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Reject Human Sphere, Evolve to Monke - The Morat Tactica Thread

Discussion in 'Combined Army' started by DaRedOne, Mar 24, 2022.

  1. DaRedOne

    DaRedOne Morat Warrior Philosopher
    Warcor

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    Greetings, my fellow morat, The Red One here.

    So, with yet another update, it's time to bring our Murder Monkeys to full force in N4. We got some new toys, a lot of new ways to organize our forces, and just plain smash face with the Aggression Forces. It's a good time to be a red-handed murderer.

    In this thread we will discuss how to best utilize your red-faced killing machines, and I will update it periodically as new units and new experiences come up. For now, let's talk about how to Evolve into Monke

    Why play Morats?

    Because you like to fight, but you don't like to do it with silly tricks like the humans do. For real, Morats are all about in your face aggression, and their ability to project force from several different vectors at once is something the army is really good at. Lots of weapons have extra damage or extra burst, and the whole army is veteran and religious, which means they get to ignore some of the nastier tricks in most lists.

    Additionally, the army has a very unique design. We make jokes about them looking like Monkeys, but Space Oni with massive guns are quite charming and look much different from the human sphere forces.

    Morat Strengths:

    1. - Every Morat model is religious and veteran. This means they get to ignore Isolated and Loss of Lieutenant. Ignoring LoL is not a big deal nowadays as there are many ways to mitigate it in most armies, but ignoring Isolated is a big deal when there are so many jammers, E/M weapons, etc in the game. Plus, this allows morats to play very aggressively with their lieutenants, and we got some cool options to do just that.
    2. - Morats are one of the few armies that can deploy one core fireteam and two haris, instead of the usual one core and one haris. Plus, we've got access to an unique way of building fireteams in the form of the MORAT fireteam, read more about it below.
    3. - Several of our models have access to extra burst, extra damage, or both. This means while our models have middling statlines, they still can cause a lot of damage by putting more bullets in the air in a single order. Having so many ways to build your fireteams also helps.

    Morat Weaknesses:

    1. - Lack of native marker state is a big deal. No cheap chaff models in the midfield also is an issue. Morat ARO game relies a lot on positioning and setup, and while we do get a couple minelayers, they aren't exactly inexpensive, and the costs add up fast.
    2. - Speaking of cost, our models are slightly costlier than average, while mostly having statlines that are very, very average for how much we pay for them. This does make list building difficult because fitting everything you want or need in means making sacrifices in other areas.
    3. - Our statlines are painfully average. Most of the models have the exact kind of BS you'd expect for their type (Most HI have BS13, MI BS12 and LI BS11) and WIP is nothing to write home about either. Order efficiency and link bonuses go a long way to help here though.

    Unit Breakdown

    Light Infantry

    Morat light infantry has changed considerably and nowadays basically works as our link fillers and some specialists. Expect to see some of these guys making it into every list, but don't expect them to be spending a lot of orders on every game.

    Med-Tech Obsdion Medchanoid:

    Doctor Worm is an old and reliable model. Being both Doctor and Engineer at WIP14 makes him our best option for pure healing and engineering. He's also fast at Move 6-4 and carries a Combi that he will never use. There's nothing special about him, but he's useful, take him if you want a reliable backline support piece.
    However, keep in mind this dude doesn't go into fireteams and isn't morat, which means he is not religious nor a veteran. And nowadays we actually have competent engineers and paramedics that CAN go into fireteams, so he might be staying home for the MAF forces.

    Morat Vanguard Infantry

    VANGUARDS ARE NOT GOOD
    Now that I've said it, they have some uses. They are cheap (for Combined Army) link fillers that can help buff up your MORAT fireteams for those sweet bonuses. You're probably best served by the paramedic or forward observer options for this, as they are cheapish and the special weapons options are way too expensive for a BS11 monkey with no special skills or gear. The paramedic in particular works like a charm in a fireteam as he gets the Burst bonus to his Medikit, which allows him to be as effective as the Worm in healing stuff. Lower WIP does make him a bit dumber when pushing buttons, but order efficiency means he gets there faster.
    These guys will show up in lists though because they can make MORAT fireteams, which means they get to join a host of other models and still count for full fireteam bonuses. I will talk more about this when discussing fireteams later.

    Treitak Anyat

    Our first named character, and the one who brings the BOOF. Jokes aside, Anyat is the usual dire foes character that is a buffed up baseline trooper. In her case, she's got BS12 and increased CC values on top of the usual vanguard profile, but then she's got a slew of equipment added in.
    Specialist Operative and Climbing Plus are situational skills that won't be useful often, but will cinch a situation when they are. E/M grenades thrown with link bonuses and the K1 Combi will make armored foes sweat, but the best thing about Anyat is her Smoke Grenades.
    Non-impetuous smoke is really good, and Anyat lands it on relatively high rolls. But the really cool thing is she's both a Wildcard and a MORAT model, which means she can join any fireteam in the force, thus making sure any monke that needs his weed can have it, but also giving out the extra strong stuff to her other MORAT buddies to make them pumped up.

    Kurgat Regiment of Combat Engineers

    Now we're getting to the useful stuff. These monkes went to university to learn the Art of Explodonating things, and they all got their degrees. Sure, they can fix your robots and other stuff, but these guys are here to bring the booms. With BS12 and a respectable BTS of 6, they're decent enough gunfighters and have some defense against pesky pheroware stuff and other comms attacks.
    And when I said they're good at bringing the booms, I was not joking. The Boarding Shotgun option can choose between Mines, Drop Bears or Panzerfausts, with drop bears arguably being the best option as they bring some interesting options for 'agressive defense' tactics. Although the Panzerfaust option might make for a decent first turn ARO if you're in a full 5-monkey fireteam.
    Notice that the Drop Bears don't have camo, but they can be thrown further, and Morats tend to have better PH than average. Kurgats throw their Drop Bears at 12+Range, and with link Bonuses you can throw two of them around with a single order. Notice these guys interact with camo in a weird way: you can't throw the bear if there's only a camo token in the blast range, but if there's any valid target nearby, then you can. Also, you can elect to just place the bear without tossing it, and can also place it close to a Camo token by making an intuitive attack.
    As a more unusual option you have a bizarrely buffed AP Combi-rifle option that also comes with an E/Mitter, which is a bit odd, but not exactly bad, and finally, you've got the legendary Portable Autocannon. This weapon has been unwieldy in the Kurgats hands for quite a while, but in a full fireteam it's flinging out three AP+EXP shots at BS15, so it's nothing to sneer at.
    Like Vanguards, Kurgats are MORAT so they get to form mixed teams and still get all the bonuses. Pay attention to this.

    Dartok Cybercombat Team

    Another Monke that went to school, this one learned how to hack shit. However, because he's a morat, he learned how to blow people's brains off instead. At WIP 13 and BTS 6 and with an upgraded Trinity program that deals +1 damage, the Dartok is actually pretty good at the whole 'blow your brains out with hacking' thing.
    And He's cheap too! Popping in at 21 points with an SMG or 25 with a combi+cybermines, and always bringing his trusty pitcher, the Dartok is a nice, properly costed link filler that allows you to slot a specialist AND some protection for your Heavy Infantry in any MORAT link. They synergize particularly well with Suryats as the combination of their buffed up Trinity and the Suryat's tinbot means enemy hackers will be wary of trying their silly tricks with your big, angry and heavily armored space apes.
    Do note the Dartok is only BS11, so don't expect him to go around winning shootouts against competent shooters. Take your own competent shooters to deal with them instead.

    Zabuk, Morat Enslavers

    Mmm, kinky.
    Heh, sorry, couldn't resist. But this chick is packing chains and glue guns, so she's a total dominatrix. At 15 points a pop, she's cheap, but her statline is quite poor, with BS 11 and a bizarre CC score of 18. She's definitely one of the most frail models in the force, but she does bring some unique stuff to the table.
    Submachine gun and flash pulse come standard on all profiles, and then she gets to choose between twin Adhesive Launchers or a single Heavy Riotstopper for her choice of glue gun. Riotstopper is probably the best option, because a massive template (fired twice if in a link) that glues stuff will create an even larger no go area around this chick. Plus, she's got a whooping -9 PARA CCW to make sure anything she goes up against will stop dead in its tracks.
    Let's talk about how useful that -9 PARA CCW is. Even if you're against, say, a Martial Arts lvl 5 character, you're looking at the Zabuk swinging at 15 vs them swinging at 19. Not the best odds, but merely putting another member of the fireteam in btb contact means two swings for the Zabuk. In a haris, that's potentially 3 swings. And this is a worst case cenario. Against most CC specialist models, the Zabuk is swinging at 15 and dropping them to a 17. That huge penalty is a big equalizer and allows her to threaten more stuff than it looks like at first.
    Keep in mind she CAN link, but she is NOT MORAT, so a fireteam with her will only gain half the benefits.

