For me when list building he and the FO scout are constantly butting heads over the middle field specialists role. The scout feels like it is a slightly better gunfighter but Pavel is pretty much better at all other tasks. What's been your experience with Pavel? Do you find him being worth it? Is frenzy a boon or bane?
The big thing I get from Scouts is a solid source of E/M. Being able to deliver an E/M hit, when an opponent is pretty much universally expecting standard antipersonnel mines, can be pivotal. That being said, delivering a solid T2 hit via close combat is also unexpected. Streloks create a really nice hotbed of standard threats, and it really allows both Scouts and Pavel to "blend in" and suddenly present an unexpected threat. Pavel has the advantage of still being a Specialist. The Scout has the advantage of being able to Recamo after serious combat has started. For me, there's no right or wrong answer... It primarily boils down to whether I need the Specialist and some close combat, or need the E/M.
Pavel can Recamo too, if needed. Still, you're on point, they're pretty good to surprise your opponent with unexpected threats.
@colbrook 's got it. Technically yeah, Pavel's got some capability for reusing his Camo, but his active turn role changes heavily as the game goes on. The Scout's really good at maintaining a persistent lurking threat and controlling territory, while Pavel's role gets compromised a bit in subsequent turns.
Yeah E/M scout forgot about him for a second even though I normally run him since I was looking over Tak specialists. The E/M has a chance to just wreck a player's plans for a turn.
I really like the design of Pavel's profile, just in the sense that he can act as a fairly traditional Camo button pusher if you want him to, but then he maintains this interesting toolbox of different threats (Ojotnik, direct template, close combat.) And once you commit him to acting aggressively, his role shifts very dramatically. It's a pretty unique design.
Took Pavel in game recently against JSA, along with a Dog Warrior, and boy did they do some work. I took down my opponents Daiyōkai and Shikami in CC with Pavel, with assistance in the form of additional burst in CC from the Dog Warrior. The Natural Born Warrior very effectively shut down my opponents Martial Arts skills. 10/10, will take Pavel again. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Pavel is a beast, but I would like him more with Dogged, everytime he seems too fragile for his 31 points.