The Shock Army of Acontecimento: A Tactica

Yeah agreed, it's never an easy choice and someone always disagrees. However it will always be your rating in your guide and you can make sure to point out why some troops are very useful despite not being stellar.
Always depends what you want to build your rating on. Personally I have no problem to slap a "2/10 irredeemable niche pick for once every hundred games" on stuff like Orcs and Singh.
In my case that opinion is mostly based on reliability and efficiency instead of dice rolls. To pick up your example of the Montesa he is a solid 8/10 if you can go first and a 5/10 if you don't get to go first or want to go 2nd because of the Mission. It wouldn't matter if I win 10 games in a row with him as I'd still call him a strategic liability.
Personal experience would demand I rate Joan, DeFeresen and the Uhlan highly because they performed well. I wouldn't, taking their performance apart they worked because a certain Mission favours them or because the game was a steamroll anyway.

Akalis would probably end up with a 7/10. In their own spot as AD they outclass the only competition (Singh - 3/10) and that's why we take them anyway.

This has ended up in rambling again - so here is the essence.
If you want to rate stuff do it, it really helps, especially the newer guys. There is bound to be disagreement and that is fine, discussion is only healthy.

 

Yes, it should.

 

Nice write up. Only one critique, you mention using a Deva with the Fugazi, and the Deva are not available for ASA.

 

Oh, also e/mitter is much better than 1 in 20, closer to 50%, even against TAGs that are looking the right way.

 

This was an amazing peace of work.

One thing
The main reason I enjoy someone like VaulSC faction reviews/opinions is because he is willing to risk value judgement calls.
It makes people angry and is risky as you can be proven wrong but it is still so important.
I don't think a good/bad or X/10 is perfect considering how the context can change values.
Maybe something like...
Gold: Hard to go wrong with.
Blue: Strong but situational or has a lot of competitors for its roll.
Black: a solid if perhaps average unit.
Red: Risky or needs to be part of a strategy to get value over something else.

 

As Onyx players know well, without smoke the value of MSV 2 units drops quite a bit. SAA has plenty of ways to deal with Camo. Don't feel bad about lacking a good cheap MSV 2 unit. You don't need one.

 

Honestly, I'd go for the shot. I mean it depends on a lot of factors, but a E/Mitter hit, even if the odds are lousy is often a dead TAG vs a 24 pt AD trooper.

Some factors:
MBT or El Cheapo. I believe all the TAGs in the game are more expensive than the Akilis, but I might think twice about a Gecko or something equally cheap.

Suppression or no. A Suppressed TAG is far worse odds than a flat F2F, but for a MBT I'd go for it. According to N3 dice the odds are about 10-15% depending. (I remember them being better when I posted a few hours ago, could be I hit the wrong switches)

Where is the engineer? If he's just going to fix E/M then it's not a good idea, if he's dead or across the board, shoot away.

Can I follow up? A TAG in IMM-1 is a sitting duck for anything else I might also have on me. For that matter, the Akilis might be able to finish it off with a combi.

Shooting the TAG in the back from over 8" with the E/Mitter is 55% chance of disabling it.

BTW, shooting HIs with the E/Mitter can be fun too. Much better than the combi, since they've got multiple wounds in a lot of cases. Same with obvious LTs that are hard to kill like Wallace, since E/M weapons isolate the target, putting them into LoL.

But sounds like we're in agreement if you don't actually think it's 5%.

Also running the Akilis into CC with a TAG is a decent idea, maybe better than shooting one in the back, depending on the situation.

 

So it seems people value "numeric" rating of units or their general "feel" ?

I too tried not to use it, as I found it more detrimental (and units are usually taken in context of other choices), but it seems people are really liking it, so mayby I will add it too.....

 

Add your thoughts to this thread, then come back to the first page and add a link to wherever they end up so people reading this for the first time can find them easily (in fact, I'm sure @barakiel will add that link into his OP) so there are multiple perspectives available.

Now you just need to focus on where you see points of difference.

 

I feel you would lose crucial information in the mapping to a numerical value.

 

I, too, think this will end up detracting from the work.

 

great write up, thanks for the hard work !

