300pt Vanilla PanO Beginner Army and General Questions

[MDG3ist]

Hi all,

My two friends and I are absolute beginners and still trying to get to grips with all the rules, but feel the best way to learn is to dive in and do it, so I would massively appreciate a critique of the army below, and any thoughts you have on the questions underneath it.

The army is intended to be a low cost (in terms of models), straightforward, general purpose set that I can basically use to learn all the ins and outs of the rules, but will still give me a decently flexible force.

Vanilla PanO Starter Army (6/300)

JOAN OF ARC Lieutenant MULTI Rifle, Nanopulser, Pistol AP/CCW (+1/49)
KNIGHT HOSPITALLER Doctor (Medkit) MULTI Rifle (0/41)
SWISS GUARD Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) MULTI Rifle (0.5/70)
NISSE MULTI Sniper Rifle (1.5/34)
2x AUXILIA (Forward Observer with AUXBOT) (0/15)
2x BAGH-MARI HMG, (1.5/26)
FUSILIER Combi Rifle + Light Grenade Launcher (1/14)
FUSILIER Combi Rifle (0/10)

As well as general comments on the above, any advice on the following would be greatly appreciated:

How bad is it to have Joan as your obvious lieutenant? Am I better off using her as a decoy lieutenant and using the last fusilier as my hidden lieutenant?

In practical gameplay, would you rate the Hexa with MSR as better or worse than the Nisse, or are they roughly equal?

How useful is the doctor option for the knight hospitaller really, with a WIP of 13? Are those few points better spent on a vanilla hospitaller and a second fusilier with grenade launcher? Do you need two grenade launching fusiliers when you can just funnel orders into one? Is the forward observer/grenade launcher combo effective at all? (okay that's 4 questions in one sorry)

Am I limiting myself too much by only having 10 orders and/or no link team? Is it worth going full Neoterran for a Fusilier Link Team (or is this question a whole separate topic in itself?)

Sorry if I'm asking really stupid questions, and thanks again for any and all advice!!

[ARCangel]

Vanilla PanO Starter Army (6/300)

JOAN OF ARC Lieutenant MULTI Rifle, Nanopulser, Pistol AP/CCW (+1/49)
KNIGHT HOSPITALLER Doctor (Medkit) MULTI Rifle (0/41)
SWISS GUARD Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) MULTI Rifle (0.5/70)
NISSE MULTI Sniper Rifle (1.5/34)
2x AUXILIA (Forward Observer with AUXBOT) (0/15)
2x BAGH-MARI HMG, (1.5/26)
FUSILIER Combi Rifle + Light Grenade Launcher (1/14)
FUSILIER Combi Rifle (0/10)

For starters I think you'd be fine with one Bagh Mari with the HMG. You're also bringing a lot of high price units, and not very many cheerleaders (Low cost units that generate orders). Finally, at least one Sikh or Crusader Brethren would go a long way for flexibility. Joan as an LT is a double edged sword, as a beginner you might be better off not making her your obvious LT choice; especially because it lets you play a bit of a shell game. I don't see the point of a Swiss Guard hacker, I know they have higher WIP than most other models in our faction, but I prefer the Kamau or the Father Knight for carrying a Hacking Device of any kind. Stick with him with the Multi, though. To answer your question about the Hexas, I like the Hexas, some people do some people don't, but MSV2 (Multi-Spectral Visor: let's the unit see through dense terrain and makes them better at detecting camouflaged units) on the Nisse makes it the better choice for your sniper. You're not too limited on orders, but as I said above, maybe drop the Bagh Mari and grab another Fusilier or two, and it never hurts to have a doctor on board. I would advise against going full NeoTerra. I personally think a lot of the flavor of the faction is lost in Sectorials and they can be confusing for new players; especially with HSN3 coming out very soon. That's just my opinion, though, so take it with a grain of salt. Welcome to the game, and I hope this helps!

[MDG3ist]

Hi there thanks so much this is great advice and helps massively! I really like the idea of having Joan as a decoy lieutenant and one of the fusiliers at the back running the show, glad the doctor won't be completely useless and also glad the Nisse is a good choice for sniper (plus I have her model already, bonus!). I had bad experiences with assault jumping going anywhere but where I wanted when we played through Operation Ice Storm so it probably biased me unfairly against them, I will give that another look, the Bagh Mari with a visor and HMG for (1.5/23) is in my noob opinion an absolute bargain, but you're absolutely right about my swiss army knife of a hacker/armour/Camo Swiss Guard being the real point sink, at a whopping (.5/70) he's approaching TAG cost levels and is also my single point of failure if he goes down. I could easily drop him for a few more fusiliers, including one with a hacking device, and have enough to create two combat groups with 5-6 models in each.

Hear what you're saying about sectorials, just a shame vanilla PanO doesn't allow a link team, then again I'm still hazy as to why they're so awesome so it's probably not a huge regret at the moment!

Thanks again, really appreciate the tips!

[ARCangel]

Hi there thanks so much this is great advice and helps massively! I really like the idea of having Joan as a decoy lieutenant and one of the fusiliers at the back running the show, glad the doctor won't be completely useless and also glad the Nisse is a good choice for sniper (plus I have her model already, bonus!). I had bad experiences with assault jumping going anywhere but where I wanted when we played through Operation Ice Storm so it probably biased me unfairly against them, I will give that another look, the Bagh Mari with a visor and HMG for (1.5/23) is in my noob opinion an absolute bargain, but you're absolutely right about my swiss army knife of a hacker/armour/Camo Swiss Guard being the real point sink, at a whopping (.5/70) he's approaching TAG cost levels and is also my single point of failure if he goes down. I could easily drop him for a few more fusiliers, including one with a hacking device, and have enough to create two combat groups with 5-6 models in each.

Hear what you're saying about sectorials, just a shame vanilla PanO doesn't allow a link team, then again I'm still hazy as to why they're so awesome so it's probably not a huge regret at the moment!

Thanks again, really appreciate the tips!

Well the Link Teams are a matter of order efficiency but I don't like the trade-off, personally at least. That's weird about Combat Jump going so poorly for you; I've never had my Sikh scatter. Something that can help is a GADGET-1 program called Controlled Jump, it gives a +3 to the PH roll of the jumper, so if you want to give them another try I'd suggest taking someone with a regular hacking device so they can use that to help stick the landing. The Bagh-Mari is not a noobish opinion at all, they're a great package even if some people call them the "poor man's Nisse," I can't wait for the new sculpts that should hopefully be coming out this year, I just don't think you need 2. I don't know if I'd actually drop the Swiss Guard totally, so much as I'd make him just a Multi-Rifle no hacking device. He's a great "gotcha!" model because of the hidden deploy his TO: Camo grants him. If you need any other pointers feel free to throw a PM my way; though I'm hardly an expert, I've only been playing for a few months.

[MDG3ist]

That's brilliant, thanks again, really appreciate all your help, you can read the rulebook as much as you like but nothing beats practical first-hand experience from existing players!