fusilier fireteams in the Svalarheima Winter Force
Fusilier Core Fireteams allow a solid firebase of long range firepower to be built and established in our Deployment Zones. They offer the opportunity to add protection to a Fusilier Lieutenant, and they provide an order battery which is more resilient than most others due to the inherent ability of Core Fireteams to protect themselves from offensive units.
Fusilier Core Fireteams are, generally speaking, relatively poor options for projecting firepower up the table. They do not, by default, offer much in the way of effective medium range firepower and little more than Combi Rifles for close in combat work. Furthermore the inherent vulnerability of one Wound line infantry means that they will seldom be the best choice for advancing to engage the enemy.With that in mind, let us consider the basic options which we have available to us in the Fusiliers:
Fusiliers present us with a range of the most common and basic Line Infantry choices. A basic HMG, LGL, Missile Launcher, MULTI Sniper, Hacker, and Paramedic are all present. There is no SWC charge on the Lieutenant option, which is nice, and the Forward Observer does provide Deployable Repeaters for just a touch of "spice".The basic Combi profile is useful here largely due to the low cost and ability to mask the presence of a Lieutenant. Given the Fusilier Lieutenant is close to ubiquitous (where available) due to a lack of competition (and Chain of Command to enable more offensive options) these are always going to be popular and effective. Don't underestimate a Core Linked Combi Rifle in Fusilier hands however, Burst 4 at BS 15 is nothing to sniff at and can do a lot of work in close when you really need it to.
Both the Forward Observer (thanks to the option to Flash Pulse in ARO as an alternative to the Combi Rifle, as well as Specialist status) and the Light Grenade Launcher are bringing very useful options which you can't pull in from anywhere else in Svalarheima. Having at least one Specialist in your Core can be a useful backup for clutch moments, and there are some targets on some tables which make an LGL nearly compulsory for competitive ITS play.
Of more middling utility, the Hacker and Paramedic remain somewhat viable choices. The Hacker is the cheapest way to authorise Remotes, and regular Hacking Devices are useful for their Supportware. However the presence of a Hacker does open another channel to hit the Fireteam, 'though Sixth Sense on a Hacker does make Stealth capable Hackable opponents sad. The Paramedic simply lacks by comparison to the much better, and equally costed, Forward Observer 'though Scenario bonuses may make them worthwhile.
In Svalarheima it's difficult to justify the SWC on a HMG, Missile Launcher or MULTI Sniper Rifle in the hands of a regular Fusilier. This is not to say that these can't be solid choices, with the Fireteam Core bonuses they can be made into a significant threat, but thanks to the ability to drop in an ORC or a Knight of Justice, there are usually going to be better ways to bring that long range firepower to bear for Svalarheima.
Let's turn next to the first of those "Special Fireteam" options, and look at what we can bring to our Fusilier Fireteam by including one or two ORCs:
Strong options for consideration up front are the HMG, Feuerbach, Boarding Shotgun and TinBot options. The HMG brings the kind of raw long range firepower which you expect from PanOceania, with a Burst 5 BS 17 HMG being truly hard to argue with. The Feuerbach, in a Core Fireteam, becomes both a strong ARO presence and a solid active turn offensive option, serving a role similar to a "heavy Sniper Rifle". Likewise the Boarding Shotgun can hit BS 23 in its range sweet spot (and at those ranges can often deny cover to actually fully benefit from that number) and offers capabilities which a Fusilier Fireteam would otherwise not bring. Lastly the TinBots allow for extra protection to Core Fireteam linked Hacking, which with the Repeater network a PanOceanian force can establish with their Remotes can offer an unexpected an intriguing avenue of attack.
The Hacker will generally be a poor choice for most list builds, but it does offer an interesting option if you are also including a Fusilier Hacker and a TinBot ORC. Most opponents won't expect solid Hacking capability from PanOceania and a Fireteam build like that will be more than a surprise. It might even occasionally be worthwhile. The Multi Lieutenant is, at least, a tough Lt choice for Scenarios where your opponent has an incentive to go after him and may be an ok choice there. Such missions are common enough that it elevates this option (even if, again, it competes with the Knight of Justice in that role).
