Celestial Guard with combi (13, 0)
Zhanshi with combi (11, 0)
Keisotsu with combi (9, 2)
Zhanying: with HMG (30, 1); with breaker rifle and sensor (26, 0)
Sun Tze Marksman: with MULTI sniper (61, 1.5); with MULTI rifle (57, 0)
Sun Tze Heavy Infantry: with shotgun (60, 0); with MULTI rifle (65, 0)
Yan Huo: with Mag-cannon (53, 2), with MULTI HMG (54, 2)
Zuyong Invincible: with combi (27, 0), with HMG and automedkit (39, 1)
Guijia (88, 3)
Guilang (25, 2)
Tiger Soldier (27, 1)
Dao Fei: with spitfire (55, 1.5); with MULTI rifle (53, 0)
Hsien: with HMG (61, 2); with MULTI rifle + tinbot (60, 0); with MULTI rifle only (57, +1)
Crane: with MULTI rifle + sensor (52, 0); with Spitfire (54, 2)
Shang Ji Invincible (37, 0)
Some of these get ruled out straight away: Keisotsu and Guilang are too expensive in the SWC department. The tiger starts you in loss of lieutenant, the Yan Huo, Zuyong, Shang Ji and Crane are too expensive for attack pieces without MSV/Mimetism etc.
That leaves you with Sun Tze, the cheap Celestial Guard and Zhanshi, and the heavy hitters Dao Fei and Hsien. I tend to rule out MULTI rifles on units that cost more than 30 points or aren't in a link team because once you have spent that much on a delivery vehicle you want to pack some punch when you arrive. MULTI rifles also have trouble getting into range. The Dao Fei overcomes that with infiltrate, but I find that you really want 4 dice to weigh firefights in your favour in the middle of the board.
I don't know about Sun Tze. I love Saladin, but he is cheap access to Strategos lvl3. Sun Tze also comes with combat specs, but they are clumsy. He either has mimetism or an MSV1, which is cute but not enough to make him fearsome. Heavy armour only has BS12 and no way to get into range for his guns, plus he costs a fortune, so it's marksman all the way. Without MSV2 he can be smoked out, which makes him a pretty lame sniper, though he can cover an objective in a pinch, and many people don't use smoke tactics. Still, I think we can do better.
The Hsien is my typical choice because he is an outstanding smoke shooter, has solid WIP and doesn't die easily. That said, you really want to rambo with him and he can die, so it's nice to have a CG lieutenant for back-up.
The Dao Fei has similar limitations - you want to rambo. But he at least can camouflage and really choose his engagements. Granted, a smart opponent will quickly realise that there is no lieutenant visible in your list and assume you have a Dao Fei lurking underneath one of those camo markers. My Dao Fei does not die often, neither does my Hsien, but when they do, it's pretty devastating.
As such, I prefer the Zhanshi lieutenant. The +1 WIP doesn't make the CG worth it. If you are running a Dao Fei though, it doesn't hurt to make him the lieutenant, especially if you expect to be playing on three dimensional boards where he can hide on a roof and retreat to lick his wounds.
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