Starting with the Shock Army of Acontecimento
The Acontecimento Shock Army or to give their proper title ‘Shock Army of Acontecimento’ are an interesting combination of a hard hitting, lightly armoured PanO sectorial.
The troops of Acontecimento are used to winning tactical superiority through sweat and hard work, and to fighting in the stifling thickness of jungles. This army is a specialized assault force, involved in extremely violent operations against enemy positions….
SAA are different to PanOceania – think PanO and you think high tech, +1BS, good armour, low WIP. The Shock Army on the other hand is relatively low tech, has less armour than comparable units but generally has the higher than normal PanO WIP of 13. And yes we still get +1BS!
Think of SAA as a large pile of bricks – you drop them on your opponent battering him. While he’s recovering in hospital you can run around and complete objectives. To this end, even in ITS missions SAA lists tend to err on the side of ‘Kill List’ as opposed to ‘Objective List’
Unit Overview:
Acontecimento Regulars – They are lightly armoured, WIP13 with access to a 0 SWC 10point Lt, a 1SWC BS13 Spitfire as well as a Light grenade launcher and sniper. There’s also a 1 SWC hacker (our only regular hacking device), a 0.5SWC Forward Observer and a unique minelayer/sensor combination. Quite different to fusiliers and most other line infantry.
Regulars make good order generators and in low points can make a formidable fireteam. The only 0SWC specialist is the paramedic. Just keep in mind that medic rolls at PHYS-3 is not really what you buy them for – it’s the WIP 13 specialist capable of completing objectives for the bargain cost of 12points.
Trauma Doc & Engineer – cheap, poor WIP guys. If you are going REM/TAG heavy engineer is good, also useful for ITS missions as he has D-charges too. The Doctor is a little trickier – you need to spend an order for at best a 60% chance of success (more if you burn an order token and heal HI) but she’s only 14 points and a specialist. WIP12 is generally better than PHYS-3 for medics though.
Akalis Sikh Commandos – Death from above! They got the HMG>Spitfire ‘nerf’ (it’s actually better due to the changes in HMG ranges combined with the flanking role), they have decent PHYS, access to boarding shotguns and fair armour. There is also the assault hacker option for a mere 28pts/0.5SWC. AD2 them in the side with a boarding shotgun and start hosing down cheer leaders, or walk a hacker in and isolate the big scary unit. These guys give you tactical options
Kirpal Singh – Our only Chain of command and this pumps up his cost. However with martial arts he does have stealth so he can do some AD2 shenanigans to creep around enemies. If Toni or a Linked Rao were your Lt then he could be worth taking for the redundancy that CoC provides.
Bagh-Mari – Our go-to medium infantry. The fist of SAA. Combi-rifles and light shotguns mean they are suited for closer ranged firefights by default – thankfully their mimetism keeps them alive (and more likely to win FtF rolls!) Access to a HMG, Hacker, Paramedic and Sniper means you can have a well rounded link-team.. As a bonus they have MSV1 which, in N3, knocks TO down to a -3 and ignores camo/mimetism completely! This does make them vulnerable to white-noise however – so keep that in mind.
If you are going for a full death-squad you want a full link team of these including a HMG at least. But wait! They are only AVA4! Why do you taunt us CB?!
Fortunately there is a solution: Lt Stephen Rao – (or ‘Angry Jesus’ as he’s known) is a better WIP Bagh-Mari. His name also includes Lt so that just confuses you opponent. But he is needed to make a 5 man Bagh-Mari link.
Knight of Montessa – AKA ‘Monty’ – you’ve likely got one from the starter box. He is expensive and not ‘special’. Options include multi-rifle, spitfire and combi/LGL with corresponding SWC costs. Stat-wise he is inferior to the Guarda De Assalto however this is largely due to his ‘mechanised deployment’ rule which allows him to start at the ½ way mark. He is an investment so you need to have a plan to use him to the best of his ability.
Guarda de Assalto – Was well known because it was a light HI in N2 (arm3 but 4/4 move) now most HI have 4-4 move. Despite this the GdA still has beautiful stats, a cube and 2 wounds. With decent armor and a pet robot the weapon choices perhaps aren’t as impactful as they are on baghs or Monty. He always has a heavy flame-thrower and options of a multi or spitfire.
His pet robot has shotgun and a smoke grenade launcher. This is our only source of smoke But at least we have some (unlike military orders!) I would go for spitfire to get maximum use out of BS15
Nagas – On loan from Aleph or representing the ‘John Rambo’ of SAA they are good – dogged, infiltrating, camo unit with high WIP. Options include: monomines (not as broken as before but can still ruin an enemy TAGs day), high wip assault hacker, sniper or boarding shotgun minelayer. Our only infiltrator (although we do have mech. Deployment) and our only monomines.
