I don’t get to play much, so 8 games might not mean much. Overall I have about 60-70 games under my belt over the last 3-4 years, most of them with CA vanilla – just to give this some perspective. This might not be relevant to some, but personally, and I admit have been “guilty” of this too in the past, I feel that there’s a lot of theorycrafting going on online. Which is fine when tossing ideas about, but not so much when declaring such an such “the best” or “not worth taking ever”. You know what I mean. So 8 games. 4 wins, 4 losses. A mixed bag. Certainly not satisfying for me. But man, has this been fun. I remember trying ASA for a time, and despite loving the fluff and the models I just couldn’t get the playstyle to work. It was no fun! Ikari is different. It’s also very different from how I play CA – I like big beatsticks and LOVE my Charontid MSV3 HMG. So I had to adjust, a lot. With CA I had max 13 orders. In my current Ikari list I have 19 + Impetous/Ex. Impetous. And I’m a slow player. But I’m getting better. My last game, my first major victory with Ikari, had me going jut 6 mins over the allotted time (one hour). Either way, here’s what I love about most about Ikari: the sheer diversity When a faction interests me I start by going to the army builder and start building lists. If I can’t get everything I want into 300/6 then that’s immediately a good sign to me. In a sectorial if there are several fireteams I really like that’s a good sign, too. In Ikari I like the staple Tanko ML core, but I also like the Druze a lot (although I’m scared of their squishiness). I like the Wu Ming haris and the Druze haris, and all in different loadouts. Do I take a HRL or the HMG as heavy weapon in my Wu Ming Haris? Do I take 3 Wu Ming? Do I bring a Brawler AHD or a Doctor? And it all feels viable! I’ve never had so many tools, and orders to use them, at my disposal. Even losing some supposedly key pieces doesn’t mean you’re done. We’ve got great ARO capabilities in the Tanko ML and the Brawler MSV2. The former has been a nightmare for 2 of my opponents already, completely shutting down their assaults. Also worth mentioning imo are the ABH Sniper and Le Muet, and don’t forget about the bog standard TR HMG bot, or flashpulse bot and warcor for that matter. We’ve also got great melee – the Krakot and Yojimbo are deadly, and the latter usually draws a lot of attention. I’ve finally managed to get him home in my last game, cutting down a troublesome Zuyong Haris including Tai Sheng. Also the Ninja will make short work of a lot of things, and if an enemy manages to close in on a Tanko they might be in for a nasty surprise with MA2 and a Monofilamant CC weapon. We’ve also got some excellent mid- and close range shooting. The Wu Ming Haris springs to mind, that guy is great! Also the Druze with their FD1, and the 2 special bots Rui Shi and Lu Duan. Oh and of course the Desperadoes with B5 Assault Pistols for cheap! You see, I could go on and on, but I’m not sure anyone is actually interested in this rambling haha! I suppose if there’s interest I could write up a summary like other, bigger factions have them? If that would be helpful? Keep in mind I’m not super experienced like others on this board. Either way, keep punishing the opposition! BC
Ikari are a big change to vanilla CA, Wu-ming link, Druze links with Tanko, big guys that don't laugh as they jump into > 60 band they're currently my most played NA2, they just lack for the awesome Lts, top end units and of course the bredth choice of CA, but then that's why you can fit in 19 orders with a variety of attack methods.
Glad you are having fun with them! Personally I just love the Booty tables. Even though I hardly ever get anything good for my Yuan Yuan!
Yuan-Yuan are all about calling the booty roll before you make it, for the moral victory when they get it...
I just woke up this morning with the idea of writing down my thoughts on Ikari. I am also a seasoned EC player. Was there to win the first big infinity tournament 7/8'sh years ago with 80 player. A long travel... I aprecappre your thoughts. Ikari seems to have tools for everything and they're quality is not too notch just enoghe so you can fit tools for every job with redundancy. For most things you have only one profile. But that do the job.