Viks Tactics

[ShinChan]

If at least they had a couple more of triggers or ignore friendly fire, they would be a good alternative. But like they're now, I see very few occasions where it's worth to pick 1 or 2 of these over a Ronin.

[BigStick]

Viks where the first master I picked way back in 1st Ed and I still love the blending duo. I do thing HtK on them is worth it though it would have been nice if it was only 1ss. Taelor is pretty solid and can punish a crew who is not ready for her, just don't over extend her. Vanessa is great and works well in her ranged/support role with the Viks. I haven't really played the Student in M3E, not sure if it is worth it yet. Bishop has always been a model that I really want to rate well (cause I like his backstory) but I just always find him to be situational at best. As stated earlier he is a solid schemer with 3ap but at 9ss he should be. Big Jake is quality for 5ss, he has battle temp, don't mind me, flurry and consult the ancestors. Great scheme runner. I'm very happy to see Ronin get a boost from M2E where they were good to M3E where they are great. Desperate Mercs, well they are desperate. Alas I've never rated these guys, I feel they either need to be a bit cheaper or get a slight bump. Min 2 on their gun would do it or even a ranged spread of 2/3/4. There could be a good argument for Rusty even at 10ss cause she is just a great model. Midnight Stalker is a great flanker, he can run schemes, kill scheme runners and deal with back line models quite well, quality 8ss model. I think Hans is worth a look now. In M2E Freikorp Scout outshone Hans, but now with some much need tweaks Hans is now a quality choice.    

[Trample]

11 hours ago, Jesy Blue said:

Since the damage downgrade of the Vik's, I'm running the crew in very Scheme Marker heavy pools with every model scheming and anti scheming... so yeah, I'll use them to deny points to get more soul stones to keep them alive to stop you from getting more points.  But hey, it's how I run Mercenary.

I'm either within 12" of another Vik or a Ronin, or I'm half a table away... however, if it comes up that I'm >2' away from using That One Counts As Mine, I'll make it a point to say you were right, deal?

 

In my games I find it pretty common for 2" to makes a difference several times in every game, but your mileage may vary. 

[CapnBloodbeard]

Got a game coming up tomorrow....thinking I might try Viks with Schill, Vanessa, midnight stalker and 2 x Ronin.  Schill will hand out Rocket launchers, maybe grenade belt to the Ronin.  Midnight stalker for the extra AP and he might be a pain to put down.  Schill to throw models back to the Viks basically, and letting somebody take a shot.  

There's probably a way I could optimise that more, but I'm okay for now.  

 

I'd LIKE to take servant of dark powers on a Vik, mainly for the terrifying - just for card drain really, but getting up to 46SS doesn't leave me with much....

 

Similarly, Hans would prob be a good replacement for a ronin....but another 2 SS.  

 

 

[Jesy Blue]

The Terrifying Ability happens on Minions, sorry.

 

[Zebo]

Don't forget that in that list, VS can only give upgrades to Ronins and himself. 

[CapnBloodbeard]

14 hours ago, Zebo said:

Don't forget that in that list, VS can only give upgrades to Ronins and himself. 

I hadn't missed that - but thanks for pointing it out

 

21 hours ago, Jesy Blue said:

The Terrifying Ability happens on Minions, sorry.

 

 

Ah, missed that though.  Well makes that choice easier then

 

EDIT:  Welllll.....I got slammed.  

Played against Nekima.  

End of Turn 1 my Viks got into engagement, didn't do much.  Opponent won initiative, and that was the end of the Viks.  Kind of went downhill from there....I just couldn't do anything at all about Nekima beating the absolute snot out of my models.  A lot of her crew hits hard.  I got tabled Turn 5, lost 6-1

 

Schill probably wasn't worth it, but he wasn't terrible.  The 3AP worried my opponent and he hung around until the end.  I didn't get to throw anybody at the viks like I planned, and the Ronins didn't really make much use of the upgrades...mainly because only 1 Ronin was close enough to him, and the only thing that one did was take on a terror tot.  

 

Running Hans and...maybe Johan....instead of Schill would have been better, probably.  

 

Ronin, I never liked them in M2E but they went alright.  Taelor wasn't too bad, caused my opponent some problems but could quite kill anything before dying herself.  

 

Black Blood is a real issue to deal with.  

 

All the bonus mobility is really nice.  Being able to use charge as a basic movement without targeting an enemy model is good for taelor - and it occurred to me it even allows Schill to just leap over terrain just because.  Schill in particular, he has total free reign to charge models that are completely out of sight.