Playtesting jank shit

Now that CanCon is over we're going deep into the praxis labs to test weird shit that might work as part of some unexpected second- or even third-order strategy. My mate actually discovered a very powerful way to play Tohaa using this method. He started by trying to build a list with highest wound count possible, using things like Rasails, preceptors (super cheap 2 wound model) and lots of cheap Sakiel paramedics. We discovered a couple of things. First, double makaul + sakiel paramedic triads are fierce. They score well and the Makaul eat anything in close combat. The best your opponent can do is put a useless wound on the Sakiel. Tohaa melee was born. Second, guerilla warfare with heaps of cheap direct template weapons on cheap units is a very effective counter to most alpha strikes, especially if the templates are flamers. Trading with things like Chaksas works especially well in a ~31 wound list. These were golden insights that are now informing all sorts of weird shit that actually seems to work. Below are other things we intend to try:

• Ikari with all the smoke and all the melee. We are having a fun little tourney in early March where I am going to run this. Max AVA desperadoes and yuan yuans, a harris of two samurai and a doctor, yojimbo, ninja, krakot etc. You reduce defensive guns but make up for it with a libertos minelayer and Yojimbos crazy koalas. The list I am running is ridiculous, but you could tone it back and make it much more serious. The main things we are looking at is Yojimbo with proper smoke support (something he can't get in JSA), the samurai harris (similar effectiveness to the Makaul link (more wounds, less smoke), and lots of bikes. I crushed a bunch of new players with this list in a small tournament just before CanCon, but I want to try it against better players. It's hella fun to play, but also difficult. Chaining smoke templates with B1 bikes so that you can stab people is not a straightforward exercise. 

Something like this (would be great to get a TR bot + engineer in there but no points):

BANZAI!!!!1

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GROUP 1

 TANKŌ Missile Launcher / Pistol, Monofilament CC Weapon, Shock CC Weapon. (1.5 | 32)

 KEISOTSU HMG / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 17)

 KEISOTSU Paramedic (MediKit) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 11)

 KEISOTSU (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10)

 BRAWLER Lieutenant Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 16)

 TANKŌ Flammenspeer, Contender / Pistol, Monofilament CC Weapon, Shock CC Weapon. (0 | 23)

 TANKŌ (Fireteam: Haris) Blitzen, Light Shotgun / Pistol, Monofilament CC Weapon, Shock CC Weapon. (0.5 | 24)

 BRAWLER Doctor (MediKit) Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 20)

 YOJIMBO Contender, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades, CrazyKoalas (2) / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 21)

 RUI SHI Spitfire / Electric Pulse. (1.5 | 20)

GROUP 2

 LIBERTO (Minelayer) Light Shotgun, Chain-colt, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 10)

 DESPERADO Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / 2 Assault Pistols, CC Weapon. (0 | 13)

 DESPERADO Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / 2 Assault Pistols, CC Weapon. (0 | 13)

 YUAN YUAN Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, Shock CCW. (0 | 8)

 YUAN YUAN Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, Shock CCW. (0 | 8)

 YUAN YUAN Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, Shock CCW. (0 | 8)

 FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)

 KEISOTSU Hacker (Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 17)

 KEISOTSU (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10)

 PANGGULING (Minesweeper, Repeater) Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)

GROUP 3

 WARCOR (Aerocam) Flash Pulse / Stun Pistol, Knife. (0 | 3)

 6 SWC | 300 Points

[url=http://army.infinitythegame.com/index.html?l=JwBgLAPgzCIQQgQwHYC9EEsIHYCkBGEAJiNymwFYA2XAQnwOLDO2xDocKOfO2fsbcW2KHVJcG5CqVp4upKRTpziCygA4xgyZXb1NhMJPVRNtIp3A91YJQAEYBIidxhKwDpajX8/fF58/cRAoJVN8PHpg0LJ1CI5osLjIohpDD1MKBgEuHlYZSyFeUXMDECzYilE7Ig9CaUq8OyA=]Open in Infinity Army

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• A Morat list with two Rasyats for eclipse, the Gaki link for more smoke, and a bunch of Daturazi for MOAR smoke! An E-drone because it's a decent specialist that brings assisted jump and supportware for a Q-drone. Sprinkle with orders and maybe a Sogarat Fueuerbach. The list mostly stabs you through smoke, but nobody expects that second Rasyat. 

Something like this:

 The Munchies

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GROUP 1

 KRAKOT RENEGADE Submachine Gun, Chest Mine / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 15)

 KRAKOT RENEGADE Submachine Gun, Chest Mine / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 15)

 MORAT Lieutenant Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 14)

 E-DRONE Combi Rifle / Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 28)

 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)

 RASYAT Spitfire, Eclipse Grenades / Pistol, DA CCW. (1.5 | 34)

 MED-TECH OBSIDON MEDCHANOID Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 23)

 SLAVE DRONE Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)

 Q-DRONE HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 26)

GROUP 2

 DĀTURAZI Chain Rifle, Grenades, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 14)

 DĀTURAZI Chain Rifle, Grenades, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 14)

 DĀTURAZI Chain Rifle, Grenades, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 14)

 RASYAT Boarding Shotgun, D-Charges, Eclipse Grenades / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 28)

 R-DRONE Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)

 PRETA Chain Rifle / AP CCW. (0 | 7)

