KILL OR BE KILLED - Beasthunters in RTF
In the Unit Focus series I take a look at the different units that
make up the Ramah Taskforce, and try to answer why, not if, you should
include them in your lists.
Disclaimer! At the time of writing of this article, there isn't a Corvus Belli released miniature for the Beasthunter, so I'm using the Hassassin Fiday model from the Haqqislam Action Pack as a stand in.
Big Game Hunting
The Beasthunter's profile is surprisingly well stocked for a model of such a low cost, which is to some extend explained by his/her Irregular status. At most times his killer's lack of formal military training shouldn't be a problem however, because there should always be something productive for them to do (more on that later!), even if you can't afford to spend a Command Token to turn their Order Regular!
While MOV 4-4 is pretty standard, having Terrain (Total) means that the Beasthunter can take advantage of the various movement vectors provided by the table, without having to have their options diminished by Difficult Terrain - this seasoned adventurer is poised to take advantage of both the Blizzard Zones and the Antarctic Terrain rule introduced by the ITS Season 13! The next skill on the menu, Super-Jump, should at most times be viewed as a passive ability that allows straight movement from point A to point B while the path is uncontested by the enemy, rather than as an actual combat skill. Then again, you should always keep a lookout for chances to surprise an unwary Opponent with a cheeky 2'' up and down Jump, or a diagonal leap up to a set of ladders for that sweet threat range increasing dose of trigonometry!
CC 21, Natural Born Warrior and CC Attack (+2 DMG) mean that even dedicated melee combatants don't want to duel the Beasthunter if they can avoid it, though on the other hand you rolling "just" a dice +1 when making melee attacks doesn't translate into reliable hits against even Line Troops either, and BS 11 is really nothing to write to home about when it comes to gunfighting. Stealth, Mimetism (-3) and PH 13 (for Dodges) provide some much needed survivability, as ARM and BTS 0, WIP 12 and Religious Troop will make sure that more often than not a Beasthunter engaged by a determined foe is a Beasthunter killed. AVA 1 means that only one of these over ambitious thrill seekers is available per list.
Everything considered the base profile of this Mercenary operative paints a picture of a competent fighter who should be able to hold their own under ideal circumstances, but who also has the durability of a wet paper bag once things go wrong! What truly elevates this model however, are his/her weapons and additional skill options!
Extravagant Weapons, a Crooked Smile, and a Gleam of Anticipation in the Eye
While a Ramah Taskforce commander looking to contract a Beasthunter has three different options to choose from, there are some common tools of the trade between all of them. First and foremost; all of them carry Heavy Flamethrowers! There are few things that send an uneasy feeling to the Opponent's gut as quickly as informing them that a DMG 14 Direct Template Weapon with Continuous Damage is heading towards their most valuable pieces! Such a threat can often force enemy units to Dodge (quite literally) for their lives, but unfortunately the Beasthunter's lackluster sidearm of a Pistol makes it hard to punish them for such a decision - especially when you're firing the secondary weapon with such a modest BS!
Lastly, these Hunters can utilize traps in the form of AP Mines! If you find yourself advancing the Beasthunter without a particular haste, you might as well drop some Mines while you're at it, and at times you might even be able to pull off the old sneak'n'peek attack! While the Armor Piercing trait of these munitions should give heavily armored enemies some pause when it comes to closing in on you, DMG 13 and the potential to cause only a single wound mean that you really shouldn't bank on these Deployables! And now on to the different options!
Minelayer, Panzerfaust, FTO - 9pts
9 points! 9! Freaking 9! This guy/gal really is a Warcor on (apparently rather cheap) steroids! Not only can this profile threaten a couple of Panzerfaust shots from an obnoxious position while imposing an extra -3 penalty on enemies without Multispectral Visors, they will also get to place a Mine on the field from the get go AND threaten over eager enemies with a Heavy Flamethrower! This Beasthunter option is really an excellent deterrent against aggressive Impersonators, so I'd give him/her a strong consideration if I was playing against foes such as Tohaa/Spiral Corps, Combined Army/Shasvastii or Hassassin Bahram/Haqqislam, or against Opponent's who like to make use of deadly Parachutists/Combat Jumpers! As solo operatives, their only downsides really are their Irregular training (it's harder to make use of an Irregular Order on an ARO piece stuck at your Deployment Zone), and the stiff competition they face from the next profile option!This Beasthunter profile also has the "FTO" (Fireteam Option) tag, which means that they can be fielded as a part of a Ramah Taskforce Fireteam along with units such as Ghulams, Khawarijs, Namurrs, Zhayedans and the like. While bringing a Burst 2 Panzerfaust, some decent close combat prowess and a Continous Damage weapon along with your squad can feel pretty strong, especially when the pricepoint is factored in, the Irregular status really hurts here - you have to expend a Command Token to turn the Order Regular every time if you want to use it, lest the Fireteam breaks apart... At the same, you do have access to most of the same tactical capabilities from domestic units (Ghulam for the Panzerfaust, Naffatûn for the Flamethrower and the supersoldiers for the melee threat), albeit at a steeper price. This, combined with the loss of the "Pure Fireteam" status and the inability to also include the Forward Deploying version if the FTO is chosen makes including this option quite difficult for me.
Surprise Attack (-3), Camouflage, Forward Deployment (+8''), Panzerfaust - 15pts
Remember all the preamble about RTF lacking an expendable yet dangerous midfield model? Well scratch that! For mere 15 points Ramah commanders can field a model with pseudo-Infiltration (or in the case of Missions with 16'' Deployment Zones, damn near Infiltration!) that not only packs some pretty dangerous weapondry, but one that also gets to leverage Camouflage to both augment their survivability, as well as their offensive power (when combined with the Surprise Attack (-3))! Just tuck this badass into a position that the enemy can't bypass on their way to attack you and - oh what's that? The enemy is peeking past the corner there? No ARO! They declare Discover and wish to Shoot after? Guess, what: Heavy Flamethrower time!
