Blackraw

Agree with you. However, I have mixed feeling about that model, my mind finds 8 SS kinda big investment for that kind of enforcer (Surely, I would rather pick Howard than Shastar+ Gamin for the same price if I want a reliable beater), but on practice whenever I used them they always appeared to justify their cost. With H2K I also find ability to heal back above H2K pretty helpful, so sometimes had to borrow Sandeep push solely for heal trigger. The librarian may also be helpful for this. And hard to doubt mythicFOX saying about being superior to in most cases. I shall definitely try more killy crew with melee models. Just realized that in the last 3 competitive games I played with Sandeep (all 3 were won) I ended up killing 1/2/0 (3 in total) models of my opponents.

Thanks for explanation, that makes sense now. 6SS seems pretty good price when they contribute to your VP strongly. As for visions and command, I think that it strongly depends on playstyle and the rest of the crew. If you have Interference + Leave your mark and Dig your graves I see not that much sense in Visions (unless you believe that your opponent is playing interact-heavy schemes), where PP+Raptor and (0) Interact Sandeep has are more than sufficient to do the job. However with Headhunter + Recover Evidence + Mark for death I would rather opt for killy crew + Visions. Do you have any positive experience of using Mechanical Rider or Students/Valedictorian in competitive/casual play?

What list were you playing against? I struggle to find the rationale for Soulstone Miner for 6SS, but I never played/faced it on board - can you please comment how you were using it? The good thing about Sandeep is its diversity. I used Commands upgrade twice and I completely dislike it. Well definately Flips Banasuva with 3AP makes sense, so does 3" when you need to engage opponent. However, playing with interact schemes I find visions having such a crucial role in games I have played. In fact, mostly I do scheme run with Sandeep through his summon, so I never get a chance to use his attack actions. I am pleased with result I get but just trying to find some diversity and try playing him in completely different style.

I am going 6-1 with Sandeep and currently have some of similiar thoughts. I do not like 3 Mages that much mostly due to having Wk4, Rg10 and 40mm bases. Sandeep is hell of a hungry master when it comes to cards, so getting furious casting work is not always feasible/worth the thing. However, I have to admit, that at 5SS for pcs they are definately a bargain. There are few arcanists model tagged 4-5 SS worth considering for Sandeep crew. Getting 1-2 wind gaming may be an option whwere I need pure scheme-runners (e.g. inspection), however most of the scheme-work is done by summons/borrowing Sandeep (0), so I do not see a big need for them so that I would be able to replace my mages. Performer may be an option either, but I do not feel like taking two (especially when Sandeep has push skill too and may give it out), and taking one doest not interefere with having 3 mages. Sanction spellcaster to my mind is inferior to mages, unless you are sure that you will benefit from his (0) singularity in the game. So any substitution to the mages I may think of (librarians, students, shastar to stay with academic synergy) leaves me with minus 1 activation (there is a variaty of combinations of 2 good models fitting into 15SS). But I am still planning to test a game without 3 mages. What I like in them is: 1) They are pretty endurable for 5 SS with temporary shielding and decent stats for the pricetag; 2) With their speed/range being less then average, they still presents solid thread for someone going to my part of the table coming into the gunline; 3) I like to push my models 6-8 inches forward on the first turn by attacking it with the mage with built-in-suit-upgrade. From 2 damage 1 is normally absorbed by armor/aracane shiled, the rest may be healed by regeneration if I hit a henchman wielding warding runes. 4) With 5ss price, whenever I use a mage (DD enforcer on first glance) to walk-walk-(0) for interact to pick up head or do other scheme stuff, I never feel that I lost solid DD activation which I could use more efficently to elimiante enemy; 5) They trigger Sandeep out-of-activation-cast easilly due to suits they get for academics around. It is a pity that there is not much activity in the topic recently. In case anyone want to contribute, I am curious to know if anyone have positive experience with: a) Using students (transmortis); b ) Playing complete out-of-theme list; c) Playing with 9-10 activations right of the start (so no expensive models) I am also thinking to get a Hannah and test it out, as Aracane Reservioir looks really helpfull and she looks durable enough to hold the front lines, though 11SS seems like a big investments.