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The NeoTerran Capitaline Army: A Tactica

Discussion in 'PanOceania' started by barakiel, Apr 26, 2018.

  1. barakiel

    barakiel Echo Bravo Master Sergeant

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    @Maksimas
    Thanks for reading, and thanks for the feedback.

    Trying to present units in a neutral context is tricky, and sparked a bit of debate. Some units are very, very good, and fit more easily into lists than other units... I think everyone agrees on that. But I'm also a firm believer that players should experiment for themselves, rather than having someone feed them information on what's "good" and what's "bad." I tried to do that in this writeup.

    As far as Acon vs NCA, they're definitely quite different. Acon has a huge spectrum of tools, has many viable and diverse listbuilding options, and is the most flexible way to play a PanO Sectorial. By contrast, they lose a lot of the extreme tech and highly skilled gunfighters that the other Sectorials have. In order to be get non-PanO flexibility, they give up some valuable PanO characteristics.

    I love NCA. For me, they're the sportscar of playing PanO. They only do a handful of things with extreme power, but they do them very well, and they look clean and stylish while they're doing it. The challenge in playing NCA is taking those very, very good units and applying them to diverse, challenging ITS missions. We know NCA can outshoot anyone... Okay, how do you use that to win a mission with 9 consoles, like CommCenter? That's where NCA becomes really fun and interesting.

    As for MO, I'm actually a pretty poor MO player. I've played probably ~20 games with them ever, and only participated in a single ITS with them. By contrast, I've played hundreds of games and done dozens of tournaments with NCA and Acon. So I'm definitely not qualified to talk with anyone about playing Military Orders.
     
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  2. Maksimas

    Maksimas Heavy Infantry Addict Maxim

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    I can agree that some units are indeed more widely applicable than others, but I don't like to completely brush off other units as useless either.
    Ofcourse, I still have preferences for units I'd like to use more than others.
    For example, when it comes to Yu Jing ( The faction I play. ) I can't think of any unit I would outright not have a use for. Same statement goes out to Nomads, PanO ( Two factions I'd very readily like to delve into someday. How convenient they share a two player starter, no? ) and JSA ( Though I started playing like... 1 or 2 months before Uprising came around, so I personally lost nothing there. Still, some units I'd definitely like to try out there. ). While on the other side, CA, Ariadna and Aleph are factions where I'd probably end up favoring a smaller portion of their units over the rest ( The Onyx/Morat side of CA, Kazak and French aspects of Ariadna ( Lightly delving into the other fields perhaps, but not as much. ), and almost entirely forgoing the entire Steel Phalanx and posthuman aspects of Aleph ( The proxy models just look really... weird to me. And I just don't like how many of the SP models look... and am not a big fan of intense character usage. ), but mostly for aesthetic purposes, honestly.

    And yeah, I did notice that Acon does seem to tone down the tech by comparison to the wider PanO faction by a sizeable margin in favor of flexibility. Which indeed seems to be the opposite of the NCA, whom turn up the firepower to twelve while throwing flexibility to the light breeze. Would gladly give a shot at either someday.

    Also, fair enough. I myself don't feel confident talking about how to use stuff myself since I am, well, rather new to this game ( Granted, I have been scouring these forums for knowledge rather intensely, and have kind of managed to memorize a good chunk of a couple factions units by accident- ), so I can understand your answer about the possibility of a MO guide.
     
  3. barakiel

    barakiel Echo Bravo Master Sergeant

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    Will update the OP with Aida Swanson as soon as she goes live for NCA for Army.

    SMG and Viral mines are both pretty sweet though, and Mimetism with Scavenger and decent BS means NCA suddenly got a lot more "fun."
     
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  4. AdmiralJCJF

    AdmiralJCJF Heart of the Hyperpower

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    Yeah, I think she might be a viable cheap offensive option for midfield brawling.
     
  5. Deltervees

    Deltervees Crash Test Dumbass

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    With ITS 10, all MI get Forward Deployment L1, does this change your opinion on Bolts?
     
  6. eciu

    eciu Easter worshiper

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    They still suck, but now 4 inches closer to enemy ?;P
     
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  7. Zsolt

    Zsolt Well-Known Member

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    Yeah, being close to the enemy sucks, when all you have are overpriced shotguns and throwing weapons :P
     
  8. AdmiralJCJF

    AdmiralJCJF Heart of the Hyperpower

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    So, mostly no, but it does help somewhat.

    Bolts are still overpaying for their Combi + Light Shotgun and Drop Bears, both of which have seen points reductions on more "up to date" profiles. Given the fact that two of their skills are priced on a sliding scale this compounding effect of higher and higher points costs hits them even harder.

    However Bolts are also a Close Quarter Battle optimised unit, with E/M Grenades and Shotguns as well as the Spitfire rather than HMG. This, overall, makes them a poor fit with a unit fighting out of the deployment zone and therefore a significant beneficiary from Forward Deployment.

    This update makes me more likely to run a Bolts Fireteam with the SWC weapons (especially Sniper over Missile Launcher for the better range bands), Hacker and Boarding Shotgun loadouts. But it does absolutely nothing to make me want any of the Combi+LSG options on the table.
     
  9. Zoccola

    Zoccola Angry Maple Syrup Powered Italian
    Warcor

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    I think they got enough of a bump to make them playable. They are no where near as good as USAriadna Marauders got, but that's a different army.

    Whenever I have used them, they did quite well once they were able to get to the center of the board and hold a position.