 PRETA Chain Rifle / AP CCW. (0 | 7)

 PRETA Chain Rifle / AP CCW. (0 | 7)

 PRETA Chain Rifle / AP CCW. (0 | 7)

 OZNAT Combi Rifle + Light Smoke Grenade Launcher / Pistol, Shock CCW. (0 | 18)

 4 SWC | 300 Points

[url=http://army.infinitythegame.com/index.html?l=GwBgTAPgzCIQKgCwKYAICyBXAdgY0QJbIDOEYArAKQDswYlY1AjACyUCEFNdDzb7TSuSgAOSkwCcYYBzBtqLehS6dB5cmMkj+YNRvETtHKuUUGWMgSfL1J1arJBDyDrVA5MH6tnYmUAAkxqLJoSzB7BoeECkQbRJmaSLPySzjJa9AJs6oJ2lqzOuWH52eRFtB6l5fn0pn52bP7+QA===]Open in Infinity Army

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• Yu Jing guerilla warfare. I think this might be a top tier list provided the terrain is reasonably dense. You start with all the cheap templates - 4 kuang shi, 4 shaolin, 2 krakots, libertos. You don't really bother with any other board control except maybe guilang minelayer to complement the libertos. You then have a Rui Shi and a Mowang as your main attack pieces, though a Dao Fei could also serve (and be the lieutenant). A lieutenant2 Daoying gives you hacking and a hard to kill lieutenant (camo, shotgun and no need to move forward). Maybe throw in a TR bot as well to kill MS2 snipers since you already have the hacker and don't need it for overwatch duties (so it might actually survive into late game). You still need specialists after that, but the new Zensha FO with climbing and SMG is excellent for this, and an engineer. The basic idea is to use the templates as traders who stymie attack runs 

Something like this:

 The Art of (Guerilla) War

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GROUP 1

 CELESTIAL GUARD (Kuang Shi Control Device) Combi Rifle + Light Smoke Grenade Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 13)

 KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)

 KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)

 KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)

 KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)

 LIBERTO (Minelayer) Light Shotgun, Chain-colt, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 10)

 CHAĪYÌ Yaókòng Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)

 RUI SHI Spitfire / Electric Pulse. (1 | 20)

 KRAKOT RENEGADE Submachine Gun, Chest Mine / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 15)

 KRAKOT RENEGADE Submachine Gun, Chest Mine / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 15)

GROUP 2

 DĀOYĪNG Lieutenant L2 Hacker (Hacking Device) Boarding Shotgun / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 29)

 MÓWÁNG (NCO) Red Fury, Akrylat-Kanone / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (1 | 52)

 HÙSÒNG Yaókòng HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 25)

 ZHĒNCHÁ (Forward Observer) Submachine Gun, D.E.P., Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 34)

 SHAOLIN Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, Shock CCW. (0 | 5)

 SHAOLIN Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, Shock CCW. (0 | 5)

 SHAOLIN Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, Shock CCW. (0 | 5)

 SHAOLIN Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, Shock CCW. (0 | 5)

 LÙ DUĀN Mk12, Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (0 | 21)

 MECH-ENGINEER Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15)

 YÁOZĂO Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)

 5 SWC | 300 Points

[url=http://army.infinitythegame.com/index.html?l=EwBgjAPgzCIQKgCwKYAICCAnALqg9gGaoAUA4gK7KYCWANrQIYCUqA6g5hMMAKRgAsAVh6CwAdh4BCYFD78AbCNBSZcxYOXTZA9ZtU6lIKWLB9gYxfzH9ZksAE45vfvYAcUqIrCDHg+UclRHjFBCWB5e34pIJCwiKiAAXkosGAhHgUwd0l5CVTBKIVXYTs8/iMXRRzHfMcrECi7bU8M+wCwZss2qQ6+Fpd2ztaAqDz/EXlTO2EO9xdGqHcwSYneBISgA]Open in Infinity Army

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• Jankier Yu Jing stuff: we want to try the Hulang shock trooper supported by a Kanren - you can deploy as 4 Hulang initially, then on your active turn the shock trooper can bomb forward under smoke to stab stuff. Obviously going to try the HI AD explosion guy, but I doubt it will be any good. 
• Ariadna camo spam. This is my primary list at the moment and it is savage good though maybe only tier 1.5 because tough link teams, which are common, are quite tough for it to crack. I won't post my playtesting with it until I stop playing it because it relies a lot on opponents not knowing what to expect. I am experimenting a lot with vanilla lists at the moment because most people see vanilla as a handicap.
• STARCo Brigada link. This thing is broken, it's just hard to get the rest of the list to work, especially as there isn't enough space for a riot grrl spitfire and you lack cheap chain rifles, so the list really struggles against TO camo and ODD.  
• All the REMs in Combined Army all together all the time, with lots of guided (I think this list is shit but there is at least one good player who swears by it). 
• OSS Dakini bomb (an alpha strike with a 5-man link that drops into suppression so that a 3-man harris with a sniper can form up back home). 
• Maybe Varuna because it is in my playstyle (i.e. tarpit, lame, finesse) but given that CanCon was won by Varuna this year I am reluctant to get on the bandwagon. 
• Tohaa with all the camo
• OSS with all the camo (really want to see Dart in action)
• Shock army built around Dart.