Of more questionable utility are the other Multi Rifle options, which end up simply being very expensive for their capabilities, the HMG Lieutenant and the Svalarheima ORC options. The Multi Rifles either offer a far more expensive version of something you can already do (the TinBot option) or otherwise simply overlap too heavily on a range band the Fusiliers already cover. The HMG Lieutenant would be excellent, IF there was Chain of Command available in Sectorial, but without that backup it's worse than worthless. But the Svalarheima ORC options suffer simply from being too dissimilar to Fusiliers and wanting to put themselves in table positions where Fusiliers simply won't want to be.
We simply won't discuss the Combi Rifle profile. If we all ignore it then it's the same thing as it not existing, which would be for the best.
These two profiles are frustrating, because they are so close to being something truly interesting and special, yet fall just short on several levels. They are ALMOST good enough to be a viable CC option to lift a Fusilier Fireteam in that regard, and they do bring a Doctor into the Fireteam, but only one with few units tough enough to likely survive the first exchange to be brought back up.
In terms of their CC capability, their raw CC skill is fine, IF they had some level of Martial Arts to back it up. But without that they are simply never going to be effective enough with that Monofilament CCW to justify getting into CC in the first place.
Their lack of mobility is less of an issue in the kind of static Fireteam which Fusiliers usually represent, but given the lack of Shock Immunity most members of a Fusilier Fireteam offer it's unlikely that they will often be using their skills on the team they have joined.
Of the two options the Boarding Shotgun is by far the most interesting for Fireteam inclusion, and as the cheapest Boarding Shotgun option, and given they ARE a Doctor, and they DO offer solid (if not great) CC capability that option may be justifiable for some more aggressive Fusilier builds. If you are going up field then that package may pay for it'self.
May.
The one and only "Counts as a Fusilier" in the Svalarheima Winter Force is on loan from the crew of the Defiance. Or (given how the timeline works in practice) actually most likely will be leaving us to join the crew of the Defiance at some point in the future:
Agnes offers an interesting range of gear and is certainly worth including in your Svalarheima Winter Force lists, but may not be worth dropping into a Fusilier Fireteam despite that. The key feature which makes me reluctant to bring her into the Fireteam is Sixth Sense. Sixth Sense on a unit with both a BS weapon and a Direct Template weapon (as Agnes brings) is a VERY effective Deployment Zone defensive tool. As Svalarheima is not rich with Mines, or other Deployable defensive tools, (certainly not in the field for that essential First Turn) having Agnes on the table to hold down your other flank opposite your Fireteam can be invaluable.
However she is also offering a Nanopulser, which is only available on one other unit you can bring into the Fireteam, (and that one much more expensive) so the capability is worth considering. Direct Template Weapons in Fireteams are very deadly tools, thanks to Sixth Sense allowing you to reply to some enemy activations with a guaranteed double hit. There is also only one other (much more expensive) source for a SMG in the team.
Worth considering certainly, but my NCA experience says you might well want her in your list but outside the Fireteam.
The first of our Wildcard options is a relatively recent addition to PanOceania by way of a Dire Foes pack, the Fusilier Indigo Richard Quinn:
Quinn is a fascinating option, because he offers a range band which Fusiliers usually struggle in, at a very good price point. He's also bringing Shock, another relatively uncommon option. With his solid BS and MSV he may be suited to the "hunter" role outside of the Fireteam as a cheap backup offensive piece but thanks to the Bulleteer PanOceania already has that particular role relatively well covered, 'though he does come without any SWC cost.