    Tyrok Hunters

    Booyah. One of the most recent additions to the MAF arsenal, the huntress brings in much needed midfield defense and offence, but with a morat twist. No marker state, no Mimetism, but she does have a Minelayer option, or can bring in her little skurgot pet. Being CC23 with Martial Arts lvl1 and Natural Born Warrior and equipped with an array of short ranged weapons like heavy pistols with extra burst and a trench hammer with added strength for some sweet DAM 15 DA whack-a-mole action, she's geared for up close murder and it shows.
    She's also packing a T2 rifle, which allows her to throw some really dangerous suppressive fire down the lanes. If you can manage to put her in a situation where the opponent can't come at her from more than 16 inches away she will become a ridiculously hard to shift roadblock for her points cost.
    The Skurgot adds in a bit of utility against other midfield units as it can afford to eat a mine without much issue, and if you manage to get it into CC the Huntress can swing up to three times thanks to the added burst of her Heavy Pistols.
    However, keep in mind this lady is a huntress. She should have a target, because she will not survive prolonged combat. Your best bet is to identify what it is your huntress is going after (Most likely an enemy HI with low CC scores but a big gun. Tags work too) and let her loose until she dies a glorious, bloody death for the Supremacy.

    Krakot Renegades, Morat Fugitives

    CB is trying really hard to make these dudes return to their former N3 glory, but it's not working. They're severely overshadowed by Tyroks, which are more expensive but start further up the board and hit arguably harder, and Daturazi who cost the same and bring more utility.
    However, Krakots are not a lost cause. They're quite cheap, and the autoshotty and SMG profiles both bring stuff that neither the Tyrok or the Daturazi do, so they might be useful. A lucky roll on the MetaChemistry table can even elevate them to really awesome status, but that's pretty much a gamble, even with rerolls.
    Chest mines also allow them to fight Fireteams in CC by running in and trying to get into BTB with as many models as possible before detonating. Sure, you could always just fire the things off, but getting close and berserking is the morat way of dying in the battlefield.
    The Red Fury option is a bit of a hard sell. However, these guys can duo among each other or with Kendrat, so they can get cover bonuses, and if they get close enough to leverage bonuses and catch enemies out of cover they could, in theory, make that red fury work. Although if you're going to do all that work you're probably better served with the shorter ranged but still Burst 4 and DAM 13 shock SMG.

    Medium Infantry

    Medium infantry is in a weird spot. Most of these models are expensive, but they have some niche uses that can see them being slotted into fireteams. The cool thing is almost all of these dudes can form fireteams with most of our Light Infantry options, ensuring we get trimmed down, efficient hunting parties.

    Kornak Gazarot, Superior Warrior-Officer

    Ironguts is our tried and true, big badass ape to lead the other apes. His profile is a respectable elite outline, sporting CC22, BS14, the highest in the sectorial alongside with the Raicho, a nice WIP14 for that Lieutenant roll, and ARM3/BTS9 with No Wound Incapacitation and Shock Immunity making him a pseudo heavy infantry without hackable.
    For guns, he packs an MK12 and a Light Flamer, together with a nice DA CCW. All in all, this dude is pretty effective, stable and an all-out monster once he gets swinging. Wanna know the real good part though? He's both a Wildcard and a MORAT, which means he can form mixed fireteams and still keep the bonuses, or he can join any other non-MORAT fireteam to bring his big gun and/or CC prowess to them. Guy is good.
    If you choose Kornak, he IS your Lieutenant, don't even question the Red One. Strategos lvl 1 makes him a really good commander and WIP14 is useful for an army that wants to go first most of the time. Also consider shelling out those extra 4 points for the Lieutenant Order+1 version, as that would make the Ironguts generate a whooping 3 orders all on his own!
    However, keep in mind you don't have to always choose Kornak. There are other options in the army, and we have plenty of NCOs to make use of that LT order too. More importantly, Kornak is one of our more fragile options, as he's only 1 wound and ARM3, which is somewhat mitigated by having NWI, but guys like the Sogarat are much hardier, and the Yaogat and/or Vanguard are much cheaper.
    One specially poignant comparison is that Kornak with LT Order+1 costs as much as a Suryat with LT Order+1, and while Kornak is definitely more versatile and doesn't cost SWC, the Suryat is way hardier and brings a longer ranged gun as well as hacker defense. So really, it's not as much a no-brainer as some people think.
    Food for thought.

    Kyosot Killing Platoon

    [Deep breath]
    AHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
    [Deep breath]
    AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
    Sorry, I kinda got carried away by all the INSANE MURDEROUS POTENTIAL of this bastard. Seriously, this guy is NASTY, in ALLCAPS, because he is that busted. BS13 and mimetism -3 make him one of the best gunfighters in the whole army, and he's packing the bizarrely OP skill BS attack: T2. This means this scary monkeyfucker is adding in T2 to all his shots.
    See that SMG? It's AP+T2 now. And how about that T2 CHAINCOLT TEMPLATE?
    Sorry, I had to hold back the maniacal laughter again.
    Sure, the Kyosot is very, very short ranged, with most of his weapons threatening only about 8 inches from him. He's also expensive and very frail, with only ARM3 and mimetism to protect him and his single wound. Plus, he is NOT MORAT so while he can form mixed fireteams, he doesn't get full bonuses, probably to keep him from turning into a BS16 murderbeast. So yeah, he's 'only' a BS13 murderbeast, what a shame.
    In all seriousness though, it's very easy to have a big gun from one of your other models escort the Kyosot upfield where he will proceed to make abstract art out of your enemy's models, just make sure to protect him during the reactive turn and not expose him to too many AROs and he will bring the pain.
    A counterpoint is that a Kyosot in suppressive fire will make a 16 inch bubble of 'fuck you and everything you hold dear' wherever he is parked at. This means that escorting one of these dudes upfield them breaking him off the team to form a defensive turret might be a good idea. At BS13 with mimetism -3 he will be hard to shift unless your opponent is packing long range MSV options. At which point its your fault you didn't kill those before putting your Kyosot in suppressive position.
    Do note that while the Kyosot is very good at pulverizing ANYTHING within range, he does only that. And we have other less destructive options that are also less expensive, so think carefully if you really need the insane levels of Overkill this guy brings to the table.
    Oh, who am I kidding? You're playing Morats, of course you need insane levels of Overkill. Go for broke, mate.

    Raktorak, Morat Sergeant Major

    Oh, how I love these little dudes. They're the glue that holds our army together, bringing nice barbecue and beer for the troops. BS12, ARM 2 and BTS6 are respectable, and they usually bring either a Heavy Flamer or a Vulkan Shotgun to roast stuff, which means they're always a good pick. The Red Fury profile can join warband fireteams like Daturazi or Hungries to give them a ranged threat while they advance up the field, so they have a reason to be anywhere.
    In addition, they also have the Number 2 and Specialist Operative rules, which feeds into their role as command and control units that can push buttons and pick up the slack if the fireteam leader buys the farm. There's also one NCO option that synergizes really well with having a Lieutenant in his own team for that final reposition move before the turn ends. Make sure to keep your models safe and your ARO threats presented to the enemy, you know?
    Note these guys are also Wildcards and like our other Wildcards they are also MORAT, which means they will help bring the numbers up for those sweet, sweet full team bonuses. So hey, what's not to like about these doods? Crack open a cold one with the monke boys and let's go hunting!

