Marauders Box Set

Recently someone shared pictures of the new Marauder Box Set in the Ariadna Facebook group. Remember those Marauders we have converted earlier this years? Soon we'll be able to put them to good use! Marauders, the 5307th Ranger Unit, are one of my favourite troops in USARF. In my opinion they are very reasonably priced and have lots of utility, especially in the American sectorial. I thought I'd share some ideas about the Fireteams I am thinking about using.

First though, let briefly look at the new models and the current Marauder profile.

In the new box set we'll get Boarding Shotgun, Heavy Rocket Launcher, Sniper Rifle and Molotok. No basic Rifle option though, so still worth converting those. First thing I noticed, and little disappointed by, is that there are no female Marauders. Don't know if its a fluff thing or something but in most box sets they give you a mix. Maybe they will do a blister of female Marauder with a Rifle at some point.

At least two of the minis are in action poses, which is cool but I prefer my converted version of Boarding Shotgun. The other three I like though.

The stat line for Marauder is what you would expect from a Medium Infantry unit. Everything beside MOV and ARM is one higher from a Grunt Line Trooper. What makes them very good though, are the special Skills. Marauders get Forward Deployment, Stealth, Dogged, Fireteam: Core and also Fireteam: Haris. Plus quite few weapon options and Specialist option, so there are plenty of different ways to utilize them.

Forward Deployment is very self-explanatory, lets you deploy outside of your Deployment Zone which can always be helpful. Especially for Missions where the objectives are just outside of your DZ.

Stealth I think is something people underestimate but I would highly recommend to always keep it in mind. It can help you get around enemy units as they can't react to your movements outside of their LoF and inside of the Zone of Control. Nothing says surprise like a Heavy Flamer to the back!

Dogged is also a good tool to have. If you really need to hold the line or keep advancing, it will keep them alive for a bit longer, either making your opponent spend more Orders or giving you more time to use them in Active Turn. But it can be hard to decide if you want to active Dogged or not, if you have Doctor or Paramedic nearby, since they will die at the end of that Turn and can't be healed from that.

The 4-2 MOV I used to think is a downside, and I did write about 4-2 vs 4-4 before, but it isn't as bad when you plan for it. If you focus Marauders on objectives in your half of the board and use faster units for anything over the middle line, it shouldn't be much of a downside. It can certainly be worked around and in Ariadna, you shouldn't struggle for Orders.

Fireteam: Core

If you are thinking about going for a Core Fireteam, its worth to decide if you want attack or defense. Marauder AVA is only 5 so if you are going for a full Fireteam of 5 (which you always should in my opinion), you won't get any more Marauders.

For defense I would definitely put in the Sniper and Heavy Rocket Launcher, at least one of each. It gives you decent long range AROs and the have MSV Lv1, which is not as good as Lv2 but it does make it easier to take care of Camouflaged units. Personally I would probably put in two Paramedics and a Boarding Shotgun. You will have a chance to bring people back to the fight and Heavy Flamers plus Mines will make it hard for your opponent to take out your Link from close range.

When it comes to attack, I personally really like Molotok because of the high Burst. In Caledonia it worked well for me in most games. In full Fireteam you should be on BS15 most of the time and with Burst 5 and AP ammo, even TAGs can be taken out. I would also put in the Heavy Rocket Launcher. Since its good range is 16" to 32", so you don't have to keep distance too much. Then I'd probably throw in two Medics and Shotgun again, I think its a good combo to cover your flanks.

If you have the Points to spare, having a Haris unit could be a good idea if you have other units in your army that have Fireteam: Core, like Grunts. Once you have only three Marauders left, you can change them to Haris and link a different unit as Core. This tends to burn your Command Tokens quick but it can surprise your opponent and give you advantage where needed.

Fireteam: Haris

This Fireteam option is great if you want something else to be your five-man Fireteam Core, or simply just activating three troops as one. It still gives you +1 Burst so it can be used for a small defense squad, like having a Haris unit, Paramedic and Sniper or Heavy Rocket Launcher. They can sit back, get the extra Burst in ARO and advance when needed.