Surprise Attack (-3), Camouflage, Forward Deployment (+8''), Tactical Bow - 15pts
Oh man, I really want to make the Tactical Bow work! The idea of getting to move behind someone and then shoot them in the back without an ARO feels so cool... Until you remember that you're only shooting at BS 11 and threatening a single DMG 13 DA hit... When you could in fact be moving behind a target that's beyond 16'' and firing a BS 11 DMG 14 AP and EXP shot from your Panzerfaust! If only the Tactical Bow was Viral, but alas, better skip this option for now...
Dangerous If Not Deadly
The Beasthunter is quite a unique model in Ramah Taskforce. In a Sectorial that features plenty of expensive and deadly supersoldiers and cheap yet reliable Line Troops and Remotes, a unit that projects major threat but lacks any consistency in it's execution is an anomaly. Let me elaborate!
If the Beasthunters are so very unreliable, why should one be so keen to field them then? Well first of all, the opportunity cost is really low - 9 or 15 points (and 0 SWC!) to be exact! On the otherhand, if you deploy your Mercenary adventurer (especially the Camouflaged one) well, there shouldn't be a cost effective way of taking them out either! And what's worse still for the Opponent, there's always the possibility of a catastrophic failure against the Heavy Flamethrower/Panzerfaust/DA Close Combat Weapon to be considered when engaging this piece!
When running the Beasthunter it's usually not a good idea to have them spearhead an attack, unless there's either a clear opening to exploit, or no other expendable pieces are available for the job - otherwise you may end up using a bunch of Orders that will only result in the Mercenary's last paycheck being delived to the next of kin... Instead, you should try to make the enemy work overtime to get rid of this single cheap model! Ways you can do this include:
- Don't pick too ambitious ARO lines. The Beasthunter won't survive for long against the enemy's finest standing atop the tallest tower, but if you can force enemies to maneuver just to get a shot at you, and even then give yourself a chance to retreat with a passed Dodge roll/Religous Troop check, the enemy has spent valuable Orders for no guaranteed gains!
- Don't reveal from Camouflage unless you have to. A clever Opponent may attempt to tempt you into revealing the Beasthunter so that he/she can then be killed without (uncertain) Discover Rolls being involved! Your aim should most of the time be to get the enemy to above all else spend Orders - any kills the Beasthunter might be able to bag are just extra!
- Don't be afraid to Dodge instead of shooting. If you're reading this article, the chances are you're an RTF player and I don't need to tell you how effective high PH Dodges can be at saving your models and helping you maneuver them around the battlefield! If you can leverage Cover and Mimetism, few enemies will be able to engineer a reliable kill on a Dodging Beasthunter in most tactical scenarios!
- Consider placing an AP Mine. Sometimes the best thing to do is just to drop a Mine (whether this be on the active or the reactive turn). At times the Opponent may even give a Beasthunter that has spent their Panzerfausts a free long range ARO because they're thinking your only options are to either Dodge or to fire the Pistol, so you can punish their hybris by placing a troublesome Mine instead!
- Don't make a melee attack, unless you really have to. CC 21 will not reliably win you a sword fight, even against the most humble of enemies! If you do end up losing, there's a high chance of your Beasthunter either going down or getting Immolized by a Para CCW - better let the Opponent spend the Order and bear the risk of losing the fight on their turn!
If you do end up going on the offensive with your Beasthunter, it pays to play to the model's strengths - just don't bank on the attack going your way! Enemies should be hesitant to roll Discovers against you (unless they get several AROs at once), lest they get hit by the Heavy Flamethrower or the Panzerfaust. Stealth should help you maneuver for the optimal attack position against most foes, and Surprise Attack (on the Forward Deploying profiles) will make your initial attack harder to avoid no matter the weapon you choose to employ (don't forget the Pistol as an option here)! Once your attack has (hopefully) achieved it's aims, you should find a good hiding spot and force the Opponent to worry about the Beasthunter, rather than you suiciding the Mercenary in a desperate attack and thus easing the pressure on your opposition!
As a last note, a few words on RTF's Camouflage game. I wouldn't put too much stock in trying to convince the opposing player that your Forward Deploying Beasthunter is a Shock Mine deployed by the Tuareg Minelayer. It seems that the rules are moving in a direction that will render such shell games useless, and a capable Opponent will take note of the fact that the "Mine" is placed suspiciously 4'' away from the midline... So if I have the choice of setting up my Camouflaged Beasthunter Prone in order to make them harder to deal with, or leaving them standing and hoping that this confuses the enemy, I'll surely choose the former!
Click the Link Below to Contract a Member of the Beasthunters Free Guild!
Beasthunters are a fantastic addition to Ramah Taskforce! They are at the same time yet another unit that can fluidly pivot between various tactical approaches, and on the other hand a rare cheap midfield operative choice in a Faction where points are the premium currency. So far I've been having quite a blast (literally!) fielding these adreline junkies in my lists, even if few of the individuals involved actually get an encore performance with the squad... Well, I suspect when one decides to make a career out of hunting Megabeasts, one doesn't bother to invest in a retirement fund!
Until the next time - I wish you the very best in leading the Swift and Deadly Spear of the Haqqislamite Army to Victory!
21/4/2022 Edit. Updated the article to the post N4 Fireteam Update era.
Comments
Post a Comment