Hi NCA players, I'm a recent convert to the shock-and-awe school of Infinity. I main ForCo, so one day I realised that between my box of ye olde Pano stuff from early N3 and my ForCo units, I have nearly everything I need to play NCA. So far it's been a blast, and the Squalo has been a revelation in particular. 77pts of destruction. I've yet to really get into the swing with Swiss Guard though. The points cost is exhorbitant and it seems liable to misplay, what with all the CC and templates doing the rounds these days. Swissile is a straight up killer, I know as much from my Noctifer, but the other two leave me scratching my head a little... In particular I wanted your advice (yes you!) on modelling. I have my Swissile painted and ready to inflict salt, but I'm torn between the other two loadouts. I need to decide whether I cut off the HMG in favour of the hacker's MR, and it seems unlikely I'll get my hands on another model any time soon. Can experienced Swiss pilots talk to me about the competing virtues of the two troops? HMG seems like such a fun active attack piece, however the hacker looks, to my fresh eyes, to be one of NCA's only truly great specialists, and easily its best hacker to boot. A MR ain't nothing, either. If you could only model one of them, which would it be? And if you were writing a twin Swiss list, what two loadouts would you plump for? Anyway, let me know your thoughts, and oh yeah, here's a picture of my Swissile!
I really like the MULTI profile. It’s been a go to for me from N2 onward. I’ve had some success with the HMG, but the MULTI is just stellar for me.
Any tips for using the chap? How to build around him? I get that you have a natural repeater network in NCA, but is there another element in a list that lets him shine? How much shooting work do you actually look to him for, or is it incidental to spotlight and booping buttons? Does this list look decent for the swiss hacker?
I would swap the Bolt Sniper in that G2 Haris for the Bolt Hacker. This way it'll free up some points to upgrade a Fusilier to another hacker and let the Swiss Guard layer Hacking ARO on top of the Bolt Hacker. You could keep the Bolt KHD to go Cybermask & Shoot, or you can drop the Bolt KHD and the Warcor and pick up a Hexa Hacker. Or you could collapse the Aquila out of the Fusi core..take the Bulleteer HSG with the Bolt KHD and make a new haris if it's required
Okay, yeah I get you - your second list looks like a nice remix! I'm always loathe to drop the Bolt Sniper though, she has been so solid for me since N4 dropped.
I'm in agreement with you there. I love the Bolt Sniper. Though I typically run it in nothing less than a Bolt Core. I run Spitfire's in my Haris and while the Sniper can be a decent gunfighter at 16+ ranges. I want the ftf domination with the Spitfire.
In that Haris I'd want a Bolt KHD, personally. Less synergy in ARO, but midfield Hackers are the bane of NCA's ridiculously over-Hackable lineup. Being able to bring Trinity to clear out pesky Al Hawwas and the like is a must, otherwise that list is down to its Bolts, Fusiliers and the Auxilia to contest the midfield- none of whom can benefit from full Fireteam bonuses after their tagalong gets Isolated.
I like the Swiss and have been taking 2 of them and a Hexa in a 10 order list to some hilarious and great effect. The missile is the easy one but I find I like the tool box nature of the multi rifle hacker as the camo state lets him go where I want. The real question I have when I put one into the list is do I think it is worth it or will a hexa at about half the points do the job just as well. I have been running this to practice for a local tournament with panic room and the armor as missions. The big thing is no one knows how to deploy vs it and will be jumpy at every order.
HMG is a solid attack piece that has been with me since first edition, works great as long as it in cover away and goes against inferior troops (non MSV mid to low ARM targets) in the open, will die if it is used against unsuitable targets though, hacker is a really good option, but I have not used it a lot since there is no model for it, Missile launcher is an interesting option, its light shotgun can actually make it a solid attack unit despite the missile launcher.
I am always weary of killer hackers with the Swiss hacker, but given I have not practically use that profile ( a couple of games do not count really) it may be not really a risk.
The fact that he's got a Marker State, Stealth, BTS 6, WIP13 and the ability to throw up a Fairy Dust on him due to being HI lets him pick his engagements. He's a close assault piece that can also Hack. Especially when you get the Bolt Hacker throwing up Spotlight on things ahead of time to get that WIP16 and or BS 21 if he's shooting at something within 16"
I'm not an NCA player, but I have actually fought against a Swiss Hacker not that long ago and I found that his main hurdle is, surprisingly, the fact that he has to go to the middle of the table where template weapons are the law. Swiss has great ARM and BTS to withstand quite a few template weapons, but E/M mines can ruin his day pretty badly. Another thing to look out for is this: if you go to the midfield, this makes it easier for the enemy warbands to reach you. If they do that and engage you in CC – Swiss will not be able to fight back or do anything about Smoke. I also feel that strapping a hacking device on an expensive model with WIP 13 just paints another target on his back for enemy KHDs. Fairy Dust and Firewall are a thing, yes, and with BTS 9 Swiss becomes a rock-solid hacking sponge, but there are still ways to dispose of him in one or two CC whacks. Swiss Hacker feels like a TAG this way, it looks as if you need to plan your list around him. I will say that a Swiss in Suppressive Fire holding down a corridor where can't be flanked is a scary sight. That said... ...when seen as a part of an army list, it all comes together. Peacemakers grant you repeaters in the midfield, Auxilias can defend the deployment zone, the Clipper kills those who get hacked... It's beautiful. And terrifying.
Yeah acknowledge all points on the negative which allows you to be wary and neutralise those targets ahead of time. You don't wanna run him head first into a lot of bad fights. Set the scene for the Swiss to pop out like the Predator of old. The Peacemakers operating as both a Repeater and a WB/Mine clearer ahead of time allows him freedom of action. Especially when you throw the auxbots at the problem. It's not just what supports him but what he supports around him. Once those threat vectors are taken care of he can go into fights with a bit more freedom. Additionally the Bolt Core can lean to deal with the direct threats while leaving much of his repeater network still intact.
Just thought I'd quickly report back on my past three or four games running the Swiss Hacker. I think, bar one game where I overplayed my hand with him, he was the standout unit in every game. His shooting is superb, and synergises with the range demands of his hacking game very well. I found success with the multirifle shooting from a flank across the board, often catching units out of cover. I ended up running quite a few auxilia in group 2, to create a template area for him to return to and recamo with some safety. Order intensive as heck, though. I think he pairs naturally with a corelink Aquila, in terms of fairydust overlap, and not so well with TAGs. If you can make it so that the only hackable units in your list are either near your machinist for an easy fix, or in camo state and firewalled, it takes a lot of the edge off of the sectorial's main weakness.
The Swiss hacker is very useful. I’ve found the Missile launcher profile to be quite good as well. He does pair quite nicely with the Aquila but as you’ve noted, it’s really order intensive to do so.