Thursday, June 21, 2018

Onyx lists

Onyx has to be one of the best factions right now. They have average matchups against the other top factions (Marut with TO snipers is especially bad), but there is so much raw power in the faction. They were good before, but with Kernau they've improved dramatically.


Kernau gives you:
  • A good secondary attack piece in the Rodok link after the HMG dies thanks to his plasma rifle
  • A secondary specialist in the link team (had that before but KHD > specialist operative)
  • Some situationally amazing hacking shenanigans thanks to his pitcher firing on 15s with b2 in the link team. For example, fire it into a bunkered deployment on turn 1 and possess your opponent's TAG with your Nexus. Fire it into range of a Druze link and tear it apart with your KHD. 
  • The ability to hide your squishy nexus lieutenant in the backfield surrounded by REM bodyguards. He can now spend his lieutenant order without breaking the link to boot. 
  • A KHD on WIP 14!
  • WHITE NOISE!!!! Onyx's biggest weakness in the past was MSV2 defensive pieces. Besides Riot Grrls with sixth sense from a link team, these guys are now a breeze for your Q-drone. 
Take a look at this default list:

 Onyx Rodoks TAC
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GROUP 1 (10)
 NEXUS Lieutenant Hacker (EI Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Nullifier / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 24)
 NOCTIFER Missile Launcher / Assault Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 32)
 KERR-NAU (UPGRADE: White Noise) Plasma Rifle + Pitcher, D-Charges / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 27)
 RODOK Missile Launcher, Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 28)
 RODOK HMG / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 27)
 RODOK Paramedic (MediKit) Boarding Shotgun, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 21)
 RODOK Boarding Shotgun, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 19)
 M-DRONE Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 17)
 ÍMETRON . (0 | 4)
 ÍMETRON . (0 | 4)

GROUP 2 (6)
 Q-DRONE HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 26)
 MED-TECH OBSIDON MEDCHANOID Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 23)
 SLAVE DRONE Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
 SLAVE DRONE Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
 R-DRONE Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
 UNIDRON (Forward Observer) Plasma Carbine / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 15)
 IKADRON (Baggage, Repeater) 2 Light Flamethrowers, Flash Pulse / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 9)
 IKADRON (Baggage, Repeater) 2 Light Flamethrowers, Flash Pulse / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 9)

 6 SWC | 299 Points

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This is an amazing list! It's got:
  • One of the only good MI link teams in the game in the Rodoks who combine great offence in the HMG with great defence in the ML. The Rodoks also help you a bit in loss of lieutenant because they are Morats. Super jump is situationally awesome. Be wary of moving these guys into the midfield - they tend to die easily, even with shotguns (warband templates etc.) but with mines they can fortify a button as they go down. Onyx's weakness remains a difficulty getting forward with anything other than the Sphinx. 
  • The best TO sniper trap in the game in the Rodok ML + Noctifer, or the Q-drone + Noctifer. Both of the bait pieces are hard to beat in a face to face and the noctifer ensures whatever comes to get you dies after their first salvo. 
  • Amazing defence with 3 excellent ARO pieces (noctifer, rodok ML and Q-drone), Great drop zone guards (Ikadrons, Unidron, other REMs) and a hacking web.
  • Loads of orders = 16 in total despite running a full link team. This allows you to comfortably power the Q-drone on turn 1 to kill ARO pieces and then push the M-drone with supportware forward to press all the buttons or try for a weak alpha strike to kill cheerleaders. 
  • The Q-drone is a crit-proof attack piece for clearing snipers - just what the doc worm ordered.
  • A lieutenant who can use the order well (for supportware on the Q-drone or hacking through Kernau's pitchers). He's a bit squishy, but the REMs can guard him from all but the most effective assassination runs. 
  • Plenty of specialists: sensor bot, 2 in the link, unidron and nexus for backfield, doc worm for last turn dashes. Doc worm also has 2 bots so he can easily reach your Q-drone, link, noctifer and any REMs who need revival with no trouble. I'd rather squeeze another order in their but I can't quite afford an extra unidron and all the other cheap stuff is already accounted for. 
  • You have every type of specialist for highly classified and none of them are redundant. 
  • You've got baggage for ground control missions
You only have two real shortcomings as far as I can see: lack of alpha strike potential (though the M-drone isn't terrible with supportware) and no MSV. The former is a problem for Onyx, but at least you can have an effective turn 1 killing ARO pieces, pressing buttons and maybe charging with the M-drone or firing pitchers/laying mines with the link. I often consider swapping the plasma rifle Q-drone in but you need the HMG to take out things that the Rodoks can be critted by like Gao Rael snipers. Another risky option is to put Kernau into cybermask (or don't if the Q-drone killed all the ARO pieces) and run him forward to burn people with his plasma template. Depending on the matchup, this could work. Basically you just want to go second. Then you can clear things from the midfield rather than having to approach a turtling opponent. 

