm3, BTS 3 and shock immunity means he's very solid and he dodges on 17's for 4" so can reliably engage, clear rooms and hold territory. Being a character he can also complete several classifieds. He's class and a welcome addition to the force!
A Moblot HMG, Moblot engineer, alguacile hacker, metro paramedic and Wolfgang make for a superb all-round team able to cover off nearly every classified in the game as well as reliably engage across all common range bands!

 

all of my old guides need a re-tweak in light of new changes, still WIP as ive just ported them over. ill get it tidied up after xmas

 

Certainly did mate, there'll be an update to this in due course. Its an amazing update and fixes everything so nicely!

 

So long as you've got the models, you're golden. The French have never been so good in-game as now!

 

Moblot hmg, moblot paramedic, moblot engineer, Metro lgl, alguacile hacker for me in objectives-heavy missions, that team can put out a lot of fire and can complete nearly every classified objective with ease.