Must have units - TAK

I think TAK is a mighty fine sectorial with a lot of tools and flexibility. I’d be hard pressed to call any profile a must have or auto-include. As long as you cover your roles (objective grabber, active turn gun, ARO, flank guard, etc), you can make it work.
With that said, Kazak Spetsnaz HMG, Irmandhinos with Chain rifles, antipodes, and streloks make it into almost all of my lists.

If the mission requires specialists (button pushing, consoles, etc), bring 4-6. Some people say you can get away with less, some say more, but you want to make sure you can operate across the board.
Check the mission for any boni or weird requirements, for example anti-material, make a plan for that.
Have at least two strong active pieces (Vet Kazak hmg, spetsnaz hmg, Vassily, ratnik, etc) and a backup just in case. They don’t all have to be SWC heavy, but plan where you expect to make your plan felt.
Finally, have a plan for the reactive turn. Are you going to castle and go on over watch? Do you have models that can stack mods, see the table, and can survive? Are you seeding the table with mines and just hiding? Camo spam that have to be discovered?

Finally, though this should be first. Play the models you like. I don’t like muls. Never have. I hear people say amazing things about them, but they don’t inspire me. I really like the scout fo profile though, which other people or so-so with.

 

Infinity is less about "must have units" and more about "must have roles"
You can build lists without assault packs, spetsnaz, vets and streloks, but you must have:
Long-range gunfighters
Short-range gunfighters
CC and/or anti-CC
Order generators
Specialists
Dirty Tricks and anti-Dirty Tricks

If you make sure to cover those bases everything ends up working out

 

I think once you start to account for factions and sectorials, the list can start blowing out of control. Especially, since many people select such different aspects of their faction/sectorial to focus on.

In TAK, we have a decent amount of shock and t2 ammo, so leaning on those units against Aleph and other NWI heavy armies is a plus. We don't have any hacking, but being aware of hacking programs in Nomads might lead you to avoid a lot of guided ammo. I find facing Haqq, that their WIP is so high that Camo is a little less useful. Antipodes and various dog warriors are awesome in CC against TAGs, so they can be a thing. The Vet Kazak APHMG might be more useful against Invincible Army or other heavy infantry factions, but then PanO, you could be seeing Knights or you could be seeing fusiliers.

 

At a high level, TAK has a few things going for it:

Decent long-range gunfighters (though they are relatively glass cannoney, compared to what most armies can field)
Exceptionally fast units that start in your DZ but are good problem solvers (Antipodes for TAGs and camo, Dog Warriors for sapping orders)
A very efficient but glass cannoney defensive fireteam (Line Kazaks with a Frontie ARO piece)
Acceptable midfield presence (most of our guys have FD2 though, so much weaker than vanilla)


You really have to get the most out of all of these pieces to play TAK well in a more competitive environment, and you can absolutely do so but it takes finesse. I'd argue that backing up fast units like Dogs, Antipodes and Irmandinhos with a defensive Fireteam is the only reason to play TAK over vanilla. Chasseurs, Uxia, and 6 point AVA2 regulars are a huge loss. Put another way, I've taken 1st in 10+ player tournaments playing vanilla with a massive hangover and fairly divided attention because usually your opponent wins the game for you. With TAK, it's a brain game.

 

AP HMG Like - to link when Vet Kazak dies
AP HMG Vet Kazak - to be linked with order monkeys until he dies
Max AVA of everything with camo, starting from cheapest option ( Strelok ) and go up from that.
Max AVA Irmandihno.
That's all there is to TAK

 

Units have roles, but I don't really take anything for certain factions. It's more about scenario you're playing. I'll just talk about the stuff I use the most.

Scenarios break down into needing things like area denial, the ability to move and hold a zone, specific specialists, anti-material CCW, ability to press a lot of buttons.. etc.

Veteran Kazak AP HMG and Spetsnaz HMG are your A++ gunfighters. The Vet in a core rolls a lot of dice and does huge damage. The Spetsnaz HMG, due to Marksmanship/Camo is actually pretty good at edging out fireteam members. Sometimes I run the X-Visor and Boarding Shotgun Vets as well. Good solid pieces. The Veteran AP HMG can be your LT for 1 less SWC, but I prefer to pay the extra SWC and hide my LT. A single bad exchange and I can be in loss of lieutenant. I dislike having an obvious Lt.