Three-man combo like that is not a bad attack squad either, you will have at least one Heavy Flamers plus either Special Weapons and/or Specialist. I would recommend to have Paramedic in all Fireteams. Not only because of the healing option but because Specialist
s that can move while you are advancing with Special Weapons are always useful.

Before this box came out I used to run Haris, Paramedic and Boarding Shotgun. Make it a more close range unit, which I think is better for defense or sweeping enemy units that got to close to your DZ.

In either case, going for Haris lets you have two more Marauders which you can use on different parts of the board, like a Lieutenant in safe area or a lone Sniper covering a flank. 

Also do not underestimate the power of three Heavy Flamers in ARO. That is six templates, let that sink in. If you need to hold a building or some other close quarter area (hello Objective Room missions), your opponent will not want to run into that. Even Heavy Infantry and TAGs can't just risk it, few bad ARM saves and they burn to crisp. If you want to go really crazy, you can even go five Heavy Flamers (ten ARO templates!!) as a Core Fireteam!

My Review of Operation Red Veil

Being a WarCor has its perks, such as early access to some releases! This week I have received my copy of the Red Veil and will be showing it around for the next couple of weeks. Today I finally had the time to open it up and build the miniatures, so I thought I would write down my thoughts about it.

The first thing I noticed after opening the box was that Corvus Belli moved from the usual card board boxes to hold the minis. I don't have a copy of Icestorm myself so not sure if this is actually new, but I remember the USARF Army Boxset minis came in the card board boxes. But the plastic tray worked just as well. My WarCor copy also came with a poster and bunch of Quick Start Rules featuring the Red Veil.

The intro book is actually quite nice, it has some new artwork and as with Icestorm, I love the mission progression. It takes people from the very basics and introduces something new each time. The Quick Start mini book is very similar, but its more compact with only the basics covered. Another thing I love is the tokens sheet. Would be great if this was something we could buy on its own, with more options for token types. You don't get the flamer templates in this though, like you did with the USARF Army Boxset, which is bit surprising considering most Haqqislam units have Light Shotguns.Though it might not be covered in the Intro Rules so it might not matter.

As you might expect from Corvus Belli, all minis came in baggies. The D20s are really nice, I am glad they went with good colours to contrast with black numbers. Hard to read dice are annoying! I will be trying them out soon, see if how well (or badly) they will roll. At first glance the minis looked great, but I will get to them later.

Since it came out I always thought the card board terrain was a great idea. It makes starting with Infinity so much easier and they are not bad for tournaments either (or home boards). We played on a board full of them before and it worked well. Design wise I think this new set is amazing. It has lots of cool details and it really fits with what you'd expect from the Infinity universe. Putting them together, however, wasn't that easy. The instructions were not very helpful and they missed out the bridge completely. Its not that hard to figure out though. The bridges are a neat touch to add something to the terrain and the square boxes are actually pretty sturdy once they are built. You can still put card board boxes into the building for extra weight.

Last but not least, the best part of the set, the minis of course. Lets start with Haqqislam.

There is a nice selection of units for Haqq and as someone who started collecting the factions, I was very happy with the new sculpts for some units. Like all the new releases, these minis have lots of nice details. Unfortunately putting them together was bit of a pain and some needed lots of cleaning up. The biggest problem I found were the minis who are holding guns with both hands. On both Ghulams and the Tuareg the arms do not connect properly, leaving space around shoulders. Its not a new issue for any mini like this, but it was surprising because it wasn't an issue with other recent releases, the USARF especially. Its not something bit of greenstuff won't fix and I don't think it reduces the overall quality. It just might be frustrating to new people. But it also might be my fault for missing something when cleaning the minis.

Also my other issue was with the Zhayedan. The mini itself went together nicely, but you couldn't put him on the base like everything else. If you put his leg with the slot to the middle of the base, his other leg will go over the base. So I had to cut it off and just glue him by his feet. I am guessing it might be an overlooked mistake, because if the slot was the other way around, it would have fit fine into a slot with both feet on the base. (I am realzing only now this would have been easier to explain with pictures, my bad.)