    Rasyat Diplomatic Division

    Evil. These guys are evil.
    Morat Diplomacy is made with high-impact rapid fire and the Rasyat excels at it. CC21, BS12 and PH13 are respectable, and while he looks armoured to the blue monkey balls, he actually is only ARM2. The thing is: your opponent will not see them coming.
    These guys have both Combat Jump and Parachutist: Deployment Zone, which means not only is nowhere safe, they can just calmly walk in from THE ENEMY'S TABLE EDGE. Let that sink in. You've got a Monkey with Stealth, a DA CCW, CC21 and both Martial Arts lvl2 and Natural Born Warrior just casually strolling into the enemy's side of the table, carrying either an Autoshotty or or a Combi Rifle. Oh, and he's got that extra strong kush for Eclypse Smoke so powerful not even MSV will see through it.
    Oh, you want more, you greedy violent bastard? How about that Spitfire then? Big guns are bad. Big guns that walk in from the enemy side of the table are even badder. Oh, here comes the maniacal laughter again.
    The downside is this guy is an expensive model on an expensive army. It's hard to fit in more than one of him, so you have to make sure to apply him with surgical precision to make his investment worth it. Try to identity what are the priority targets for assassination-I mean, Morat Diplomacy and consider saving the Rasyat for a turn 2 punch for added unprectitabilty.

    Rodoks, Morat Armed Imposition Detachment

    Rodoks are the ugly duckling of the MAF forces. Unlike pretty everyone else who can form mixed teams to their enjoyment, Rodoks can only fireteam amongst themselves, and only up to a haris team. This is probably because these bastards also work for the Onyx Forces so we don't trust them.
    BS12 and Mimetism -3 make them respectable gunfighters, and they've got nice options for both defense in the form of a Missile Launcher+Light Shotty, or offence with a Spitfire. Rounding up their options, we've got two specialist options, both fairly costed: the Hacker and the Paramedic, and a single Shotty option that also brings in Mines for that midfield muckery.
    But the real kicker is the guy with Strategic Deployment. Put this monkey in your team and everyone gets to deploy 4 inches further up the table, a nice little touch and one that makes the Spitfire a lot more useful, as well as the guy with the mines.
    Rodoks are a nice support team, either as a secondary hunting party or as a defensive one, and they're probably best served without wildcards to make the maximum of their link bonuses. They can shore up a flank or advance up said flank while offering a credible threat, so they've got plenty of uses. Treat them as a side dish to your main course and you'll be well served.

    Yaogat Strike Infantry

    For when you positively, absolutely, must kill that TAG. Accept no substitutes. These guys are still relics of the time CB thought every army needed a BS12 ARM3 medium infantry with MSV, and they're showing their age. Most of the profiles are severely overshadowed by other options in the army, even though those Combis or Shotguns+Panzerfausts are nice armor killers in ARO, and there's nothing wrong with the Spitfire or the Lieutenant option per se.
    They're just a bit on the expensive side, and there are other platforms in the army that bring either effective Camo hunting tools or high impact, high burst damage for less cost.
    However, one profile that really shines is the goddamn MULTI-Sniper rifle. This guy is one angry ape. Popping in 3 shots natively, he'll be going for 4 shots at BS 15 in a full MORAT link, at which point he pretty much guarantees whatever he shoots at is going to be dead. And Smoke is something trivially easy to get in MAF now, so that sweet Smoke+MSV combo works like a charm. A violently explosive charm.
    It should be noted that he doesn't really need to be BS15 when he's got a visor and can be Burst 4 in a haris. If you want to use him offensively, you might be better served putting him on a 3-monke team well-defended in your deployment zone.
    Stay the hell away from the overcosted Hacker profile. Seriously, there's nothing he can do that a Dartok won't do better or cheaper.

    Heavy Infantry

    This is the section for all-out aggression. Here are our models that do one thing, and one thing only: smash face. We've got a lot of flavors of face smashers, and they're all pretty great and unique.

    Kaitok Shock Regiment

    On the one hand, these guys are ugly and unwieldy and kinda silly with their big, bulky powered suits. On the other hand, say with me now, deep breath: OOOH YEAH!!!
    With MOV6-2, the Kaitok is fast, and with ARM5 and two wounds, the Kaitok is hard, BS attack +1DAM means the Kaitok also hits hard, but BS12 means he's a bit of a dumb shooter for a Heavy Infantry. And then you look at his profile and his link options.
    Let's start with that 22 point option with a +2 burst to their chainrifle. Put this guy on a link, any link, and he's firing off 4 DAM14 large templates. That's FOUR automatic DAM14 hits. Honestly, at this point this guy is putting so much lead in the air your enemies are probably dying of lung failure rather than bullet wounds. And thats for a measly 22 points!
    Other profiles are more expensive, and include a nice Heavy Rocket Launcher for some fire damage, and a Feuerbach with MSV1 if you think you're going to be up against a lot of Mimetic enemies and Camo, which is a lot of armies nowadays. The breaker rifle profile is the odd one out, but he could make for a decent roadblock if in Suppressive Fire. Notice all profiles benefit from +1 DAM, so they can make for some scary options in ARO as that Feuerbach is smashing people with DAM15 AP+DA hits and the HRL is going for DAM15 continuous damage templates.
    This really makes the Breaker Rifle a good suppressive fire option as hitting against Half BTS with a DAM14 gun makes him surprisingly lethal and ARM5 in cover isn't easy to shift.
    The more expensive profiles are less fire-and-forget than the 22 points one, but the fact this big guy is a MORAT means he can form fireteams with so many models, you'll be hard pressed not to find a place to put him in.

    Rindak Emergency Brigade

    Now wasn't this guy a nice little surprise? A 'lightly armored' heavy infantry with only ARM3 and 1 STRUCTURE, but No Wound Incapacitation and Shock Immunity so while he isn't instantly getting punked by some idiot shooting at him, he is still the most frail of all our HI options. However, he's got a slew of skills that make up for it.
    For starters, he's a paramedic that has +1Burst to his Medikit. Pumping our monkeys full of drugs to get them back up is a very moraty thing to do, and with so many rolls he's probably better than the worm at doing it too! Then he adds in sensor, which makes him useful at hunting down camo. And if you needed more incentive, he's also got three Forward Deployment+8 options! Rounding up his skills, he's also packing Immunity to Crits and Climbing Plus, which are more situational but by no means bad.
    Defensively, he also gets both a +3 to his Dodge rolls and forces a -3 on the opponent whenever he declares the Dodge Skill in an FTF roll, which makes him a bit more likely to survive being shot at. Although this is more likely to come up if he's on his own as having an entire fireteam declare Dodge might not be the best idea.
    This guy is quite expensive though. Clocking in at 27 points for the FTO option and 31-37 points for the Forward Deployment options. And he is not as good a shooter as the Kyosot. This means you need to treat him like a scalpel, not a hammer. At his cost, it will be hard to fit in more than one of them into the list, so it's better to know beforehand what you intend to do with him and be ready to let him die if you need.
    Keep in mind the most expensive option is packing a +1 Burst MULTI-Rifle on a BS12 Platform with NWI and ARM3. Short ranged? Yes. But it's still 4 shots at decent BS, and the Rindak can start up field. 'Doctor Death' is not a bad moniker for this bastard.
    This guy is a pretty cool addition to the force as it gives us a somewhat 'Elite' midfield model who's quite resilient for how further up he starts, but lacks the usual tricks associated with midfield models like camo and mimetism. However, he is also uniquely equipped to actually go there and kill these bastards. Sensor is pretty good, and his short ranged, high burst weaponry with shock ammo means he just needs to land ONE good hit to send most skirmishers to an early grave. Do not knock him just for lacking mimetism. He will get the job done and he WILL kill shit, just use him wisely.

    Sogarat Tempest Regiment

    The ultimate brick to end all bricks. The Anvil to the Kaitok's hammer, the rocks of the eternal shore. Say it with me, mates: HE. WILL. NOT. DIE!!!
    Jokes aside, these are some hardy bastards. And I mean really hardy. At ARM6 and BTS6 with 2 wounds and No Wound Incapacitation on top, these guys are closer to mini TAGs than actual heavy infantry, and they even have +1DAM on their weapons to show it too. They're standard BS13 with no shooting skills, so they're somewhat average, but when you're shooting either a DAM16 AP HMG or a Burst 3 DAM 15 Feuerbach, quantity ends up having a quality of its own.
    Now, Sogarats are an interesting case in that they can be lieutenants on their own, or pay a bit more for the NCO skill. In my opinion, you should pick the Lieutenant options if you plan on using them as roadblocks, and the NCO option if you plan on using them aggressively, but that's a matter of choice.
    On the topic of blocking roads, these guys are unreasonably good at it. Sit him in cover and suppressive fire and he could realistically eat an entire turn's worth of orders before going down. Very moraty.
    Do note these guys can only form Duos with other Sogs or with the TAGs, so they may end up overshadowed by the other options as they are less hardy, but more versatile. Right now Sogarats do face a strange dilemma in that they are squeezed in between the Kaitoks and the TAGs, so consider the following:
    Compared with Kaitoks, Sogarats are more resilient and shoot better against most targets, while also having longer ranged weapons with higher native burst. This means the Sogarats are more independent, whereas the Kaitok will live or die by which fireteam he's slotted in.
    Compared with the TAGs, the Sogarats are cheaper while hitting just as hard, but are slower and don't have the same raw damage potential. This means Sogarats can reasonably be left as roadblocks, whereas TAGs will want to play aggressively to make their points back.
    I particularly like these guys. They are a solid backbone piece that has yet to disappoint.