The second list depends a bit on the mission mix and the meta. If rescue is in there I think you basically have to take a Sphinx. It's the only fast, multiterrain unit that Onyx have access to besides maybe the Malignos, but the infiltrator sucks (too expensive). Fortunately, the Sphinx is a rarely seen but actually very good unit, so chances are your opponent won't know how to play against it. You can also fit 2 noctifers.

Otherwise I think you want to build something specifically to take out link teams with a bias towards Tohaa because Tohaa are perhaps the worst matchup for Onyx (other than the Marut). What you want to do here is exploit the synergy between Kernau's pitchers and the E-drones exile program, which breaks link teams and isolates the target (which Tohaa tend to have a hard time repairing because they rarely have engineers). Rodoks aren't so useful because shock and viral both wipe them out, so I'm thinking maybe take unidrons instead:

 VS. Tohaa
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
GROUP 1 (10) 
 UNIDRON Plasma Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (1.5 | 24)
 UNIDRON Spitfire / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (1 | 18)
 UNIDRON (Forward Observer) Plasma Carbine / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 15)
 UNIDRON (Forward Observer) Plasma Carbine / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 15)
 KERR-NAU (UPGRADE: White Noise) Plasma Rifle + Pitcher, D-Charges / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 27)
 UNIDRON Plasma Carbine / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 14)
 ÍMETRON . (0 | 4)
 ÍMETRON . (0 | 4)
 M-DRONE Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 17)
 NEXUS Lieutenant Hacker (EI Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Nullifier / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 24)

GROUP 2 (7)
 MED-TECH OBSIDON MEDCHANOID Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 23)
 E-DRONE Combi Rifle / Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 28)
 SLAVE DRONE Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
 IKADRON (Baggage, Repeater) 2 Light Flamethrowers, Flash Pulse / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 9)
 IKADRON (Baggage, Repeater) 2 Light Flamethrowers, Flash Pulse / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 9)
 NOCTIFER Missile Launcher / Assault Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 32)
 Q-DRONE HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 26)
 R-DRONE Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)

 6 SWC | 300 Points

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  • The plasma sniper unidron is fine for the sniper trap with the noctifer and can also alpha strike quite effectively with 4-4 MOV and a B3 plasma template swinging round a corner on the flank. Get marksmanship on a unidron in a 5-man link and suddenly they are actually fierce. Kernau complements this alpha strike with his close-range plasma. 
  • The E-drone brings exile. If you spend the first turn killing snipers with the Q-drone and then pushing the unidron link forward you should have repeaters in the thick of your opponent's territory ready to break any link teams that come past. Once triads are broken they are easy to destroy and Tohaa's 14 orders don't look so deep either. Alternatively you can just fire pitchers into hacking range of your opponent's links and then spend turn 1 popping them. 
  • This list would also be effective against Steel Phalanx provided you go first. You can kill Atalanta with the Q-drone and white noise and then use repeaters to permanently break their links (note that Tohaa and Phalanx can only form 3 and 4 man links respectively, so once someone is isolated it is basically impossible to put them back together again). That's basically game over for Phalanx as it relies on the link bonuses. If you go second I'm not sure you have enough to stop the alpha strike, but it will be close. Pheonix has good face to face against your snipers. You can slow hector down with repeaters but not if they aren't using Hector. Be mindful that you have no MSV, so even an isolated Pheonix will still be a pain to take down, especially without the 5-man link bonus.
  • Note that you have spare unidrons so you can reform the link. 

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