Funny thing I noticed, the Al Fasid's HMG is smaller than the Azrail. Which is amusing because they are both wearing the same suit of armour, more or less. Maybe its like a snub-nose HMG, more killing power (thanks to the attached Light Grenade Launcher).

To my own surprise I preferred the Yu Jing models. The two Heavy Infantry guys went together really well and look proper beefy. The Ninja and Tiger Solider designs are also super cool; very much in-action looking poses. Probably my favourite thing though, is the fact that two of the three line infantry are female soldiers. I am pretty sure they are the first faction starter set that has two female line troops, usually its two guys.

The male Zhanshi has the same problem as I mentioned previously, it was hard to glue the arms holding the gun and will need some greenstuff to fill the gaps. The one female Zhanshi was fine though, maybe because she isn't aiming. All of the other models were no problem to put together. Even the Hsien Warrior spikes on the back slotted really well.

Overall I would say the Hsien Warrior is my favourite model from this set, and likely the sole reason I will be playing Yu Jing. Even next to the Al Fasid, he just looks so much more boss; in my opinion anyway.

That said, I am definitely looking forward to painting and playing all of the minis!

New Caledonia Fireteams in HSN3

The information for this article are mainly from the Beasts of War video about Fireteams, you can watch it yourself here:

http://www.beastsofwar.com/infinity/human-sphere-n3-week/fireteams/

In this article, as you probably guessed, I will only talk about Fireteams for Caledonia but the video has news for all the faction.

So whats new?

From what Bostria said, on top of the Core Links we have now (Volunteers, Grey Rifles, Scots Guard and Wulvers, plus Highlanders with Wallace) two units will have Fireteam: Haris and one unit will have Fireteam: Duo.

Fireteam: Haris - Mormaers, Wulvers
Fireteam: Duo - Scots Guard

They both work as regular (Core) Links do but have lower capacity. Haris can have only up to 3 members, while Duo has only 2. This does limit the bonuses you get from being part of the Link, full Haris will get you +1 Burst but Duo gets you nothing. But with all of them you can activate more than one trooper with one Order, which is always helpful!

Personally I was bit surprised that Grey Rifles do not have Haris but you can still link them as normal and I guess they didn't want us to have one Core Link of Grey Rifles and one Haris, in the same army. Rumour is that Grey Rifles will be able to join with Volunteers and maybe other units but don't know officially yet.

I hope they will raise AVA of Wulvers in Caledonia because I'd definitely want to run more than four now. Even if they don't though, it'll be useful to have them as 3 man Link on top of a second Link. I could definitely see myself playing defensive Volunteers or Scots Guard while using these guys to attack. The best thing will be that as long as they stay in a Link they ignore Frenzy which is one thing that makes them less useful, since they lose Partial Cover after wounding or killing something. This is assuming Link Teams still make units Not-Impetuous.

For Mormaers it is definitely a boost to be able to Link. My problem with them always was that they are slow, and I really like the idea of Burst 4 T2 Rifle or Burst 5 AP HMG. I think personally I would run them as two T2 Rifles and AP HMG, but if you really want to you could Link three AP HMGs! All ARM 8 in cover. That sounds pretty badass and hard to shift for your opponent. Hopefully Dogged will no longer drop you out of the Link either, at least not immediately.

Duo seems less useful than a Core Link or Haris because its just two troopers, but for a 4-2 unit I think it can really help. I could definitely see using a Scots Guard to attack something and another one just trailing behind to get closer to the enemy or just to a better position while you are doing something else. I doubt you will be able to Link the Camouflaged Scots since those can't Link even now.

Overall I am excited to see what more HSN3 has for Caledonia. These new Link Team options definitely open up a whole new range of tactics on how to play this already very versatile army.

(Photos of troops are from the Infinity catalogue.)