    Suryat Assault Heavy Infantry

    They're still PH13? WAT?
    Jokes aside, they're pretty sweet despite the bizarrely low PH score for a heavy infantry model. BS13 is the standard, but Immunity to AP and the Isolated State means these guys don't care about two of the more common ways to deal with heavily armored models in this game. Pretty nice start, huh?
    For heavy weapon options, you've got a Heavy Rocket Launcher with MSV1 option, or an HMG option that can choose between Tactical Awareness or being a Lieutenant for some extra orders that can be safely used within a fireteam thanks to our NCO options.The Heavy Weapons also come with Tinbots for added hacking defense.
    These guys are also MORAT, which makes them come in handy for Fireteam composition as they'll bring full fireteam benefits for a lot of other models.
    While the Non-SWC options are a bit harder to use, they're both 2 wound models with AP immunity and decently high armor, and they bring fire templates either in Vulkan Shotgun or Light Flamer options, which not only means we can pump a stupidly high amount of templates out of a single fireteam, but also helps them fight those pesky Camo tokens that give us so much trouble.
    It begs repeating the Lieutenant Order+1 option costs as much as Kornak but can take much more of a beating. Consider him carefully if you need a hardy Lieutenant on your list.

    Tactical Armored Gear

    If our HI options are good at Smashing Face, our TAG options are even better. These guys are meant for all-out violence and bring some nice tools to the force. Plus, being immune to Isolation really makes a difference as there's a lot less stuff that can threaten them directly. The two options complement each other nicely, with one more geared towards long range fighting while the other is quite comfortable moving forward and getting close.

    Bultrak Mobile Armored Regiment

    Goddamnit, CB, really?
    At BS13 and ARM7 at a S7 chassis, the Bultrak is poorly armored for its Silhoutte, in line with stuff like the O-Yoroi and the Seraph. In fact, given its Super Jump and +1 Burst in CC, you'd be excused for thinking this was as Close Combat TAG, but it's not. Sure, it can bully low CC models, but this guy is a fire superiority TAG, if a weird one.
    BS13 does make it less likely to win FTF rolls than most S7 Tags, but its guns compensate that, as this guy is either rocking a HYPER RAPID MAGNECTIC RAIL CANNON (say that name out loud, it's fun!) or a fuckmothering PORTABLE AUTOCANNON with added burst. This means the Bultrak brings the pain at range, and with +1 Burst to its punches and a PH of 15 paired with CC17, he can actually punch out any non-CC dedicated threat that comes closer, better than shooting at them with his pistol too!
    No, really: with the Heavy Pistol you're popping 2 shots at BS13+Range, so if the enemy has Mimetism at any level or cover you're back at 13. While if you go with the Gorilla pounding fists, it's two swings at CC17, ignoring Mimetism and cover, so it actually has a better chance at winning the FTF roll. Just don't engage if they have CC skills.
    This means that either from 16+ or at less than 6 inches the Bultrak is a credible threat, but he has a blind spot between 8 and 16 inches where his competency severely decays and it can be a problem. Of course, this guy is an active turn killer, so try and keep him out of danger during the reactive turn.
    Super Jump is an interesting skill on a light TAG, and it allows him to find many different attack vectors to put his big guns to use, however, it is also a hard to master skill. It's very easy to expose yourself to too many AROs when jumping, so you should check your movement path carefully before doing it.
    There's a big dilemma between the HRMC and the Autocannon, but it all boils down to this: The HRMC will win more FTF rolls, but the Autocannon will KILL stuff. In the end, it depends entirely on whether you like to play it safer with higher chances or if you want to make sure to put your enemies down for good.
    The pilot is a Special Operative, but only WIP12, however at BS12 and with a Vulkan Shotgun he can be a credible threat to targets that come close to the TAG if you ever need to dismount for any reason.

    Raicho Armored Brigade

    The original Bad Bitch of the bunch, this Armored Huntress is here to bring the hurt up close while the Bultrak picks the slack from afar. She's bigger, has better armor, shoots better, and has some more effective close range options as she's Immune to Critical Hits and has some Hacker defense as well.
    Her statline is pretty standard for a Main Battle TAG, boasting MOV6-4 BS14, ARM8 and BTS6 with 3 Structure points at a Silhouette value of 7, but her WIP is slightly lower at 12 and her CC is slightly higher at 17, although there's little incentive to use that CC value.
    Notice the Raicho is always packing a MULTI-HMG, so while she doesn't put as much hurt up range as the Bultrak, she's no slouch at it. Getting pumped with four BS14, DAM16 AP or Shock shots is bound to hurt or kill a lot of stuff in this game.
    The NCO or Heavy Shotty options are probably the best picks for the Raicho as they bring stuff the Bultrak doesn't have, namely short range defense. But the Heavy Rocket Launcher option also has Impact Templates, which is something the Bultrak lacks so she has that going for her.
    Raichos have the distinct honor of being one of the few TAGs that can get comfortably close to the opponent, and that Mine Dispenser option adds in something MAF really needs, which is Midfield defense, although it is something you need to spend orders on. Do note you can use it as an 'aggressive defense' tactic by firing off mines next to hacker models to try and force any enemy activating them to decide if eating a mine to the face is worth trying to fuck around with your huntress.
    The Mine Dispenser is a weapon that is worth discussing on its own, because of the options it gives us. For starters, it can fire both mines at once with a single order (efficient!), and BS14+Range makes them quite accurate. You can also try to speculative fire to catch those defensive fireteams hiding behind walls, and you can just put the mine down on your feet if you want, although remember they come in as mines, not camo tokens.
    "Oi, Red, you sure it's a good idea to push aggressively with a TAG, mate? These things don't want to get close." I hear you young monkeys ask. And I answer: Yes, my mate, yes it is. Two skills make the raicho comfortable up close: ECM:Hacker and Immunity:Crits. ECM means average WIP13-14 hackers trying to bully your TAG will have a harder time, and you can combo in Fairy Dust to feel safer if you want. Immunity:Crits means Bullshit warbands without EM or AP CCWs will have a much harder time wounding your big girl. And we also have our own warbands to get them out of that tarpit if someone closes in. The Raicho is an aggressive, all-out girl and she will reward you for being aggressive with her. Just don't try to engage models with Mimetism in cover.
    Finally, the pilot is a Special Operative with BS12 and has 2 Assault Pistols and D-charges. D-charges help her accomplish Objectives and Dual Assault Pistols means she's pumping out 5 shots at close range if she needs to defend herself for any reason. This chick is a killer alright.

    Remotes

    Most of our remotes are the same CA options, so there's nothing really special here. CA remotes tend to be a tiny bit better than Human Sphere though, so there's no reason not to use some of these. The CA remotes in particular feel more like an afterthought that you put into your lists than a conscious choice or priority, because they have little synergy with the rest of the army.

    Dropsuit Taryot

    HERE COMES THE BOOM!
    Taryots are old, broken down MAF veterans looking to die a bloody death on the battlefield and they do it in style. These guys are Remotes, so they can get supportware buffs, but they're morat, so they're Immune to Isolation and with BTS6 they're somewhat resilient to Hacker shenannigans. Finally, they have the hilariously fun but situationally effective Combat Jump (Explosion) skill.
    With PH 12 and packing an Autoshotty for 22 points or 24 points if you want to make him a Paramedic too, the Taryot is cheap enough that attempting to use that Explosion skill might be worth it if your opponent has left some lightly armored models bunched up. E-Drone support even brings their PH to 15 for a nice chance to pass the Combat Jump Roll. And if you don't want to risk it, Parachutist allows them to just walk in from the sides of the table and go do their thing.
    24 points for a specialist is something MAF seriously needs, so using these guys for pushing buttons isn't a bad idea. They're order effective too, so don't just go around throwing them like a fire-and-forget grenade at your targets.
    They also have a Red Fury option, and this one probably benefits more from walking in than exploding in, as that expensive SWC needs to actually kill some stuff to make its points back. BS11 is less than an issue when its deployment options allow it to catch enemies off cover too, so it's not something you shouldn't consider.

