Unit Debate #68 -- Snipers vs. Agents

[MegaSilver]

I ask that you don't use this format without permission to preserve the quality of the Unit Debates and avoid confusion.



This Unit Debate was selected by @Not User Name .

Which Unit is the best in the following categories?

1. Stats/Special Powers

2. Head-To-Head

3. Army Builds

4. Strategies/Tactics

5. Cool/Fun Factor

[Marro_Warlord]

1. Their base stats are the same, except the Omnicrons' attack, which is one less than the agents. Not much variance. Powers - Deadly shot will mostly only reliably trigger with height. Agents have sighting, which is the same effect on height as Deadly shot. Stealth armor will let them survive longer, water suits could be useful, but not to much extent.

Winner - Agents

2. Sighting = Deadly shot. Stealth armor can block damage. Water suits... Ehh... A sniper has about a 33% chance for a kill. An Agent: 25%. Add in steath armor, and a sniper gets a kill about a 27.75% chance.

Winner - Agents

3. Snipers could fit with anything, but mostly go well with repulsors. Agents have Vydar Ranged.

Winner - Tie

4. Omnicrons - Get on hieight and camp. Microcorps - Camp on height, swim through water for a fast assault, or engage and hope stealth armor saves you.

Winner - Agents

5. Super Fighting Robots vs. Secret Agents

Winner - Tie

3-0-2 in favor of agents.

(Bonus! Find the hidden reference!)

[mtl1998]

I pretty much agree with @Marro_Warlord 100%. It also looks like the Microcorps are better, but I still like the omnicrons better.

[Aldin]

Which Unit is the best in the following categories?

1. Stats/Special Powers

Stats are similar, with the big comparison to be made falling under attack effectiveness. For an unboosted attack, the MCA have a 25/50/25% split for 0/1/2 skulls. The Omnis have a 50/50% split for 0/2 skulls. So the MCA toss out at least one skull 50% more frequently while the Omnis toss out two twice as often. Simply put, against higher defense figures and especially ones with automatic shields the Omnis are preferred while against lower defense figures or ones which roll double shields the MCA are preferred.

From height, both have their effectiveness "doubled", but here is a more interesting trade off and it looks like this:
The MCA have a 93.75% chance of at least one skull v. 75% for the Omnis.
The MCA have a 68.75% chance of at least two skulls v. 75% for the Omnis.
The MCA have a 31.25 % chance of at least three skulls v. 25% for the Omnis.
The MCA have a 6.25% chance of four skulls v. 25% for the Omnis.
The MCA shine here in consistency. They hit significantly more often and should perform as well or better versus most squads. The Omnis will tend to be swingy, missing more often and experiencing a lot of overkill versus most squads.

The Omnis benefit more from attack boosters, but they're rare and expensive. Add to that the additional benefits of Stealth Armor 15 and Water Suits and in anything but very limited situations, the MCA win the stats and specials contest.

2. Head-To-Head

Rolling at least one shield with three dice on flat terrain happens about 70% of the time. Rolling two happens about 25% of the time. Using our numbers from above, we find that attrition is going to be close enough under normal circumstances, before we consider the Stealth Armor 15. Now, 30% of the Omni kills get negated and the MCA are on top again. Both having ranges of 7, neither can force the other into bad terrain situations, but given height, either becomes far more deadly against their opponent under normal circumstances except that, once again, Stealth Armor 15 is going to make the difference. At 100 points for three figures each, there's no numbers advantage. The MCA win the head-to-head contest.

3. Army Builds

Both are the same type of "add" to most armies, a 200-300 point ranged pod. Both perform similarly.

The MCA have the addition of functioning in a Laglor pod and having their range increased to 9. A Laglor pod is a solid build complemented by strong figures such as the Krav Maga Agents, Q9, the Nakita Agents and Agent Skahen and is easily supported by Rats and Raelin. In fact, the biggest problem the MCA have in that pod is whether or not they're good enough to be justified in that pod.

The Omnis get Taelord. In a "defend the castle" scenario, this can be a tough group. Put Taelord, Raelin and three squads of Omnis on the roof and watch em fry anything that comes within seven spaces. It's a tough pod to put together normally, terribly expensive and in for trouble if your opponent can out-range you. On the plus side, the Omnis probably benefit more from Taelord than any other figure in the game.
The MCA win the army build contest.

