So.. the playstyle of heads down on ARO turns, and snapping some on active turn go back to first sentences. Means shell game, I see then.
Not yet. I'd imagine something along the same lines as the Locust or Hexas AVA in NCA or Nagas in SAA.
eh, I'm never really comfortable taking 60+ points on 2 TO infiltrators whose orders don't start on the board. I've said this before and I'll say it again. I really hope we have an awesome hacker, I want to make good use of those deployable repeaters.
Everybody is fucking with you. The shell game is a trick used by street performers to cheat you out of money, they put a dollar bill under one of three shells and rapidly move the shells around so you can’t keep track of which shell the dollar is under. If you guess wrong you lose the dollar. The camo shell game is similar, and best played by Ariadna. What is under this camo token? Is it a Spetsnaz HMG? A Tankhunter ML? A mine? A Chasseur? An ambush camo marker? You may be able to narrow it down a bit depending on where it’s placed and what’s on the board but you don’t know for sure. Spend lots of time and orders maneuvering your Nisse HMG to discover and obliterate that Spetsnaz? Sucks to be you it’s just a mine. Confident that the random marker sitting out in the open is ambush camo? Nope it’s a Tankhunter and you’re eating a surprise missile. It’s incredibly frustrating to play against and relatively cheap and easy for some factions to do. It’s all about mind games and psyching out your opponent, and maybe handing him a “gotcha!” along the way.
One thing to note is that, if Helots and Cobra Zulu are both Camo, the Croc's Minelayer gets an added lift too. We don't get a huge shellgame, but we got some possibility of saturating the table with tokens. As for firepower... I wouldn't actually play this, but based on what we know so far, I think this has decent bones. I've said before, I'll say it now... Kamau HMG only being 1 SWC is a big deal. PanOceania ────────────────────────────────────────────────── GROUP 1 10 CROC MAN (Forward Observer, Deployable Repeater) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 32) KAMAU HMG / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 28) KAMAU HMG / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 28) KAMAU (Multispectral Visor L2) MULTI Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 32) FUSILIER Missile Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 15) FUSILIER (Forward Observer, Deployable Repeater) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12) FUSILIER (Forward Observer, Deployable Repeater) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12) FUSILIER (Forward Observer, Deployable Repeater) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12) FUSILIER (Forward Observer, Deployable Repeater) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12) TRAUMA-DOC Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14) PALBOT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3) GROUP 2 6 CROC MAN (Forward Observer, Deployable Repeater) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 32) KAMAU HMG / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 28) FUSILIER Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10) FUSILIER Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10) FUSILIER Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10) FUSILIER Lieutenant Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10) 6 SWC | 300 Points Open in Infinity Army
The likely very high degree of flexibility for our Fireteams in the Snake Eaters will be a boon, giving us the opportunity to build flexible offensive and defensive Fireteams. If we get decent Haris options as well? Well, that'll just take the cake. Perhaps a defensive Fireteam with a Kamau MSR and Fusi ML, and an offensive ORC Haris coupled with midboard control from the Croc Men and Zulu Cobras, and Echo Bravos to come on and wreak havoc. LRL and Red Fury on an AD troop will be fun.
But you don't have to start them in hidden deployment. If you have other units forward deployed then putting down crocmen as markers isn't as risky. Though yes, I am wondering what the hacking options for Varuna will be like, if the best we can do is wip 13 hacking then thats kind of a waste of the crocmens repeaters. At least an AHD can still be useful at wip 13. I'll just add that wildcard Kamau means that an Orc haris can include Kamau to help keep its costs down and add better specalists to the haris.
The hacking question is a good one. Acon and NCA have been lucky for having good KHD platforms that authorize REMs and double as great flexible Specialists. MO isn't quite so fortunate, but at least the Fusilier is pretty cheap. I could see Varuna going either way. I imagine we'll get a KHD in some form... Croc getting the Spektr treatment, or Cobra, those seem the two most likely candidates.
True, although I always feel as though I'm giving up a powerful piece of the TO, especially if I'm going second. Kamau isn't a terrible hacker, with his BTS 6 and regular hacking device. I have to disagree with AHDs, our wip isn't very good – which can be mitigated by programs that offer some type of mods, which AHDs don't. the only program that gives us a +3 is Carbonite. which is a pretty lousy program imo. I hope crocmen get a killer hacker. hopefully the Zulu will get one as well.