    Slave Drones

    Little nurse worms to help Doctor Worm be on two or more places at once. Useful and cheap, you can have one or two to extend the effective range of the big worm without exposing him to danger.
    They can also be attached to Kurgats for remove engineering, but considering how many ways you can slot a Kurgat into a fireteam, I have no idea why you'd want to do that.

    Ikadron Batdroids

    Cheap 9 points cheerleaders with Baggage and twin Light Flamethrowers for area denial. They also have MOV6-2 so they are somewhat fast, and those flame templates pile up fast. For 9 points, they can serve as cheap order generators even if they're only AVA 2. Baggage is a very useful skill when we've got so many disposable weapons in the army, so having someone to reload them can be a neat little addition.
    Notice these guys are not Morat, so they will become irregular if/when your LT goes down. That being said, with their Flash Pulses and flamethrowers they're not bad DZ defenders or corner guards. But if you want a template to move forward and deal The Damages, you're better off with all the other template options in the army.

    E-Drone

    Combined Army had the brilliant idea of mounting an EVO Hacking device in a chassis that can actually do something rather than just sit around, and the result is a neat little support hacker. BS11 is standard, but that MOV6-4 makes him a somewhat fast model, and at 18 points he can compete with the Dartok for hacking spots.
    He is also the only source of Supportware in the army, which can be useful for our Combat Jumpers and can be a boon to our HI when we combine Fairy Dust with tinbots. Not bad uses, but he does warp the list a little in that when you choose him you end up taking more models that can benefit from Supportware to compensate. Thankfully, between our nice selection of Heavy Infantry, our cool Combat Jumpers and the tried and true Combined Army Drone options, there's a lot of stuff you can choose from without gimping your army.

    M-Drone

    The Forward Observer Drone with Sat-Lock and Sensor. He used to be our only sensor option, but now we have Oznats and Rindaks to do that job, and they both arguably do it better, although the M-Drone is cheaper.
    Sat-lock is an interesting tool as it helps with our Grenade tossers when using Speculative Fire to throw Grenades over walls or smoke. However, with the limit of 15 orders and the addition of so many ways to apply force directly, this tactic becomes more of a gimmick than a really useful tool.
    All in all, not bad, but not moraty either.

    Q-Drone

    The good old Total Reaction Drone. Except ours gets mimetism and can choose to bring a Plasma Rifle instead. Plasma has lower range, but also gets Impact Templates to deny Cover Bonuses to enemy Armor and causes 2 saves for every hit, so it might be a good idea to switch it up if you're looking for a dangerous defensive model.
    He can also be used offensively with the HMG and Assisted Fire from an E-Drone, but at this point you're picking two Combined Army Drone models and it might be a good idea to start looking into Vanilla instead.

    R-Drone

    Cheap, 7 point flash pulse bots with mimetism. You can only take one. Use it to plug a hole in your list if you need extra orders or if you want something cheap to engineer up for that one Classified Objective. Otherwise, eh? Why bother?

    T-Drone

    That one bot with a smart missile launcher. Could be useful for Guided Missile strikes or a somewhat dangerous BS12 ARO with Enhanced Reaction. But again, if you're doing this, why not play Vanilla instead?

    Skirmisher

    We only have one option. Thankfully she's quite useful. And as a bonus, we have a few more Forward Deployment models so she's not on her own in the midfield.

    Zerat Special Missions Regiment

    The Silent Killer is an odd one. She's got Infiltration and Stealth, which are common for Skirmishers in general, and her statline is also fairly generic with BS11 and WIP13. Her PH is slightly better than average at 12, but that's not a big deal. Mimetism-6 is cool, but she's got no native Marker State, so she's gonna need that.
    However, the Zerat does have a varied arsenal both in her Specialist Options and in her weaponry. For specialists, the Forward Observer is cheap and packs an Autoshotty, for close encounters. The Regular Hacker is more expensive, but brings a Light Flamethrower for defense and D-Charges to help her score some classified objectives. Killer Hacker is probably the worst choice as she can't really duke it out with other hackers like say, the Dartok can, and she isn't that different from the Regular Hacker when fighting non-hackers.
    Her special weapons do add in some curious options though. First, being a minelayer for 0 SWC is pretty nice and not exactly common. The MULTI-Marskman rifle costs 1 SWC, but the added range, damage and AP ammo is pretty useful if you can catch someone out of cover, while also making her a particularly hard to ignore and hard to dislodge nuisance if you can place her in Suppressive Fire.
    No really. If you can infiltrate her into cover and spend a command token to put her in suppressive, she'll be putting a -12 penality on anyone not slinging a Visor coming at her, and hey, with Infiltration she actually has a better chance of avoiding said Visors. Notice you're not expecting her to kill anything, she's just an incredible order sink and one of our more effective, if hard to use, ARO options.
    Finally, that +1DAM +1 Burst Combi Rifle is odd, but surprisingly good. At that point she's basically swinging a shorter ranged Spitfire and paying 0 SWC for it. Not bad, although at 28 points it is a bit expensive for a BS11 shooter, even taking Mimetism -6 in consideration.
    Zerats are quite versatile, but their fragile nature means you shouldn't choose them as an afterthought, but rather have a plan for them and make sure they have proper support in the form of Tyroks, Rindaks and Rodoks, if possible.

    Warbands

    Oh. Yes.
    Morat Warbands are one of the most common faces of the Army, and they run the gamut from Expensive Elites to cheap throwaway chaff, and most of them are really useful to boot. You'll be hard pressed to find a MAF list that doesn't have a place for something from this section.

    Daturazi Witch-Soldiers

    The OGs, the premier Elite Warband that all other Elite Warbands are measured against, the ultimate Murder Monkeys in close combat, the Roid-Raging, Smoke throwing, Berserking BAD-ASS models. These guys are the shit.
    Seriously, they're top contenders for best Smoke throwers in the game thanks to their PH14 paired with Mimetism -3, and with CC23, Martial Arts lvl4, Berserk and DA Close Combat weapons these guys fight better than several so called 'Masters' of other factions. And that's just the base profile!
    For 14 points you get a warband armed with twin Chanrifles and both regular and Smoke Grenades for up and close brutality, and for a few points more they can swap their Chainrifles for Shotguns or Combi-rifles, and can even pay 0.5 SWC to swap their Smoke Grenades for a Smoke Grenade Launcher.
    Now, the best option for these guys is probably the 14 points base profile, but do keep in mind they can form both Core and Haris fireteams. Although they cannot join other models in their fireteam, they can cart around a wildcard, with Kornak or a Raktorak being the best options for that long range punch they lack.
    The Haris option is particularly interesting if you don't like wrangling Impetuous models as that extra burst and order efficiency can quickly make up for the loss of the Impetuous move.
    Although they're short ranged, the sheer aggressiveness and survivability of Daturazi will often see them fighting on the enemy side of the table, and balls-to-the-walls runs in the middle of the enemy deployment zone on turn 2 or 3 are not unheard of. Whether it's as Smoke escorts, DZ defense, or just plain Close Combat violence, Daturazi will usually deliver in whatever role you need your warbands to perform in your list.

    Kendrat, Krakot Renegade

    I still don't get why this buff chick is classed as a Warband when Krakots are Light Infantry, but that's more because Krakots are more like Warbands themselves. Kendrat is a named Krakot and a particularly roided-out version of one (seriously, check the size of her biceps in the concept art and tell me this chick hasn't been juicing). Packing Martial Arts lvl1, a +3 to her Berserk roll, Natural Born Warrior, Total Immunity and Dogged on top of the normal Krakot profile means she is a beast and we love her for it.
    Kendrat comes stock with a Vulkan Shotgun instead of a Boarding Shotgun because Morats like fire, and she's got a DA CCW for that up and close violence. With Berserk and NBW she can reasonably fight and kill even some of the most competent CC threats in the game, but she may not survive the attempt.
    She can duo with other Krakots to help rein in their Impetuous tendencies, which might be useful for their weaponry, but she shines as a fire-and-forget missile. Choose a target you need her to mince, throw her at it, and watch the buff monke lady take it down in a blaze of glory.