In the Fireteam he's going to offer a solid mid-range ARO option as well as an alternative strike piece, especially for a team which may need to move up the table later in the game. He's probably most valuable in scenarios where you need to hold territory (and thus your Fusiliers will need to move out) to supplement the midrange firepower in the team, or against Camo heavy lists where his MSV may prove key in assisting the team in maintaining efficiency.Our second Wildcard option is another recent addition, Indigo Spec-Ops Captain Uma Sørensen. Uma is another character who will leave Svalarheima to join the crew of the Defiance in the not far distant future, but who we can include in our SWF lists regardless:
Uma Sørensen would be a much better choice for us if she actually had her full range of weapon options as presented in her Defiance dossier. A MULTI Sniper Rifle, or Spitfire, or even a Boarding Shotgun or Multi Rifle instead of the loadout she has might go a long way to bringing her cost down to a reasonable level.
While an argument may exist for her Camo profile, especially in the N3 version of SWF which has no other Camo and no Hidden Deployment of any kind, it's hard to justify the cost of the FTO profiles which we can include. The issue is that SMGs, as a pair, simply don't add much to the capability which a Breaker Combi already (at fairly significant cost) establishes for the profile.
It's also going to be hard to use her Climbing Plus or Multiterrain while she's dragging Fusiliers around behind her. However, B5 BS 16 with Mimetism coming around the corner with Shock IS a very good offense, so it's possible that she might find her way into other teams despite her high cost.
Our third Wildcard is Troll-hunter Gunnar Lundmark, who is yet to arrive in hands as he is part of the Dire Foes pack being released alongside Operation Kaldstrom:
Gunnar is bringing the kind of Melee capability which actually makes for an interesting addition to a Fireteam which otherwise has nothing to offer in that regard. CC23 plus Natural Born Warrior and the option for Berserk all combine into a neat package for taking out any target foolish enough to get in close.
He's also bringing a Chain-colt, which adds to the capabilities of the Fireteam by offering a Direct Template Weapon (see the notes on Agnes above for why this is interesting). His Multiterrain and Climbing Plus look interesting for deployment alongside the Svalarheima ORCs, but are unlikely to see a lot of use if you are playing him with Fusiliers.
The key issues here are cost, he's a LOT of points, and Dogged. Don't get me wrong, Dogged can be great, but for his cost Gunnar feels like a unit which should have NWI if it's going to be worthwhile.
Finally, the last Wildcard option (and possibly the best thing you can drop into a Svalarheima Fusilier Fireteam) is the Knight of Justice, which is set to replace the Father Knight after the step forward in the timeline which is coming with N4:
A Knight of Justice is an amazing option to add into a Fusilier Fireteam. Not only are they another great CC supplement (offering that "niche") but they can also act as a tough Lt (the toughest you can get in the Sectorial) or a Data Tracker.
Most of the options here are potentially good, 'though the Combi Rifles on the Specialist profiles hurt. Those two are going to be strong multi-Classified units however thanks to their D-Charges, CC capability, Specialist roles and Elite Troop status. Doubly so if in a Fireteam as the Datatracker.
But the real standout here is probably the Missile Launcher. In a Core Fireteam it offers the kind of firepower which it's really worth building a list around, especially with a Doctor on hand to bring it back up when the opponent eventually does put it down.
High cost is the kicker here, 'though at least SWC costs are manageable. You ARE going to need good cheap options for other parts of your list if you go with a KoJ in your Fusilier Fireteam, but you may well not regret it regardless!
So there's a lot of flexibility available. You can build a Fusilier Fireteam into a real powerhouse, or simply an ARO bunker (or even an order battery with a hidden Lt and little else).
No matter what you want to do with a Core Fireteam, the Fusiliers of Svalarheima likely have it on offer. So what are you waiting for?
That's it for the Fusilier Fireteam in Svalarheima! If you want our ideas on how to build specific Fusilier Fireteam Core examples then check out our next article.Let us know what you think. Especially if you think we've missed anything.
Is the Fusilier team your go-to core in Svalarheima?
Have you tried them in any matches (probably TTS for the moment)?
What are your thoughts?
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