The Camo Shell game is relatively overrated I find. An exposed camo marker is often a vulnerable target. If you move something towards the objective and things reveal in ARO then they are as good as dead because you'll usually then just cut them apart with an active turn shooter. The real strength of Camo markers is that they are so order intensive to deal with, the extra layer of protection can be a nightmare to resolve. It's why MSV3 is actually fantastically good, it takes away that concern. Put an Aquila Guard on a rooftop and start discover/shooting stuff and you'll soon see those Spetz and Tankhunters disappear! And you often don't even really need that. It's why I like even just MSV1 in a five man team. Grenzer Sniper on a rooftop looking at three camo markers. First order, discover on that one, which is actually a Tankhunter Autocannon. Does your opponent reveal and shoot, or take the B3 MSR hitting on 16s to the face as long as I can pass a WIP 13 check? Or do they reveal the Tankhunter and the Spetsnaz HMG next to him to try and take my Grenzer out? I hope so because statistically two shots on the Spets and one on the Tankhunter could net me 3 SWC and 72pts in the first order of the game...
I've always liked Carbonite. Don't know why you consider it lousy. If an opponent is using fairy dust then they are likely not using assisted fire which is a win in my eyes. And the best AHD is a surprise one (like on an AD troop of Camo unit) in which case it does pretty well at hacking targets. Of course, this depends on who your facing. Kamau hacker isn't a big deal, BTS 6 is still going to get killed by KHD unless its in a big linked team for SSL 2. Such a set up is also dependent on a good repeater network which Pano is not know for. Thats what I'm going to miss with the shock army, they actually managed to put up a decent hacking game.
It's just rather weak. Imm-1 for 1 turn really isn't great. I'd rather do oblivion, but even still, its a B1 program with no mods. Any KHD will melt a crocman AHD easily. they're also expensive as far as infiltration specialists go. Kamau hacker isn't for offensive attacks, its just for Gadget programs really. and the ability to unlock Remotes. the added bonus is being able to bring him up the board with an HMG Harris so he can push a button or something. assuming you've cleared any enemy KHDs, or are somehow safe from them. BTS 6 is just a nice added bonus.
Carbonite is the program you lead with to trap your target. It has a higher probability of winning a F2F roll and landing an effect than other programs. Then, when your opponent is trying to reset out of it, you can follow up with stronger programs. This is best against enemy Hackers, who are stuck Resetting rather than using a more dangerous program. If you can arrange a 2 on 1 ARO vs an enemy KHD, it helps a lot there. The enemy either has to split Burst, giving the AHD fair odds of winning, or the opponent focuses everything on your KHD, in which case the AHD will almost certainly land an Unopposed Immobilize and let you follow up with more potent programs. As for multiple Camo, I don't know about having multiple be visible... The scary part is when they're all hidden. Then you don't know if you're walking into a mine, a hacking ARO, or a target you actually want to shoot at.
Well, I have to say that I haven't fielded AHD since a very long time now. But I field regularly HD and they are great for a lot of things but rarely for attacking. Well, they can be but this requires a EVO hacker and a lot of HD. If Croc men receive KHD, I would be really happy as my last version of my REM list would be nearly entirely playable in VIRD too (depends if EB is costier than a Garuda Spitfire). And the main force of this list is the Hacker spam. Yeah, no need of top of the notch hacking programs and WIP 15 if you are too much for your opponents Hackers to have a FtF against all yours. And Fusiliers do this job the best behind Moderators and Keisotsu. While ASA has access to more aggressive hackers, NCA can play the defensive hacking game the best. Just because there is too many cheap hackers for your opponent if he hasn't brought a specific list full of top notch hackers to counter you. I tried to make the same kind of list in ASA but it is just impossible. PanOceania ────────────────────────────────────────────────── GROUP 1 8 1 PEACEMAKER Heavy Shotgun + AUXBOT_3 / Electric Pulse. (0 | 21) AUXBOT_3 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (- | 4) BULLETEER Spitfire / Electric Pulse. (1 | 23) AKAL COMMANDO Spitfire / Pistol, E/M CCW. (1.5 | 28) PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16) FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8) FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8) MACHINIST Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15) TRAUMA-DOC Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14) PALBOT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3) PALBOT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3) WARCOR (Aerocam) Flash Pulse / Stun Pistol, Knife. (0 | 3) GROUP 2 8 CROC MAN (Forward Observer, Deployable Repeater) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 32) FUSILIER Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10) FUSILIER Lieutenant Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10) FUSILIER Hacker (Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 18) FUSILIER Hacker (Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 18) MULEBOT Hacker (EVO Hacking Device) Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 25) PEACEMAKER Heavy Shotgun + AUXBOT_3 / Electric Pulse. (0 | 21) AUXBOT_3 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (- | 4) BULLETEER Spitfire / Electric Pulse. (1 | 23) 5 SWC | 299 Points Open in Infinity Army Had to replace a Fugazi by a Warcor because Croc Man is costier than Hexa. But there is still 1 point so the Croc can be a KHD if CB wants it.
