Exo suits - good? Bad?

[Scotty]

Hey guys,

I am thinking of getting some exo suits to add a new wing on to my force. I like the idea of them as I am more a Heinlein sort of guy.

But I was wondering what are they like in battle? What tactics do you guys use? Large Squads or Small squads? What weapons configurments are effective?

Tell me your personal experiences with exo suits (Bug/skinny players too). Since I have not seen any battle reports featuring them all I can do is speculate.

Cheers
Scotty

 

[JoseDominguez]

They are great at dishing out damage, but once you start losing them your army dissapears quickly. Very vulnerable to psychics as they are so expensive.... rupture and assasinate are a nightmare e.g. brain bug uses coordinate and assasinates 3 different command models, you send in the hoppers and the whole army can be fried.... Last time I was against them was a big game, I had 3 brain bugs. Second turn of the game I assasinated the NCO's and every sixgun I could reach, charged in the hoppers and left him with no sixguns for reaction and shattered command. We stopped the game as he was crippled and really couldn't do much about it.
It's a big problem for an all exo force: too few models, so every model you lose is a blow. They work well alongside caps and pathfinders though.

 

[Poko]

and if you'r after efficiency, i'd suggest sticking to the Grizzlies for your troops. cougars are great as officers, since they have greater survivabilty due to the dodge save, but it's the grizzly's twin sixguns/missiles that really eat the enemy away.

 

[JoseDominguez]

definately and try to keep the weapons paired...... two firestorms on one grizzly and one with two sixguns are much more effective than two grizzlies with one of each. (Due to the bonus effect from two firestorm hits, you only need two hits to get multihit, piercing two, far more likely if you are rolling four dice as you roll for each grizzly separately).

 

[Scotty]

Thanks for the replys guys.

From this I am getting quite a good picture of what is the best sort of Exo-suit platoon to have:

- Always have some Cap troopers or other, to support. Also so that you are not beaten when you lose about 3 models.
- Pair off weapons, as to make greater firing effieceny.
- grizzly's work better as troopers, Officers in Cougars

Come on guys lets try and get this list extended, ten we will have the definitive guide to using exo suits.

Cheers
Scotty

 

[Poko]

that's pretty much it :wink: oh, and
-always take "armourer" on Sgts
-always take PL2 and then "Sicon training" on Lt
-always take Warning on offciers.
:wink:

 

[JoseDominguez]

think before you go PL2.
For MI, you may not need to go beyond PL1, that saves you the points on the SICON officer and a severely limited LT.

 

[Poko]

well, CHAS is one mean unit(with Target 8 most units have hard time scratching it, and Alpha Strike is devastating), and Flamberge with Firestorm payload is a steal at 100pts, especially when the army is so limited in numbers as the EXOforce.

 

[JoseDominguez]

That's 325 points on support and sicon training..... that's another unit

 

[Poko]

so a CHAS is not a unit? :shock:
it is, in many instances, better than a full unit of EXO's.. he packs enormous firepower, and is easier to hide than a unit of exos. cheaper,too.
flamberge is, i belive, in lagrer games a "must-have" unit, as it allows you to preciesly stirke the most valuable/hidden enemy units, and/or allows you to concentrate on other units without using too much points.

and, for all their firepower, EXOS are too few to be able to deal with all threaths at once, so the bomb saves them a lot of fuss.

 

[Makoto]

Grizzly w/twin firestorm is probably the best combo in the game, especially w/sniper trait.
However exos are so expensive imo they're best used as squad support - think grizzly NCO in a CAP platoon. Otherwise You'll end up with a very small army that gets overrun pretty quickly.

And don't get carried away with their survivability - target 5+ isn't too high one, even with 2+ save/rerolable dodge and 2 hits. They just need a bit less care than other troopers, that's all

 

[Reborn]

Exosuits are great, but if you take them, you HAVE to neutralise any Plasma Bugs or the like early on, because one lucky shot can wipe out a whole squad which could be half your force!

