The little engine that could (a Rafiq thread)

In general as an independent unit, I have seen the Rafiq FTO to be a very good. The Rafiq is our only sensor (which is even more important in N4 to deal with camo), is fast, a specialist, and the FTO adds a burst 4 weapon for only 20 points. Its cheap for what it can accomplish and the red fury is still a good weapon for throwing dice. +6 points /+0.5 SWC seems alright to me for adding an additional threat.

EDIT: I think it works best solo versus in a duo.

 

Maybe, the utility of this duo is save orders for bringing the HI and the robot specialist to mid table, and when necessary, break the link.

 

Imho this is the only use-case of any FT: Duo.

Question is: for what? None of the linked units profits from being mid field apart from the Rafiq itself. I see it more as a kind of FD:L2 because I can activate the heavy weapon guy for shooting and move the Rafiq forward until the link breaks.

In N3 I did this regularly with a Kriza Borac/Hollow Man duo.

 

• You can link it in a Special Duo with any wildcard in addition to the listed gunchonkers
• Supportware
• Repeater
• Specialist FO
• Sensor - run it ahead to screen for camo, or deter incoming camo attackers (discover+shoot with a high chance of success!)
• Send it off on an errand, good for picking up tacos when you have the munchies
• Drag it upfield and then put it in suppression somewhere inconvenient

 

Well, for the life of mine I can't recall a rule that would be prohibiting that kind of Duo, so... looks like you're good to go.

But I can't say I see much point in Leyla hauling a Rafiq along...
...hmm, you mean, move a Rafiq into hacking range of an enemy Hacker in 1st Short Skill, then try frying him with Leyla in 2nd skill? But he still can hack her back via Rafiq's repeater, right (perhaps with a Firewall, but still). So not a huge gain in my eyes, for quite an investment (keeping Leyla bound in a Duo with a Rafiq).
Of course, I might be having it wrong, I admit my grasp of N4 rules isn't what it used to be for N2 and N3... lack of practice, sadly :(

 

Firewalls are hugely important in hacking fights. It's the difference between shooting someone with a rifle from cover, vs. not from cover. Doing it from cover is way less risky.

Also, you can avoid enemy repeaters that way. i.e. if they have both a repeater and a hacker in the midfield, if Leila moves up into repeater range she'll have to fight every enemy hacker on the table. But if the Rafiq moves up, Leila only has to fight the hacker that's in the midfield (although all the other hackers will still get to Oblivion the Rafiq).

 

Well, in the era of Tactical Window, I guess there aren't going to be that many of the all other hackers out there :)
I mean, most hackers are still 0,5 SWC, right? And besides, one still needs Combat Group slots for other models than just Hackers :)

So, yeah, I think I see your point :)

 

Yeah, I'm not arguing that the Leila/Rafiq duo is or isn't worth taking :-) It could be useful when there are multiple enemy hackers and repeaters about, but whether that's a situation one needs to prepare is a judgment question.

That said, I've seen some pretty hacking-heavy CA lists, so I wouldn't say it's out of the question. Leila doesn't want to go after Nourkias with her KHD, but find herself fighting Nourkias and an Anathematic at the same time!

 

O shaikh, I'd love to find myself fighting anything these days :( (no, I can't stand TTS or the like, I'm a dinosaur that needs a physical table to move my minis on)

 