REMs
Pathfinder – You need one. You can only have one (AVA1 in SAA) but you need to take it. He’s a 17pt 6-4 specialist. 0 SWC cost and comes with the usual ‘sensorbot’ bells & whistles of FO, flashpulse, sensor, repeater etc.
Sierra – Total Reaction HMG. Same as most other factions. Useful if you have the points left over, but SAA is more aggressive and the Sierra is more defensive/area denial. If you are considering this strongly consider a Bulleteer with spitfire instead
Clipper – Cheap, high SWC and requires a FO of which only the AVA1 pathfinder costs SWC. If you want to rain missiles on people there are other factions which do it better.
Fugazi – 8 Point repeater and order. Considering we get regulars for 10pts and WIP13 specialists(paramedics) for 12 it’s not really that useful unless you have exactly 8pts left!
Mulebots – Cheap baggage bot. Can be useful for Domination (counts as being 28points of troops for scoring quardrants) The EVO won’t be as useful to us as other factions and a TR combi-rifle is not even worth considering!!
Bulleteer – Remember ‘B’ for ‘blurry’ – The bulleteer is an attack bot (BS12 + armour). It has ODD so is already more resilient than a sierra. I prefer a spitfire so that it can occupy cover and hold back without compromising on killing ability.
Peacemaker – Conversely to the bulleteer this is another killbot – instead of ODD it has mechanised deployment and an Auxbot. This Auxbot packs a heavy flamethrower and the peacemaker can take a heavy shotgun or spitfire. Unlike the bulleteer I prefer shotgun since you need to get close anyway for the flamethrower and you start closer thanks to mechanised deployment. Also a key part of the mech-alpha-strike
Palbots – technically a REM, helps your doctor or engineer be in 2 places at once!
TAGs (note: I’ve not actually played WITH them, though I have AGAINST them)
Dragoes – Not to be confused with ‘Draigo’ from 40k, this Dragon-Mech is weighty at 2.5 SWC but brings enough kill-factor to make it worth it. One of the few TAGs to retain a heavy flamethrower, he is scar because of his HRMC. The Hyper-Rapid Magnetic Cannon – if you opponent is not wary of this then they are in for a surprise! 5 shots, good ranging and very very nasty. Additionally in ARO just opt to use the DA version since you are at burst 1 anyway.
Tikbalang – Not as good as Toni-M so it is your 2nd tag (after Toni) if you plan to run a multi-tag list. Basically a ‘bad toni’
Toni Macayana – Tikbalang Character. She can climb. She’s mimetic. She’s small (S6). Annoying… for your opponent! Cheap, mobile, multiterrain TAG packing a HMG, Heavy Flamethrower and AP mines.
Keep in mind that unlike N2 you can’t half climb out of and back into total cover while shooting like you could in N2 AND claim the cover bonus. In N3 you forfeit the cover bonus while climbing though you are still -3 to be hit for mimetism. With all you get in this package she is cost effective. Now we just need to wait for the miniature!
Uses include dancing around at the back with a HMG or weaving your way into enemy lines with mines and a heavy flamethrower.
Starting out:
Out of the box you get a nice 120pt(ish) force – what most starters seem to clock in around. The box contains: 3 Regulars (LGL, 2x combi-rifle), Knight of Montessa, Bagh-Mhari, Akalis.
Acontecimento Regular – Combi Rifle
Acontecimento Regular – Combi Rifle
Acontecimento Regular – Combi Rifle + Light Grenade Launcher
Montesa Knight – Combi Rifle
Akalis Sikh Commando – Boarding Shotgun
Bagh Mari – Combi Rifle
122 point/1 SWC
All in all these are good. Regulars are good for order fillers if you end up running a Bagh-Mari Link.
So Starting out from this box here is a 200pt list, it is not designed for ITS/YAMS/20-20 , it’s just a budget version to ease you into the army:
The description of the last list and how to use it is a bit confusing. Which models are the specialists exactly? This is not indicated on their list.
Which mission are we playing? Supremacy?
There seem to be 11 troopers in your list. Which one has to go into a second group?
Fixed. 🙂
The second combat group is shown by the small ‘-‘ between the two lists of units. 🙂
Ahh… much better now. Thank you. Interesting list. I also like the combat example.
Yep, it’s a very thorough analyses. 🙂