    Oznat, Morat Hunting Regiment

    I like to say the Oznat is a nice sum-up of the MAF as a whole: Weak and slightly overcosted on her own, but when paired up with the right models and used correctly she can and will mow down a lot of stuff.
    She's more expensive than Daturazi despite having lower PH, Lower CC values, lower Martial Arts and no Berserk or Mimetism, which at first makes it look like she's just bad. However, that's not the case.
    For starters, she's got a Vulkan Shotgun option for 18 points, which means fire. And then she can form a fireteam with the Hungries, turning them Regular and Non-Impetuous, at which point... Wow. At the cheapest, an Oznat with 4 Hungries pays only 32 points for 5 regular orders, while at her most expensive she's paying only 46 points for those same 5 regular orders. This means this chick is an amazing order battery for our heavy hitters, and considering all the bonuses from fireteams she can also become a scarily competent gunfighter on her own. And in CC, if she manages to get the Hungries in BTB? Very few things in this game will want to challenge her high Burst in close combat.
    There's also a more expensive Sensor profile that comes in with a pet Preta as bonus. Unfortunately she pays full price for the pet Preta, which is kinda lame, but the Sensor skill is in the Oznat herself, not the pet, so she can afford to suicide it to clear out mines or bait some AROs without losing her utility, and with Smoke and MOV6-4 she can get to the midfield to start sniffing out those pesky Camo tokens with impunity.
    At 26 points, the Sensor Oznat competes with the Rindak for the spot, but she's cheaper and faster and brings Smoke, while Rindaks are more resilient and start further up the table.

    The Hungries

    The Hungries is a Catch-all term for two different unities that share the same baseline profile of MOV6-6, CC20, PH14 and WIP12 with no armor or BTS value. They're also both Impetuous and have Climbing Plus, and can form a Fireteam with an Oznat. Notice that as this is a mixed team it will only ever get half the bonuses, so throwing in Kornak or a Raktorak for some added long range punch is not a bad idea.
    They can also Haris for a smaller footprint while keeping the +1 burst bonus.

    Gakis

    Gakis have no weapon, but have the Explode skill, that means instead of going unconscious they detonate in a DAM13 Shock blast template centered om themselves. Now, there are some very important points to discuss here:
    First, that explosion only triggers at the End of the order. This means a Gaki can run up to a model, whack it in CC once, then Explode for a second and arguably more dangerous hit. However, the explosion won't trigger if the model goes straight to Dead state, so taking 2 or more wounds in a single ARO means no explosion for you.
    Second, the explosion is a very bizarre form of attack. For starters, it will not affect a model that was successful in a dodge roll earlier, so an enemy may try to dodge your CC whack as a pre-emptive way of dodging the Explode template as well. Additionally, if the template catches one or more allied models, then it is canceled, but the Gaki is still removed.
    So, on the one hand, a lucky shot on a Gaki won't make your fireteam go up in flames, but on the other hand, you need to be careful when you're making a suicide run. This makes the Gaki particularly effective in dismantling other fireteams though, as it can force some really bad decisions.

    Pretas

    Pretas exchange Explode for a Chainrifle and Dogged. They're also 3 points more expensive, but at a mere 7 points they're still dirty cheap. Unlike Gakis, they pose no threat to their own allies, and they can threathen a larger area with their Chainrifles. Plus, Dogged allows them to continue their rampage after the first wound, which is quite an useful thing to do as it forces your opponent to waste more resources dealing with the alien bug.
    There's not a lot to be said about these guys other than that. They're slightly more controllable and slightly less dangerous and that's pretty much it.

    Morats and Fireteams - How to build the perfect Hunting Party for you

    As mentioned a few times in this post, one of the biggest strengths of the MAF is our flexibility when it comes to building fireteams, and it shows in many, many different ways. For starters, we can field an extra Haris team, for a total of One Core, Two Haris and unlimited Duos. That's already nice, but only the beginning of the fun.

    The MORAT/Tarlok Fireteam

    The MORAT fireteam is our main workhorse. It is a very versatile fireteam with lots of different options in how to build it. Notice the following models have the MORAT tag:
    • Vanguard
    • Dartok
    • Kurgat
    • Yaogat
    • Suryat
    • Kaitok
    • All Wildcards
    This means a fireteam formed from any combination of the models above will count as the same unit for composition purposes. That's an immense amount of freedom, especially because of all the units listed above, only the Dartok and the Wildcards don't count as 'mandatory' units for the fireteam, which means you can most likely reform the team if something doesn't go your way or if anyone dies.
    That's flexibility AND resilience naturally baked in!
    For the record, I put 'mandatory' in quotes because that doesn't mean you must have one of each of these guys in a team, but rather that you need any one of them. So a team with a Kurgat, Anyat and a Kaitok is as valid as a team with a Suryat, Dartok and Yaogat, for example. This is just a big deal on the off chance your team ends up composed of say, a Dartok, Anyat and Kornak, at which point you no longer have a mandatory unit so the team is invalid. This is quite hard to happen though.
    Addittionally, any of these models may also join the fireteam:
    • Rindak FTO
    • Kyosot
    • Zabuk
    Notice these do not have the MORAT tag, so while you CAN place them on a fireteam, they will not count as the same unit, so you will only have half the benefits. This probably means these guys are better served in a Haris for added order efficiency and that sweet Burst bonus in both active and reactive turn. Although one could argue the Zabuk and Kyosot do benefit from the 4-monkey bonus of Sixth Sense so they can better use their unique guns.

    Additionally, the following models also have the Tarlok Tag:
    • Vanguard
    • Dartok
    • Yaogat
    • Suryat
    • Kaitok
    This is a small variant of the MORAT fireteam. If your team is composed of any combination of these models, then they not only benefit from full Composition Bonuses, but also gain the Terrain:Jungle special skill. This may or may not be useful depending on the ITS missions.

    However, as you can see, the MORAT fireteam is extremely versatile, with several options for specialists, long range, short range, and even added stuff like Smoke and a modicum of CC ability. All you have to do is look at the mission and see what you need, and you can probably build a MORAT fireteam to tackle that efficiently.

    Rodok Fireteams

    Rodoks can only fireteam amongst themselves, and only at Haris or Duo level. This makes it clear these guys are meant for a supporting role, and that's pretty cool, as they will always get full composition bonus for all being the same unit.
    Notice they have an option for Strategic Deployment and also some very effective short range weapons in the form of the Spitfire, SMGs and Shotguns. With the +3 bonus to discover rolls and their OK WIP of 13, these guys can reliably hunt camo tokens in the midfield, and being only a secondary team, you can probably afford to risk them doing so as well.
    Wildcards are probably not a good idea for Rodoks, as that would break their Composition bonus. Although one could argue about adding in Kornak for that CC punch or Anyat for smoke, they might be better off plugging those holes in other fireteams while your Rodoks shore up a flank on their own.

    Daturazi Fireteams

    Daturazi can form Duo, Haris or Core teams, but the Core option is probably the worse idea. With their short ranged weapony and emphasis on up close violence, they're probably better served in a Haris or even a duo, if you want to rein in their Impetuous tendencies and benefit from cover.
    These guys can probably benefit from Kornak or a Red Fury Raktorak joining them for some long ranged punch, but keep in mind that will break the Composition Bonus in half. All in all, they work much like Rodoks in the sense they make for a good secondary Haris either as Smoke support or as a somewhat sneaky secondary advance team.
    Do keep in mind the 14 point profiles work perfectly well in their own, so don't feel like you have to put these guys on a team. Order efficiency is good, but so is having wider Smoke coverage. Food for thought.

    Hungries Fireteams

    Oooh, yessss. I'm so happy to have you guys back.
    This is one of the premier order batteries of the game, bringing in cheap regular orders to fuel into the larger, more violent models in the army. Notice that this team is a rather bizarre one as you must have at least one Oznat to form it, and any Hungries you add in become Regular and Non-Impetuous as long as they are in cohesion. Notice the Oznat doesn't have to be the team leader, she just needs to be in cohesion for it to work.
    An important point about the Hungries fireteam is that it is always a mixed team. As this team is composed by Oznat and hungries, they can never claim full Composition bonuses for being the same unit. This means slotting in a wildcard, most likely a Raktorak with a Red Fury for that added punch, isn't an issue as you're not really losing anything. However, as the Raktorak isn't going to be getting any super buffs either, it might be a good idea to just not add him in at all.
    In any case, these are probably better off as a cheap Core for order generation, as at Haris level they operate too similarly to Daturazi to be worth taking instead of the Witch-Soldiers. Although Hungries are faster and bring Fire ammo, so maybe there's a reason for it. A counter point is that at Haris level they're also cheaper than Daturazi, and can pull defense duty with that shotgun and Dogged burst 2 chainrifles if you take Oznat+2 pretas. Some players like to bring 2 haris of them for corner defense, but that might be overkill.
    But hey, we're morat. Overkill is underrated.