 

Yeah, agreed. However, if you do do something like it a few suggestions:

1) Only 1-3 or 1-5 since anything more granular really becomes noise, IMHO. (Ex: Is the 89/100 Montesa Spitfire really better than the 93/100 Regular Sensor?)
2) Maybe provide a few numbers. I've seen people do "Utility/Power Level" and "Skill Level", where utility/power level would be how hard something hits, while skill level indicates either models that take more skill to use, or reward higher levels of skill. For example I would say a Naga with mines, or any hacker rewards skill more than an Orc with an HMG.

It can be useful for newbies (who these sorts of guides are aim at) to know what are the easier models to use. You might also add "Flexibility" that is to say models that provide good flexibility, or are "toolbox" units. Ex: Drakios has far higher flexibility than the Orc with an HMG, being good at several things, and having several weapons.

Finally for any unit that gets a low score you might try pointing out why it's generally a poor performer, or explain the limited situations where it does shine. Ex: Orcs are generally unpopular, but they're easy to use, cheap, and reasonably effective. There is nothing wrong with a cheap beatstick, which is exactly what Orcs are. MULTI Rifle LT is a durable LT, with some ability to use the LT order while being reasonably cheap, and allowing the list to contain other models. Boarding Shotgun ORC is the cheapest HI available in the sectorial, and is reasonably good at DZ defense, or a late game sweeper. Also nice in a pinch against TAGs.

 

A rating for a unit in Infinity seems like an odd endeavor. MSV2 unit? good or bad? Well VS ODD/TO through smoke it's pretty freaking rad, but dang it's going to have a sucky day vs albedo.

Maybe a better system would be defining roles and giving multiple ratings at how well that unit can perform that role. Like a Regular is going to be 9/10 defensive link considering the sapper profile, but maybe 5/10 for survivability since they basic LI.

The major problem with this is that there could be too many roles to define if they too specific. Conversely, too general of a definition would leave you in a similar position as using a general rating.

 

Here it is:


ORC Troops

Veteran PanOceanian troopers, clad into sleak and stylish power armor manufactured by Omnia Research Corporation. They are a no-frill unit, maybe the most basic HI in the game at all. That is positive – you’re paying only for stats that you’ll use. They pack BS 14, PH 14 (good for Dodge) ARM 4 and standard weapon loads.

Before continuing to loadouts, let’s make one issue clear. They tend to be overshadowed by almost any other PanOceanian heavy units. Usually you could spare the points somewhere else to field Guarda de Assalto or Montesa. Both have some useful skills or piece of equipment the ORC lacks, just for few points more. The ORCs also lack some weapon variety compared to other factions HI, being limited to rifles, shotguns and HMGs. Especially the lack of some ARO piece (like Missile Launcher) hurts. Their real advantage is ability to form Fireteams combined with 4-4 Move, which means you can put three angry HI into the fray for few orders.

Fireteam Haris composed from 3 ORCs is quite expensive, but it is the best you’ll get from this unit. Standard compositions are HMG – MULTIRifle – Boarding Shotgun (Haris), or HMG – Hacker - Boarding Shotgun (Haris). The former is slightly more effective at rifle ranges, the latter include specialist. Burst bonus combined with their BS 14 are devastative, 5 rolls against 14s (17s without Cover) with HMG or 3 roll against 17 (or 20 without Cover) with boarding shotgun aren’t anything to be scorned upon. The tactics is simple, fuel the Fireteam with orders, force your way into opponent part of table and kill everything at sight. Even in ARO, the ORCs are quite dangerous, and you can put them into Suppressive Fire if necessary, reforming the link at the beginning of next turn.

Fireteam Duo is the budget variant. You’ll spare one ORC and 0,5 SWC. The most logical variant that came upon my mind is HMG – MULTIRifle (Duo). You’ll lack the Burst bonus compared to above, so the only advantage is to move them both for one order. Putting them into Suppressive Fire at the end of your round seems to be even more important than above.


The loadouts:

MULTIRifle 40/0 – The basic ORC, armed with MULTIRifle. The possibility to use four various types of ammunition is his advantage, unfortunately it is almost useless on 16+’’ ranges. You may use him as a kind of cheap heavy assault piece, just remember, that in reactive phase he needs to be in Suppresive Fire and/or have a proper support.

MULTIRifle + TinBot A (Deflector L1) 41/0,5 – This profile until recently went out of my sight, mostly because of SWC tax for something that looks like the basic ORC, before I realized that his Deflector bonus counts for the whole link. Combining this with Reboot or Fairy Dust Supportware makes them pretty unhackable (even Interventor would have a problem here). It might be helpful with the aggressive Haris tactics, but I need to test it more before giving final verdict.