 

[Lorcan Nagle]

Exos are fantastic, but a big investment in points compared to their survivability and troop numbers. I tend to use a platoon of an LT in a cougar often with a Talent and True Grit and/or Jumpball player to increase survivability, and 2 4-man squads (sarge with armourer, corp and one trooper all with 2 sixguns, and a trooper with two firestorms). they'll make up a second platoon supporting either PA or LAMI in a 2,000 point game. Tactics are simple - I use them to hold the flanks, as their high jump, longer than morita range and exceptional firepower all combine to make them very flexible.

 

[Kenrick Dargoth]

They are very vunerable. And it's very hard to fight bugs when you have 4 models (lt+nuke squad) on 1000pts with target5+ (they die veeery fast) not to mention those cheese skinnies
I hate skinnies (not only powerful but ugly)

Cheers

 

[Mr Evil]

thier great, but you still need to use cover due to low numbers, and they become more vulnerable on the hop to enemy fire.

 

[JoseDominguez]

so a CHAS is not a unit? :shock:
it is, in many instances, better than a full unit of EXO's.. he packs enormous firepower, and is easier to hide than a unit of exos. cheaper,too.
flamberge is, i belive, in lagrer games a "must-have" unit, as it allows you to preciesly stirke the most valuable/hidden enemy units, and/or allows you to concentrate on other units without using too much points.

and, for all their firepower, EXOS are too few to be able to deal with all threaths at once, so the bomb saves them a lot of fuss.

So why bother with Exos then? Go for caps and take as many chas units a you can.

 

[Poko]

well, aside from the chas, the caps are naff :wink: *joking, i started with the caps,and still love them ,even if they are only shields for the jav-toting guy :wink: *
but seriously, i find CHAS almost invaluable in most games. in a 1k league this unit alone totaled more kills than the rest of the army

 

[Don_Silvarro]

Actually, Caps can also be a meatshield for two Hel Flamers, and that kind of unit can take a whole flank of Warrior Bugs... :lol:

You're telling me I was the only one to take the CHAS out back then? :wink:

Seriously: being a mainly bug (and recently a Skinnie) player I must say that the CHAS is REALLY a pain in the neck - it tots immense firepower (for a one model unit at least) and it takes some heavy duty stuff to take it down (basically D10 with a damage bonus of min. 1 to take it out without much trouble, and you're still risking Retaliate). Plus, it's only 175pts, which makes it a good addition to any platoon. The question is if your tactics and style of play allow you to take a higher PL.

 

[Poko]

no, one other Exo player took it out...but he also won 2k-0 in a 1k game :lol: ...but your way was definetly the most spectacular. :wink:

 

[JoseDominguez]

I love Caps, give them frag grenades and they are still cheap but absolutely lethal. I think frag grenades are often overlooked.
(also good when your next to an ammo dump and you get charged... the look of horror on the bug players face as your morita meathshield throws D10s is great..... only catches them out once though).

Chas is very good though, problem being it's lack of 'lock and load' Alpha strike is good, but it stops you from jumping that turn, and to be honest if it's using alpha strike then it's probably within flamer range of the enemy.... I'd rather jump out of the way otherwise using alpha strike to fire everything at range seems a bit pointless.... two actions (ready and shoot) to fire a javelin, ape morita and flamer rather than firing the javelin twice or if really close firing the flamer and jumping away.
(the Trip hammer is a ready weapon... so can it be fired on ALpha strike? As this would require a second ready? Even if it can, still not that good really. We normally allow it anyway).
Problem for players using the Chas in our games is twofold, firstly they tend to get picked off by rupture, but secondly I love using worker bugs and always take as many as I can afford, this often leaves the chas swamped in close combat by dirt cheap bugs that roll D10+1 You can send two full units against it and it only makes it's points back if it kills 18 of them

I agree with Makoto.... exos as squad support, twin firestorms on an NCO is superb. 3 exos standing together is a target. Very vulnerable to losing their chain of command too, plus the hazard of being charged, losing your sixguns and being unable to retaliate.