Nikoul Ambush Unit

How did you use him? He's an awesome 'has cover anywhere', 'hold that lane for me, please' model, but he's not OP.

 

Did you give him a SymbioMate?How much orders did opponent spend before killing him?

 

I prefer classic ARO triad:Gao-Rael(sniper),Sakeul ML and any filler(Kaeltar or something with template) but if I took one and my turn was 2nd...probably yeah I would give one mate to him.
3 orders to eliminate him not so bad imho so only you can decide like you him or not.

 

In general, the active turn has a pretty big advantage, so you should assume that most of your ARO pieces will die if your opponent wants them to. So a model like the Nikoul that represents a fairly static defense will generally either get killed in the opponent's active turn, or it will go the entire game without firing a shot, with the opponent simply avoiding it.

With a reactive sniper rifle, your biggest advantage is range bands. You can't directly control where the opponent engages you from, but you want to put the Nikoul as far back on the board as possible, so that it's covering very long lanes of fire. You want the easiest to reach points of attack to definitely be longer than 24", and longer than 32" if at all possible. Assume that the opponent can outmaneuver you, but make them pay as many orders as possible to do it. Ultimately, the Nikoul's job isn't to kill an enemy specialist trying to reach an objective; rather, it's to make them invest a disproportionate number of orders in securing that specialist's passage, costing them the ability to advance somewhere else on the board.

 

Just to emphasise the range band point: Sapper means a nikoul can literally deploy on the back table edge if need be. Sniper rifles have extreme range; use your flexible deployment from Sapper to maximise that advantage.

 

usualy i used him with a symbiomate... He automaticly fails its guts roll so if you deploy him correctly he nearly can't die (make him see the opponent in S3 but not in s0). With n4 he became even better because he can now fire through smoke ^^

 

Also: fun trick. After failing Guts and going prone, assuming enemies cannot see him while prone, he can reactivate Sapper by spending an order, going from SX -> S3 without generating ARO's (as the S3 doesn't activate until the resolution step, well after AROs are declared/checked).

This can be very annoying for an opponent who set up several "soft" ARO pieces to catch him if he stands back up now having to deal with him again on their turn (ideally after you assassinate their main long-range attack piece).

 

I keep flip flopping between the Nikoul and the Gao-Rael during list building, but haven't honestly played either yet as I've only played Spiral so far.

The Gao-Rael is nice because of the MSV2, fireteam bonuses, more mobility and flexibility as the game goes on.

The Nikoul with viral sniper, sapper, and mines, requires less point investment.

I can never decide.

I really love the defensive fireteam of a Gao-Rael sniper, Sakiel LRL, Kamel Medic for 69 points and feels like a nasty nasty defensive fireteam. or swap the medic for a Makaul heavy flamer for 68 total points.

 

Gao Rael + 2 15 point Kaeltar is a disgustingly cheap fireteam that can perform well on offense and defense, though it will have problems punching through heavier armor.

The Nikoul is an incredibly cheap defensive piece; MSV1, Sapper, and 2 wounds (with optional Minelayer for 2 extra points) makes for a deceptively sturdy order-waster for under 30 points. Give it a Symbiomate to almost-guarantee that it survives the first serious attacking piece that comes its way and it can gum up your opponent's orders all game.

It's not strong enough to prevent a linked HMG from blowing right through it, but once you take out that HMG it can be a real pain to dig out. Taking a Symbiomate, going prone once you lose it, and popping back up later via re-entering Sapper state will screw with your opponent's plan fantastically.

 

I've never taken the Gao-Rael in N4 and I don't feel like either the general changes to the game and meta not it's points hike have been kind to it.

For me, the competing profile to the nikoul is the 30pt Sukeul K1 sniper. It's only slightly more expensive but linkable, which in a second combat group with a pair of Kaeltar is pretty attractive, and K1 is an outstanding ammunition in the N4 TAG meta.

 

Slightly bumped to DAM 13, and I guess the number of ARM 2+ targets, where it breaks even against a regular DAM 15 Shock sniper, have gone up. Definitely better than N3.

 

For those skipping both the gao rael and nikoul are you mainly leaning on the meta shift to prevent smokey warbands from ruining your day? Or does the dodge change allow makauls to provide enough protection against these.

 

For me the Sukeul doesn’t compete with the Nikoul or the Gao Rael for the simple fact that it doesn’t have any MSV.

I think the Sukeul Sniper is a fantastic attack piece that is criminally underrated by a lot of people, but it can’t see through smoke and Mimetism, so it can’t perform the same role that the other two perform. I don’t think I would ever take it as my sole Sniper.

 

Pretty much, yes. Warbands just can't be present in great numbers any more so it's basically only Ariadna (vanilla and Scots, chiefly) with their numerous and well supported elite warbands that will stuff you up without an MSV element.

And those models (and basically all warbands except uberfal, who an MSV can't stop) are very susceptible to a pheroware network so you have at least a decent chance of stopping them at the gates.

(But a nikoul against Ariadna is very nice so still extremely worthwhile in the matchup.)