HMG 44/2 – What to say, one of the most devastative weapons in the game, mounted on BS 14 platform, and for economical 44 points? Yes, please. Just remember she isn’t Swiss Guard, do not overextend her and give her proper support in reactive phase.

Boarding Shotgun 35/0 – I do not use this profile often, but just because of (almost) identical Haris option. But, boarding shotgun means that he could be shooting at 20s at close range, which is insanely good. She could be terrific deployment zone guard and a good counterattack piece. I’ve destroyed much stronger enemies with her, like Gorgos or Anathematics who were too bold and came close with opponent thinking “ah, that is just an ORC.” Yeah, she is just an ORC, with AP ammunition, BS 14 and bad attitude.


Combi Rifle 36/0 – Honestly, I don’t have a clue why this profile exists. Without the access to special ammunition, he’s just expensive Regular on steroids. If I definitely want to field an ORC, I’ll probably get a Boarding shotgun one or spare 4 points for MULTIRifle version.

Combi Rifle, Assault Hacker 42/0,5 – It is a kind of controversial loadout. From first point of view, it doesn’t make sense to mount a WIP 12 hacker in the world full of Killer Hackers, who has one of the worst chances in Infinity to hack something. But, he is also the only specialist option the ORCs have, defending with Carbonite is usually better then Reset and sometimes you might come into situation, when even lousy hacking option could be crucial. He does also suffer that he mounts just basic Combi Rifle. I could imagine giving him more interesting equipment (like SMG and D-charges, or grenades) will make him much more usable, but I’m afraid that we’ll never get one.


MULTIRifle, Lieutenant 40/0 – It seems to be another lousy option, nominating lieutenant with sub-par WIP and such a lackluster troop like ORC is. But think about him, when you want to play an active lieutenant. He wouldn’t be squishy like Regular or Bagh Mari, he wouldn’t be so exposed as Montesa and he wouldn’t carry a big target mark upon himself as ORC with HMG. MULTIRifle is also not bad for defense, if you’re cautious and manage to avoid long fire lines. And all I wrote above about the ORCs in general must be carefully applied here.

HMG, Lieutenant 44/2 – If you really want to play aggressive lieutenant, she’s your girl. But it is a risky strategy. Be cautious, and I mean, very cautious. Don’t overextend her. She wouldn’t be exposed as Montesa, but still she is a kind of model that your opponent wants to kill anyway. And I’m not convinced that having an extra order on HMG model is so important to risk losing whole active phase then.

Boarding Shotgun, Haris 36/0,5 – She is necessary to field Haris Fireteam and that’s all. Having a Burst bonus to Boarding shotgun might be nice on BS 14 model, if you manage to get her close enough and get multiple enemies under the template. Use her also to guard the back of the rest of the team, and read what I’ve written about non-Haris version above.

MULTIRifle, Duo 41/0 – He is necessary to field the ORCs Duo Fireteam. Otherwise there is nothing much to say, apply my comment to standard ORC.

Last issue: They're Veteran Troops, which might be significant in some situations, like getting Adhesive Laucher in Hunting Party... and Adhesive Laucher on fast and linkable BS 14 troop is scary!

 

When a new player or even a player who wants to know someone else's thoughts on a unit reaches for a guide they are most often reaching for a way to help them understand and therefore zero in on a proper choice.
I have this overwhelming desire to make my own guide to SAA even though I have never played them or remember much about the times I played against them.
My guide would be shit but might get the conversation rolling in a interesting direction.

 

There is a niche to find for every troop. And sometimes a Sectorial redeems troops who are overshadowed in Vanilla (Bagh Mari). Unhackable Specialist with Stealth for Singh, Uhlan for Rescue... etc.
However at some point it stops making sense praising niche usability and the same thing instead needs to be pointed out as a crucial weakness with a warning.

For around 120 | 3 SWC points I'd personally avoid the Orc Haris like the plague. My sole recommendation for them would also be Hunting Party. But not without a warning that they're easy targets to be hunted down themselves since that mission naturally leads to a lot of E/M, ADHL, Stun and AHDs - all of which Orcs are pretty vulnerable against.

I do like the HMG, but most of the time I'd go for one of the TAGs or GdA instead. They get about as much shelf time as Singh (which means they're sitting there permanently after running them once or twice).