Line Kazaks are your filler. They're just dudes that give you cheap orders. I often take a FO or Medic in the link as the specialist for when the core moves up. I often take cheap Sniper Rifles and keep them in the link if I have second turn to make my enemy deal with them, or keep them out if I have first turn. I also value the LGL highly as it gives me access to spec fire, which is an easy way to solve for guys in SF fire with TO in the midfield. They can either dodge at -3 and break SF or risk taking a grenade and keep SF.

I don't use Frontoviks much- but I'm going to change that. Gonna start trying a haris of them, either just them or led by a Veteran. The most common Frontovik I take is the MSV Sniper. We have verrry little access to MSV. He also has an assault pistol, so with MSV and a link/core he's a good midfield gunfighter throwing 5 dice. I think I'm literally going to order the new box when I finish this post.

I usually take 2-3 Irmandinos. For 8pts, they're a warband specialist with a chain rifle, smoke and d-charges. They're great.

Streloks are a bread and butter piece, but you really have to decide what you want them to do. The most common profile is the FO, because it's a specialist. The only specialist profile. I typically take two in every list. However, they are totally and utterly bare bones. No multiterrain (which will be relevant with Dazers) and they don't have Mines. Speaking of Mines, that profile is also great. Used when you need midfield board control. The K9 profile is for when you need a Sensor. I also really want to give the T2 Marksman profile some game. And the 16pt SMG profile is a total steal. It has mines, AP, Shock, high burst and the ability to go into SF. A++ unit.

Scouts are more expensive than Streloks. They're like, Vetean Streloks? Better BS, actual Infiltration and not just FD2, Multiterrain and Shock on their guns. The Ojotnik is actually a really, really good gun. Okay burst, high damage, AP and it's +3 from 8-32. You also get D-Charges and Mines pretty much standard. FO if you need a specialist, Minelayer for area denial and the Lieutenant profile for missions where you have to hide your LT to deny points. If you need D-Charges, hidden LT, easy objective grab or are playing Highly Classified- these are a go-to. Also note that they are Elite troops and that status lets them do more classifieds.

Pavel is basically a character scout. Note the T2 CCW. It's Anti-Material. That and D-Charges are only options for busting AC2s and such in missions like Loot and Sabotage.

Assault Pack I find to be more of a psychological threat. People won't put TAGs on the same flank. They're fast, stealthy and they eat heavy targets. 25pts gets you an irregular and regular order. Sensor is a great skill. Also the handler has a smoke LGL which is super useful.

I really, really want to like Vassily. 35-39pts for a single wound dogged gunfighter is a bit steep. He is however, one of two Chain of Command options in the faction and that is valuable. It also makes him a specialist. He has FD1 from being MI and a lot of T2. But for those points, I'd probably prefer to just take another Veteran Kazak. I have him painted and should try him more.

Dog Warriors I've just started using and they're cool. Basically anything with Extreme/Impetuous is good in missions like Biotechvore where you need to get out of the zone at minimal cost. They just went up 2pts but gained new Total Immunity. But yeah, a 4-4 dude with 2 chain rifles, grenades and smoke grenades seems fine. Then they beast out and are 6-4 with 2 more wounds. They have so much potential if played well.

I don't often use Tankhunters, but I should. I'd use the PAC or ML profiles.

...

If you play TAK, you gotta learn to bluff. It's all about a combination of brute force and smoke and mirrors with ambush camouflage. TAK is very rewarding and there really isn't much they can't do.

I can struggle with TO troops- so I answer them with speculative fire, sensors and template weapons. Plus sometimes MSV1.

You have total garbage BTS so viral hurts. But at the same time, you don't have anything hackable. All your enemy hackers are just specialists to you. One of the reasons I don't play the Ratnik, because it gives hackers a target.

TAK is both good and fun. Play TAK.