How is everyone doing with the Ghulam Link team in RTF? I've tried 2 games so far and found them a little fragile. Game one (Frontline): Had a bit of bad luck, I jumped 2 khawarijs, on top of a building and went prone as a way of protecting them. What I didn't know was that there was a TO minelayer on the same roof top behind obstacles who subsequently dropped mines, then forced an ARO killing them both, leaving me with 2 Ghulam & 1 Nafatun in my core. Game two (Frontline): Was a bit better. I was able to Smoke with the NCO, then MSV2/MK12 a sniper, but failed on the second target to a crit and lost my MSV2 khawarijs. Once out of the smoke I was able to Spitfire/Fat2 the next target, then go into rooftop hiding. I lost another fireteam member on my opponents turn. I sacrificed my nafatun to flamethrower 3 Veteran Kazaks. Leaving my NCO ghulam & Spitfire khawarijs. With enemy flamethrowers in close range I dropped smoke and moved my fireteam in CC, and did some damage. On my opponents turn they used about 5 orders to eliminate the remaining 2 in CC. It was an interesting having 2 fireteams in a mosh pit. It's the first time I've ever had a situation where poison mattered (Veteran Kazaks ARM4 BTS 0). The Smoke and CC is a solid option for the fireteam as long as you can get multiple models in CC. Summary: They are a very offensive fireteam, but extremely fragile. During my test I used 2 khawarijs (spitfire,MSV2), 2 ghulam (FO, NCO/Smoke LGL) and a Naffatun. Trying to ARO is a mistake as they just don't have any resilience & they are weak vs direct templates. The FO should have been a doctor plus, to help bring back any losses. I'm still deciding on the Naffatun or the Namurr. The Nafatuns HFT was useful as room clearer, but the Namurr is the only way this fireteam can try and ARO. Its the only potential piece that has any durability. Has anyone else tried this fire team core yet.
Highly Classified. I deployed the ghulam grenade launcher with smoke and boom, ghulam doctor, naffatun with light flamethower/rifle/grenade, khawarij with mk12, and another naffatun with the rifle and heavy flamethrower, and a ghulam with repeaters bringing up the rear. Yes, it's six dudes. But I was confident that the Khawarij would be off on his own in short order so I wanted to make sure I had an extra around to reform the team back up to five.They spent most of their time cower... securing the area behind Shogun Burgers. Even with the mighty Nahab support they couldn't get an advance going to secure the enemy HVT just ahead of them. So right about where I expect them to perform. Next outing, I'm anticipating taking double ghulam snipers and try out the board control.
Firefight Mk12 Khawarij, NCO/Smoke Ghulam, double HFt Naffatun, Namurr Rifle. Pushed to the centre, NCO dropped Smoke for Khawarij to have MSV showdown against AP MR Haiduk without Anyone interfering. Naffatuns cover the corners, so noone would dare to peek out without getting fried, Namurr opened a box (got a motorcycle, like a Tuareg After her) and later Pushed against Victor Messe+Drone+Gwailo Haris to hinder their advance towards objectives..
I usually just do a Ghulam defensive team with sniper and ml. RTF has to move fast and punch hard. They will not survive a game of attrition I found. I have tried Khawarij NCO Haris, Doc, Spitfire, Naffatun, Grenade Launcher. It was very brittle. It punched hard but receiving anything was always risky.
I think this is the heart of it, for a lot of the super soldiers. Yes, Fasids and Mags are high ARM, Janissaries are standard HI, but a lot of the sexy new attack pieces, for all their movement and immunity and what have you, are still low ARM. Repeated high burst will break through, and on ARM 1-2 troops that are 25-35 points a pop, each one is gonna hurt. I also didn't realize Khawarij had NCO. I guess the idea to make the Khawarij Haris happen, but that is a glass cannon that is hard to justify.
Theorycrafting, but I think just like any other sectorial outside of Limited Insertion, a core of cheap disposable line troops is the way to go in RTF for cheap AROs and as an order battery. Start with a Ghulam/Naffatun core plugged in with Haqq's famed cheap roadblock of a sniper or 2, and have a Khawarij MSV2 or FAT2 lurking around to reform a full link when those snipers inevitably die. The link can move up the board if necessary during later turns. Most active turn orders early on should probably go to fueling the haris of Mukhtars or Khawarijs.