4. Strategies/Tactics

Get height, shoot people. If you're the MCA, find water on height when you can. Both have a range of 7 and should try to force opponents to come to them on the terrain of their choosing. MCA are a bit better as glyph holders due to Stealth Suit 15. Omnis are a bit forced to try to recover their value by prioritizing heroes and high defense targets while MCA are more free to prioritize based on board position. The MCA win the Strategy/Tactics contest... barely.

5. Cool/Fun Factor

I like em both. The MCA are better and more useful, but not by so much that you can't choose whichever feels better in an army or is more fun to play on that day in that moment. Whoever you want to play wins the Cool/Fun Factor contest.

~Aldin, who hasn't done one of these in a while

[TheAverageFan]

Originally Posted by Aldin

~Aldin, who hasn't done one of these in a while

It's been a while, but I certainly wouldn't mind more

I voted Agents. Both are pretty much ideal on Heights, but the Agents are a bit more useful otherwise. The Water bonus helps too--are these guys supposed to be Navy Seals or something?

~TAF, who thinks M_W & Aldin summed it up pretty nicely already.

[Shiftrex]

Originally Posted by Marro_Warlord

5. Super Fighting Robots
(Bonus! Find the hidden reference!)

The bolded lines were in the theme song for the original Megaman cartoon what do I get?

[Marro_Warlord]

Originally Posted by Shiftrex

The bolded lines were in the theme song for the original Megaman cartoon what do I get?

Congratulations! You win something... (Maybe...)

[yamissflash]

Originally Posted by TheAverageFan

It's been a while, but I certainly wouldn't mind more

Agreed! Need more of these!

Originally Posted by TheAverageFan

I voted Agents. Both are pretty much ideal on Heights, but the Agents are a bit more useful otherwise. The Water bonus helps too--

Same, I find the agents better, although the Sniper's Omnicron Repulsors synergy is useful and I would argue makes them better in the army builds category

Originally Posted by TheAverageFan

are these guys supposed to be Navy Seals or something?

"Microcorp" in the front seems to imply that these guys are from a corporation that decided that they needed a little more market share.

[MegaSilver]

Originally Posted by yamissflash

"Microcorp" in the front seems to imply that these guys are from a corporation that decided that they needed a little more market share.

They are named after an area on the RISK 2210 AD board game; it's an underwater colony next to Madagascar called Microcorp.

[TheAverageFan]

Well, they're from Earth anyhow

~TAF

[lefton4ya]

Only time omegasnipes win is if c3v omegacron allowed and high point allows for taelord.

[Not User Name]

1. Stats/Special Powers
They are essentially dead even with their stats. On the other hand, the Microcorp for sure have the edge in the special powers department. Their Stealth Armour improves their survivability quite a bit, and their Water Suits helps them to maneuver through water, which isn't that much of an advantage. Still, the point is that the Microcorp have much more useful special powers. (Sighting and Deadly Shot kind of cancel each other out.) I gotta go with the Microcorp here.

2. Head-to-Head
It's pretty obvious that whoever gets to height first wins. Let's say it's a flat map, the Microcorp will throw out 1 skull more than the Omnicrons will even roll a skull. The 3 defense of the Omnicrons should hold up against that. While the Omnicrons will hit 2 skulls more often than the Microcorp. I'll give this one to the Omnicrons.

Sorry, if my random thoughts don't hold up with math.

3. Army Builds
Microcorp+Laglor VS Omnicrons+Repulors/Gilbert

Other than that, these two squads don't have much direct synergy so they can both be thrown in any army. Taelord goes with the Omnicrons on this one.

4. Strategies/Tatics
Well, I sort of covered this in the army builds. The only real strategy these guys have is the "Grab Height" strategy. I'll just say this one is a tie.

5. Cool/Fun Factor
Omnicrons, hands down. Give them an attack glyph and height. Ouffta, 6 skulls are never a bad thing. Ever. Omnicrons take the win for me at 3-1-1.

Thanks for doing this again!