USARF Blackjacks and the Unknown Ranger - First Thoughts

With the upcoming Human Sphere N3 book, Corvus Belli started to gives us a taste of what is coming. For the first time recently they gave us profiles of the long awaited USAriadna units, the Blackjacks and The Unknown Ranger.

The profiles are quite interesting and I wanted to get my thoughts down before we get the books.

Blackjacks

I seen people calling this the first true Ariadna Heavy Infantry (HI), but I don't really see it that way. To me "normal" HI in Infinity has 2 Wounds, Blackjacks have 1 Wound per profile. Which is pretty interesting on its own! Not many units in Infinity have two profiles, unless you play Tohaa. At first glance this reminds of the Yu Jing unit that can transform but this seems more like Tohaa Symbiont, it gets worse after taking damage.

V: Courage is not new, but Lo-Tech A and Heavyweight is. I am guessing the Lo-Tech A is the rule that makes it downgrade after taking a wound because it is not in the second profile and Bostria said something along those lines in the Beasts of War video. It would be nice if this rule always kicked in, even if you go straight to dead, so you could never be taken out too quick but I doubt it would be that badass. Harder to guess what Heavyweight could do, no mechanics comes to mind where being heavy would affect it. Maybe you can jump on people and cause damage?

I do like the statline though, BS13 is always nice to see and it has ARM 5, after taking a wound it goes to BS12 and ARM 4 which isn't too shabby either. It is a slow HI unit, which was kinda expected but I am guessing it will be more of a sit back and deal gunishment unit. With AP HMG or T2 Sniper Rifle, you are not going to be charging forward, but they do have Chest Mines and SMG or DEP, which are pretty good at keeping people from getting too close.

Sadly it is Hackable though, which I am not fan of as Ariadna was always famous for not being Hackable but we can't have everything I suppose.

Both weapon options are 36pts, with only SWC being different. Personally I think I'd see myself going for the HMG option because I have enough Snipers in my USA but the 2 SWC cost might be bit high so it'll depend on the rest of the army, but I'd be happy with either to be honest. There is a potential for both, or more, since in USARF sectorial I expect the AVA to be higher.

As far as the model, I am expecting it to be a suit of armour rather than a robot-style. The current Ariadna HI do not actually have that many armour plates so would be cool to see this being either armoured from head to toe, or like a battle-mech suit. With Silhouette 5, its gonna be big either way. If it was S6 I would guess it might be a Dog Warrior with lots of armour, which would be epic. I hope they make two models box set so you have a full power version and a damaged version, it has lots of potential to look awesome.

The Unknown Ranger

The Unknown Ranger is definitely either Chuck Norris or Rambo, or mix of both! Will see when the model comes out who was the inspiration. It is a quite costly unit at 41pts or 47pts +1.5 SWC but it does seem worth it and most of things in USARF is cheap. If I am honest I was expecting more of a Camo+Infiltration loner unit with close range weapons, D-charges and such but this profile seems to be more of elite commander.

The Ranger looks very beasty in CC, not only he has Natural Born Warrior to negate enemy Martial Arms but he also has CC22, Kinematica and T2 CCW, thats insane! Though because of the price tag, he might not be in CC that often. It tends to be safer to shoot people still.

Scavenger and NWI are also pretty useful. I think this makes the Rifle option much more appealing than the Molotok. You get Chain of Command so you don't have to worry about your Lt as much and after you kill someone, you can take their weapon most of the time so you can easily grab yourself a HMG or Sniper Rifle and go on a killing spree from long range.

The Chain of Command also has some decent combo potential in both vanilla and USARF. In vanilla the new Lt unit is coming out with Strategos Lv2 which is fun and you wont have to worry about obvious Lt.

In USARF though, you can get your first Lt killed, this guy becomes Lt, then drop in Van Zant with Executive Orders so he becomes the Lt and has the Lt Order for use and when he dies, the Ranger is Lt again! Fun times.

I think I will often try to find a place in my army for this guy. Hopefully the mini will look as badass as the profile is.