    Armored Fireteams

    This is where you send Unit Composition bonuses to hell and forget about them, because these guys can only duo, so it's all about order efficiency with them.
    Any of the following models can Duo with each other:
    • Sogarats
    • Raichos
    • Bultraks
    You won't ever be getting any bonuses from these, so mix and match whatever you need for the situation. Sogarats bring short range weaponry to help the Bultraks, for example, and the Bultrak having NCO baked in means you can have your Lieutenant following them around and still get uses for their order.
    If you want to add in a wildcard, Anyat is probably the best option. She brings short range Anti-armor options and Smoke, stuff that can help a lot in keeping your heavy weapons away from stuff that can damage them through their high armor.

    Renegade Fireteams

    Much like the Armored Fireteams, this is Duo town, so this is all about Order Efficiency. Any Krakots and Kendrat can Duo amongst themselves to rein in Impetuous and gain Cover bonuses.
    This can make the Krakots weaponry all the more effective, and even allow them to bring that Red Fury to bear with some level of accuracy thanks to benefitting from Cover. However, losing Impetuous on these guys is much bigger a deal than with Daturazi because of how much more expendable they are. A Duo of Krakots/Kendrat will only be at true order efficiency once you've spent at least three orders on them in a single turn, at which point you better have a plan for what you're doing with these guys, or they may just become dead weight.
    Wildcards probably have no reason to be here, again with the exception of Anyat, as she brings Smoke to keep that Red Fury/SMGs alive until they get into position for some high impact violence.

    Fireteam Juggling 101

    Oh, yes. Here's where the magic happens!
    Notice how many options of teams we have, then notice how many options of models in those teams we have. If you get a bit of analysis paralysis here it's perfectly reasonable as holy crap, that's a lot of options!
    For starters, we're back to the old tactic of having two Core fireteams, one cheap (like Daturazi or Hungries) and one more expensive (Go nuts with that MORAT fireteam, mate!). And then you can advance the cheap team in the first turn, break them apart, reform the more expensive team and then move that one forward too while benefitting from the Impetuous move the next turn. Sweet.
    But now the things can get much, much more creative than just that
    Notice that we have a whalloping NINE options of models that can all link up together and still get full composition bonus. Then another Three options on top of that that can also link up but only get half the bonuses.
    This means you can go absolutely nuts with options. For example: you could have a Suryat HRL and a Kaitok HRL both in a full core to serve as a defensive castle with all those sweet bonuses on your reactive turn, then come the active turn you break them off as point men for two different teams, as merely 3 burst is usually enough to beat most FTF rolls. Or you could have a Kyosot sitting on the sidelines waiting to form up with them later for some advanced violence.
    Look at this:

    ──────────────────────────────────────────────────

    [​IMG]10 [​IMG]1
    KORNAK (Lieutenant [+1 Order], Strategos L1) Mk12, Light Flamethrower / Heavy Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 45)
    KAITOK Chain Rifle(+2B), Flammenspeer / Heavy Pistol(+1B), CC Weapon. (0 | 22)
    DARTOK (Hacker) Submachine Gun, Pitcher / Heavy Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 21)
    ANYAT K1 Combi Rifle, Chain-colt, Smoke Grenades, E/M Grenades / CC Weapon, Heavy Pistol. (0 | 24)
    YAOGAT MULTI Sniper Rifle(+1B) / Heavy Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 35)
    SURYAT (Multispectral Visor L1) Heavy Rocket Launcher ( | TinBot: Firewall [-3]) / MULTI Pistol(+1B), CC Weapon. (1.5 | 36)
    SURYAT (Tactical Awareness) Heavy Machine Gun ( | TinBot: Firewall [-3]) / MULTI Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 44)
    KURGAT Boarding Shotgun, D-Charges, Drop Bears / Heavy Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 23)
    RINDAK FTO (Paramedic) Submachine Gun, Flash Pulse(+1B) / Heavy Pistol, PARA CC Weapon. (0 | 27)
    KURGAT Boarding Shotgun, D-Charges, Drop Bears / Heavy Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 23)

    5 SWC | 300 Points

    Open in Infinity Army

    That's a list where everyone can link with everyone, meaning you could have three teams of 3 monkeys, or one team of 5 and one of three and one of two, and that's only one of the many ways you can build such a list.
    Exploring what tools you need for the mission and how you can fit them into your list is going to be a lot of fun for a Morat commander, and we will see these variations pop up more and more with time.
     
    #1 DaRedOne, Mar 24, 2022
    Last edited: May 11, 2022
  2. Metal730

    Metal730 Well-Known Member
    Warcor

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    Excellent post! Keep in mind the Rindak forces a -3 to the opponents dodge roll so that BSG template is VERY scary. He'll often be in the +6 rangeband so he's very good at making opposing models have bad AROs no matter what they choose. He also dodges on 16's in turn so he's pretty difficult to dislodge while making a mockery of entrenched camo!
     
  3. Stiopa

    Stiopa Trust The Fuckhead

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    Not quite; Dodge (-3) means that when Rindak uses Dodge it applies -3 penalty to opposing FtF rolls.
     
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  4. Metal730

    Metal730 Well-Known Member
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    That's not an angle I had thought of!
     
  5. WiT?

    WiT? Well-Known Member

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    I'm pretty stoked with Morats. The OG change I wanted for them, going way back, was huge link flexibility. It doesn't matter if most of your army is pretty bland if you can put the right guy in the right place at the right time, and thats essentially what we got - plus some things that bring genuinely effective capabilities.

    The faction change is way too big and complex to fully grok at the moment. But when I look through it, a few things really stand out to me;
    • MORAT teams obviously. That level of link flexibility is currently a rarity in the game. While we are uniquely positioned to get a diverse coherent core, do not disregard the mixed options.
    • Kurgat in a team of Suryats seems totally fantastic. Engineers are obviously amazing here. Drop bears are great. Better stats than your average engineer makes him harder to snipe.
    • Kornak is still the number one alpha ape and mandatory LT. New shit or not you must respect Kornak to play this army.
    • Hungries core as cheap order generators, but also the Hungries haris for this on a smaller scale. The haris in particular is also useful as a combat unit, defending the deployment zone or moving forward to attack units in the midfield
    • Really good smoke and smoke/msv access via the Yaogat in a full core or even in a mixed haris.
    • Datz Haris. God I wanted this, and coherency means shit all because you use PH for smoke. So two datz and a raktorak or simply a datz/rak duo could be amazing.
    • The Kaitok is an immense deal for MAF. Our old defensive options sucked. This guy is a cheap, tough roadblock even before you consider putting him in a core or haris. And because we can take additional haris, a major opportunity cost of a roadblock linked unit is removed. I think this guy will change how MAF plays a lot by making us not just die to every alpha piece that looks our way.
    • Rodok Spitfire Haris. In my last MAF thread, the big takeaway I got was that Rodok HMG haris is big ape energy. We lost that, but gained a strategic deployment spitfire in its place. Will this be better? I don't know. But its worth looking into
    • Rindak. A 1.9W sensor specialist in either link team or midfield variety. I can legitimately see myself mixing a Morat team to get access to that. Also, between his wounds, dodge and weapon, he is solid as for rooting out and destroying annoying skirmishers or mines that can really bog down a team
    Am I missing something on the Bultrak?

    It really feels similar to the NCO Raicho for me. That TAG is totally fine, but why would we get a new TAG that feels so similar in capability?

    It has an HRMC, but lower BS. The end result is that it will either shoot a bit better or a bit worse, but it won't change the role meaningfully. CC+1B is nice, but CC 17 and vanilla CCW take limp-sword syndrome to the next level. Super jump barely functions and is barely a change from simply vaulting. There is an autocannon, but B3 BS13... I don't know the math of when this is good. Am I missing something here?
     