    Bolt - CR + LS + Drop Bears
    Bolt - BS + E/M Grenades
    Bolt Hacker - BS + E/M Grenades
    Bolt - Spitfire
    Bolt - MSR

    That is a quality link that can hold an objective room or a strategic point. The spitfire should be engaging in its optimal range the entire game, the Sniper will be great on approach and from behind everyone on ARO. And then 2 boarding shottys and a light on close quarters ARO and active. Not to mention throwing down some drop bears around corners.

    Could do some wonders with a Rambo LT. Or if you want to quickly capture a point quickly and focus from the other flank, add a Peacemaker deployed to where you want to send the Bolts.

    I think they could work.
     
  10. Titus

    Titus Varuna Beach Commando

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    Ok... Now I have a question regarding Dropbears.

    Can you use them as Throwing Weapon (being this a BS Attack) in ARO?

    More than that, if an enemy troop triggers ARO against two Bolts, can une of them ARO using his shotgun while another Bolt uses Dropbears?

    If so, are they just placed next to the active enemy troop?

    I´m inclined to think the answer is "No" to all these questions... but wanted to check.
     
  11. AdmiralJCJF

    AdmiralJCJF Heart of the Hyperpower

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    Well, they are Targetless thrown weapons just like a Smoke Grenade.

    And you CAN throw a Smoke Grenade while other members of your Fireteam shoot. So you should be able to throw a Drop Bear while other members of your Fireteam shoot as well.

    And when you throw a Smoke Grenade you can put it wherever you want, thanks to Targetless, while your other Fireteam members shoot at the trooper provoking the ARO, so you should be fine to do that with a Drop Bear too.

    You risk taking unopposed shots to the face... but it's an option.
     
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  12. Chade

    Chade Member

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    So ALEPH just got a new sectorial and with it some new profiles for Devas. Do you think NCA will get those profiles too and if yes what do you think of them? For me that AHD looks interesting and 24p FO really excellent. Even more so when they are Veteran troops for this season of ITS!
     
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  13. volgo

    volgo Usuario

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    Yeah, the first thing I did was open NeoTerra Army to see if the Devas got the new profiles.
    I hope thy will come later...
     
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  14. Teslarod

    Teslarod when in doubt, Yeet

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    So as I keep forgetting and as @ijw keeps reminding me (thanks for that). The PDF theoretically has the last word in availability.

    Only the Haris Profile is marked as OSS exclusive.
    Which means in theory NCA already has the new Profiles, army just isn't updated properly.

    Mother of god if the PDF doesn't contain mistakes, that gives NCA one hell of a Hacker.
    Almost the same price as the Hexa and of course 0.5 SWC. Obviously lacks a Marker State as well as it doesn't have access to Cybermask.

    But the upsides are huge. WIP15 AHD to enable REMs and utilize our rather impressive Repeater net. On top of the obvious advantage of WIP15 and Lightning, the Deva has a lot more raw defensive capability than the Hexa Lightning is especially impressive for a NWI troop as it completely demolishes Trinity, NWI makes you semi impervious to the arguably best Hacking Program in the game - Maestro.

    A BS12 BSG+Nanopulser with ARM2 BTS3 NWI is no slouch in a firefight either.

    Gotta be honest, if I don't want to make room for the extra point and 0.5 SWC I can honestly see the Deva replacing the Hexa in all my lists.
    While benched and downgraded to second fiddle the Hexa gives us the option to go for some serious Hacking superiority together with the DEva if you want to. Think I've seen @daboarder thinking about Hacking heavy NCA recently, so he might be interested to spin that train of thought further.
     
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  15. eciu

    eciu Easter worshiper

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    WIP15 Deva NWI Lighting+AHD might really make Hexa KHD run for he's money .....
     
  16. barakiel

    barakiel Echo Bravo Master Sergeant

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    I like the potential of turning up NCA's Hacking game. I was a big advocate of the Swiss Hacker in the last couple of years, even with KHDs on the rise, but I've been using him less and less because 2018 has even more lethal hacking networks.

    However, I've still remained a fan of Assault devices, and the straighforward nightmare they can pose for opponents who have lost their KHDs. Agreed with @Teslarod ... I think the Deva has all the potential to give NCA a new angle for attack here, to say nothing of the other decent profiles we've seen with Vedic.

    I wonder how I'm going to free up .5 SWC in my lists...
     
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  17. Maksimas

    Maksimas Heavy Infantry Addict Maxim

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    The age old issue of not having enough SWC.
     
  18. Chade

    Chade Member

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    Yeah. I think you are usually running Swiss/Aquila HMG for 2, ML and HMG in Fusilink for 2,5 and Hexa MSR for 1,5. Were you to include normal hacker there (or that AHD Deva if we get it) what would you be willing to sacrifice? Hexa MSR or HMG on Fusiliers mayhaps?
     
  19. AdmiralJCJF

    AdmiralJCJF Heart of the Hyperpower

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    I think we should slow our roll on what we think is making it into NCA.

    At this point it's just as likely that the error is too few Deva profiles marked as OSS exclusive in the PDF as it is that the error is on the Army end and NCA is getting a trip to awesome town.

    I mean... that would be nice.
     
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  20. spears

    spears Well-Known Member

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    No. As with most deployables the skill to use them is not a bs attack but is instead its own skill 'drop bear' as such if one bolt declares drop bear and the other declares bs attack one will drop out of the link.

    Smoke is different as you declare bs attack to use it.
     
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