Ride or Die! (updated)

Corvus Belli has released videos and images of the new Desperadoes models and personally I think they look pretty badass. We have already seen concept art for these guys so the bikes look quite as expected, a stripped down version of the USAriadna military bike. I like how each bike looks different, its a nice touch. The riders are also very individual but they seem to fit the overall USAriadna theme very well. I am definitely gonna get a boxset when they are released for sale.

Same as last time (with the Airborne Ranger release), I wanna take a guess at their rules and profile!
Update; it was pointed out to me on Facebook Ariadna group that I have overlooked some available information! Thanks Nick and Casper.

Image from http://www.beastsofwar.com

So, what do we know so far? The models shown have Boarding Shotgun and a Heavy Pistol. The CB's 360 video says 2 Heavy Pistols so that might either be a standard equipment or an option to have two, I am guessing they will all come with one. The same model is also carrying what looks like SMG on his back, but it could be a Rifle. It is a SMG according to concept art. I would think most of their weapon options will be more close to mid-range, since the Maverick cover the bike option with long range firepower.

I will also guess the bikes will come with the standard Smoke Light Grenade Launcher. It might be a wishful thinking, but considering the availability of Light and Heavy Flamers in USAriadna, I think these guys might have the option to have them too. Which would be so cool! If not Flamers, they might get Chain Rifles at least. Chain Rifle does show up on the concept art and int he USA book, so flamers were likely really just wishful thinking! The art also shows normal Smoke Grenades which could be useful as they can Dodge with those and use them if they dismount the bike.

As far as special skills, they will likely have Extreme Impetuous. According to the USA book, they appear to have normal Impetuous but Irregular training.

Its hard to say what else they might have, maybe Berserk to help them in CC? I don't think they will have MSV Lv1 like the Maverick does. It would be cool if they had something like Booty Lv1, it would fit their fluff. Speaking of fluff though, they might have Forward Deployment or Mechanized Deployment. That would be super rad.

My guess at their profile:
MOV 8-4,  CC 16, BS 11, PH 13, WIP 13, ARM 3, BTS 0, W 1, S 4, AVA 2/5*

As far as cost, probably between 18 - 28 Points.
My guess for cost seems to be too high, the USA booklet sample armies show Chain Rifle option is 11pts and 13pts for SMG.

* 2 for Ariadna, 5 for USARF sectorial.
I am also wrong about the AVA for Sectorial, USA book says they will be AVA 6!

I am skeptical of them having a Specialist Option, but almost everything in USAriadna does so they might have Forward Observer or Paramedic option.

6th Airborne Ranger - November Release Predictions

Soon we'll be able to buy the new blister of the 6th Airborne Ranger, which I think is great! Been waiting for these guys since USAriadna release. Corvus Belli hasn't release the rules yet so I want to take some guesses and see if I was right when the rules are released.

The blister comes with SMG and AP CCW, which I would assume will be more or less the standard weapons for the Airborne Rangers, plus a Rifle or Shotgun option. Considering the French Para-Commando, these guys will likely have Sniper Rifle option too. They might have a HMG option but I would guess Heavy/Light Flamethrower is more likely. As they have a CCW weapon, I think they will be more close up orientated.

In that regard, I think they will have Martial Art Lv1 or Lv2, plus Kinematica Lv1 and high CC. I'd say 19 like S.A.S. For the rest of the statline, I think it will be similar to Van Zant but lower.

My guess: MOV 4-4,  CC 19, BS 12, PH 13, WIP 13, ARM 1, BTS 0, W 1, S 2, AVA 2/4*

As far as cost, probably between 20 - 30 Points.

* 2 for Ariadna, 4 for USARF sectorial.

The most important I'd say will be if they have a Specialist option, which I am assuming they will have at least Forward Observer, and what Level of Airborne Deployment they will have. I think, well hope, they will have Level 2 Airborne Infiltration but Level 1 Parachutist might be more likely. It would make sense they could deploy with Van Zant wherever needed instead of deciding during Deployment.

Well, will see how much I guessed correctly soon enough! I am sure to get at least one when they are for sale.