Addressing the Rafiq+Azra'il duo in QK.
1) When bringing an Azzie with AP HMG, Red Fury may seem redundant in terms of burst and inferior BS, but in many cases, Red Fury does find its niche in terms of range bands. This duo is meant to move up the table, so occasionally you will want to switch over to 8-24" range bands. The comparison with Azzie's HMG also gives you options: remove non-shock-immune skirmishers and LI with Rafiq, deal with the enemy heavies with the Azra'il.
2) Sensor. Azzie is a decent shooter but he's no better than a puny Ghulam when it comes to anti-skirmisher action, i.e.: discovering and removing the midfield camo markers. Rafiq ensures that you are able to reliably discover these markers, including discovering them through the walls with no LoF.
3) Assisted Fire and Enhanced Reaction. My QK lists often see the inclusion of an EVO hacker because of Yuan Yuans, and Rafiq is yet another excuse to get an EVO hacker and use it after Yuan Yuans have dropped. Marksmanship further buffs Rafiq's discovering capabilities and shooting Mimetism (-3) skirmishers in mid-range is often better done with Red Fury on BS11 with Marksmanship than with an AP HMG with BS 13 without Marksmanship.
4) Repeater. Leila can still protect Azzie by frying up enemy hackers without having to go to the midfield.
5) Dropping both a Marksmanship Red Fury and a BS 13 AP HMG with Continuous Damage into Suppressive Fire in the middle of the table can make an opponent's eyes water, and covering several fire lanes is also nice.

The point being, Rafiq Red Fury is better than you think. The only cheaper specialist option for Azzie is Hafza FO who brings nothing interesting to the table aside from a template weapon.

 

The Rafiq is a fast-moving, Repeater-equipped Red Fury-shooter and Forward Observer and Sensor that has WIP13, a Flash Pulse, two unconscious levels + reroll on Engineer rolls, as well as the ability to be buffed by an EVO.

It is, except for the Namurr and the two TAGS, who all costs more than 20 points more, the only specialist in all of Haqqislam that has a Burst 4 weapon, and packs a downright amazing set of abilities into it's dirt cheap 20 points platform.

Is there any reason not to take it always?

 

Ok, I'll bite :-)

A BS 11 Red Fury with no combat skills is pretty puny in N4. I don't see the Rafiq as something than will often be able to efficiently fight its way to the objectives and push the buttons on its own. In the midfield it's vulnerable to hacking, DTWs, and just getting outshot by lucky AROs.

An EVO will improve it significantly, but EVOs don't synergize all that well with Haqq otherwise, so you're spending an extra slot just to buff the Rafig. Slots are pretty precious commodities for Haqq. And all you get for it is a remote that's now a pretty good gunfighter, but is still just as vulnerable to hacking and DTWs.

Remote Presence is largely wasted points on the Rafiq, since Haqq has even less use for an engineer than it has for an EVO. Spending a slot on an EVO is at least conceivable, but I can't imagine spending a slot on an engineer in a Haqq list.

It's a good and interesting unit, and I have no argument with the players who like to run it! But there are definitely reasons not to take it always :-)

 

I'm agree 100% in this particular case with @QueensGambit . On paper I find the profile interesting, but only in ramah I did some good use of it.

 

I tried an Odalisque Spitfire + Rafiq last game in highly classified vs Haqq vanilla. I though I could move up the flank and discover+shoot some daylami on my way to the enemy DZ, to kill some troopers to reduce his TAG effectiveness. It didn't work that well... sensor bonus on discover is good but B4 Red Fury didn't live up to its names, +3 range -3 cover I was looking for 11s. Compare with my previous faction that had BS12 hecklers (+1BS but -3 MOD to enemy for camo) and BS12 linked puppets (+1BS, no enemy MOD, but +1B). I guess I did get some benefit from Duo in having the odalisque move up the board but ran out of orders to be most effective.

Before that, I also used it with Azra'il, in my first two QK games, when I forgot wildcard can join special duos. One game it kinda worked due to Sensor Sweep against camo and could Flash enemies that wanted to come over to fight Aza'il. The other game Azra'il got unlucky in active turn 1, and the Rafiq died easily.

 

As an RTF player, a 12pts. Monstrucker (+Nasmat or two) is very includable, especially if you're going to include a Maggie or a Shihab (or two). But to be fair (and get back OP) I have yet to include the Rafiq FTO (usually will try to squeeze out +4pts. and get the Shihab)

 

True, I forgot RTF has the Monstrucker!

Vanilla has so many great irregulars that there isn't room for Monstrucker, but I've definitely seen them in RTF :-)

 

well, I didn't mean it -that- literally, but sure, fair points. I haven't used it myself in a long time, actually...

 

Close range. :)