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  6. Urist

    Urist Well-Known Member

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    Bultrak seems rather bad. I can't tell what it wants to be. It's like the model designer wanted a mecha version of a Hungry or Daturazi, but the rules designer wanted a Gecko but with expensive weapons strapped on. I love Vulkan Shotguns, but giving one to the pilot is just points bloat. It's less than a smidge cheaper than the Raicho, but it really doesn't seem like an alternative.

    Rodok changes are both weird and interesting. It's like a new unit with so many profiles going kaput and getting weapons replaced. My biggest complaint about Rodoks was that they were too expensive to run alongside the mission-important units. Now with cheaper orders in Hungry fireteams and Morat/Tarlok teams maybe they are worth a second look? Not as your main attack option, but a flanking secondary squad.

    Yaogats, Dartoks, and Kurgats drew the best hand in my opinion. Being able to get in a good fireteam and get the full bonuses for being (morat) is fantastic. Yaogats also finally get to party with Anyat to drop smoke then blast your enemies. They can really design a core fireteam for any situation now.

    Daturazi Haris seems like a really cool idea. Raktorak Red Fury to shoot with the burst bonus, and Daturazi smoke to get to close the distance.
     
  7. Child9

    Child9 Well-Known Member

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    It's crazy how much the Bultrak model screams "huge-mechanical-claw-murder-machine" while the rules says "you have a mediocre CC and the same weapon as an Alguacil".
     
  8. Tanan

    Tanan Well-Known Member

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    Burst3 autocannon is very good if the platform is well armoured. You have to keep in mind that enemy can't guts away if it wins the f2f roll with BS attack. Only way to guts away is to survive at least one DMG16 AP EXP hit to the face. Bultrak on the other hand has ARM7 BTS6 so good luck with bringing it down with your ARO.
     
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  9. Lesh'

    Lesh' Infinity LATVIA
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    if your goal is to deal with ARO, I think shooting with more dice is the way to go. Dmg16 AP+EXP is good for sure, but if you can't win ftf, it's not that very useful imho
     
  10. Tanan

    Tanan Well-Known Member

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    Should check the math against various ARO pieces, but I’m pretty sure that burst3 autocannon on a TAG platform has very good order efficiency against high BS/ARM units.
     
  11. Stiopa

    Stiopa Trust The Fuckhead

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    In my experience burst isn't everything. Focusing exclusively on high burst, range, and often Mimetism can lead to a tunnel vision, which we're seeing regularly on the forums; people dismiss units out of hand, when they don't fit into this particular template (calling Rodoks not worth fielding because they've just lost HMG is one example).

    In practice Burst 3 is often enough to deal with AROs. I've been using linked HRL as an active turn weapon for years, with no regrets. But if one is after as high burst as possible, enter HRMC Bultrak ;)
     
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  12. DaRedOne

    DaRedOne Morat Warrior Philosopher
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    I agree with your other points on your post so I cut it down to only the points I disagree with.

    I already mentioned in the OP my opinions on the whole 'Kornak is mandatory LT' thing and I will reinforce that I really think that's a very narrow viewpoint. We have a lot of NCO options, so that Strategos isn't as necessary as before, and at 45 points Kornak is insanely expensive for a model that's way easier to kill than a Suryat who also has a Lieutenant+1 option, or a Sogarat who doesn't, but also doesn't get punked as easily as Kornak does.

    He's good, but the whole mindset of 'He's the only option' is severely limiting your listbuilding, mate.

    As for the bulltrak. I haven't finished the OP yet so I won't go into detail here, but the bulltrak is a good complement to the raicho rather than a competitor. The raicho is much more agressive and can comfortably get closer thanks to his gear, especially the autoshotty option. Meanwhile, the Bulltrak is much more long ranged, but can also punch it out if needed thanks to B2 in CC. Also, climbing plus and smaller silhouette means it can attack from more oblique vectors and hunt for targets the raicho will have trouble reaching.

    Really, these two complement each other quite nicely in my opinion.
     
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  13. WiT?

    WiT? Well-Known Member

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    Probably true, but feels like too much of a bitch play to run anybody else.
     
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  14. Metal730

    Metal730 Well-Known Member
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    Unfortunately the Bultrak has Super Jump and not Climbing Plus. If it was Climbing plus I'd be significantly more hype for this profile. S6 is great though!
     
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  15. DaRedOne

    DaRedOne Morat Warrior Philosopher
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    Thank you for pointing it out. I added it to the OP and also added a more in-depth talk about fireteams
     
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  16. Smooth Criminal

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    Dartok is probably a mandatory inclusion for how good he is in a morat link and with our combine remotes.

    Kaitok seems like the best cheap attacker because of 6-2 move, you can even run haris of them teuton knights-style. He even can link with your big morat link later in the game or as a solid aro piece if you go second.
    Rodoks are interesting too with the new deployment rule, but in my experience they are prone to randomly dying on bad f2f rolls which Kaitok will survive. Could be a preferable choice in some missions or dense tables.
    Zerats got better gun in marskman and got cheaper but still have a problem of dying to a random template warband if you go second. Infiltration is a useful tool in some missions though.

    Still don't like Rasyat. He kills consoles like a boss in that one mission but that's all he does unless opponent allows him to safely drop in the back. With stuff like Durok and Fiday being common people are often deploying in protected formations and Rasyat can't fight through anything due to not having modifiers, he often dies to a linked grunt.

    Raktorak/Anyat seem to have lost a lot of value due to how easy it is to make links with morats now. I don't ever see myself taking raktorak except for nco. Anyat has her use in throwing smokes but you can do that with Oznat haris better.

    Speaking of Oznat haris it seems like another mandatory inclusion due to how good it is. Cheap orders, deploy zone protection and she can push forward with smokes or cover someone else's push.

    I personally don't like Kornak that much unless you put him in Daturazi link. He costs like a hmg Suryat and doesn't provide such ranged firepower and you can't push forward with him unless it's a daturazi link (which got worse because of mixed rules).

    Bulltrak seems better than Raicho in every way. Cheaper nco, better gun, super jump vs. a crit immune meme ability.

    My got to list would be:
    Group 1:
    A big link (6 morats) with at least a Dartok, Vanguard medic and a hmg or rocket Suryat
    A haris of Kaitoks/Rodoks/Daturazi
    A solo zerat to push buttons
    Group 2:
    Oznat, 2xPreta haris
    remotes

    You have quite a lot of wiggle room with what you can take in big link and what your attackers are. If you take cheap daturazi as your attacker haris then you can have a tag.
     
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  17. jake richmond

    jake richmond Well-Known Member

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    Why is Immunity Critical a meme ability?
     
  18. DaRedOne

    DaRedOne Morat Warrior Philosopher
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    I strongly disagree with any concept of 'mandatory' unit. I stopped playing Ariadna because I fell into the trap of considering 2 minelayer chasseurs mandatory units. So by the end of the day all my lists had 2 chasseurs, 2 irmandinhos and 2 hardcases.

    I wouldn't call the Dartok mandatory, but it IS very good to run around with suryats, no doubt.

    As for the raicho vs bultrak debate: The raicho gets -3 to hacking, brings D-charges for objectives, and can actually do something in reactive if someone gets close to it, not to mention that Shotgun template HURTS. In fact, the Raicho has templates where the bultrak doesnt, that alone makes it an equal to the bultrak in my opinion.

    Immunity to crits I don't get why you'd say is a meme ability. It is highly situational, but the few times it comes up it will be helpful.
     
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  19. Keith

    Keith The Raven Lord

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    I just wanted to back up your crit immunity statement with a game I just played. My buddy and I were playing firefight, my list was RTF. I brought Tarik specifically to be a hard to kill Lt. My buddy was playing HB. In the last round he was a able to dismantle some of the extra protection I had around Tarik and got Al Djabel in base contact. He crit on his first roll, but because I had crit immunity I only made 2 saves. I saved one and failed one. With his final order I won that FTF roll and Al went down and my Lt was safe. A big deal in that mission. Had I been forced to make that extra save he may have gone unconscious. And he would have also gotten one of his classified’s as he later revealed to me.
    So even though it is situational, it can literally win games for you in the right scenario. :)

    P.S. I’m super excited to get back into CA and Morats. I missed this faction so much!
     
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  20. Metal730

    Metal730 Well-Known Member
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    Couldn't agree more, I've gotten so much work done with the Raicho and I'm actually kinda scratching my head on when I would take the Bultrak personally. Other than S6 I like the Raicho in most other situations.
     
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