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Hey guys, I was checking out the PanOceania models on Infinity and got interested in trying the game using that faction. Using the list maker I created a list (Curses! Cannot do all mechs!).
I know that 300 points is the standard but I know none of the rules..So is this decent?

Jotum (LT)
Fusilier
Fusilier w/ HMG
Fusilier w/ HMG
Regular
Regular
Commando Akal
Commando Akal
Orc
Orc

Depends on what you mean by "decent"?

It's definitely a list that would work, but something to bear in mind if you like the Jotum...

The book after the Paradiso Campaign will actually feature a "Sectorial"(read: themed list which gives you bonuses that a "vanilla" list would not have) for the Svarlheim PanOceania operations.

Jotums and Nisses will likely be the main focus.

So, I am assuming from your response that there is not a right or wrong unit in this game (Please excuse my 40k tier tendencies)? Would the list submitted be easy to learn for someone who has never played?

Like I said, it's not out yet. Probably not until late next year or early 2014.

If you want a "mech heavy" force though, the NeoTerran Capitaline can do that for now. They have access to all the mechs, barring the Dragoon and Jotum.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 riverhawks32 wrote:
So, I am assuming from your response that there is not a right or wrong unit in this game (Please excuse my 40k tier tendencies)? Would the list submitted be easy to learn for someone who has never played?

There are some units which are a bit harder to grasp than others, but I don't see that much which would be hard to use.

Biggest problem would be starting out at 300 points rather than at like 100.

 riverhawks32 wrote:
I know that 300 points is the standard

300 is the biggest the official missions go to, not the standard. The standard depends entirely on what mission is being played.

 riverhawks32 wrote:
but I know none of the rules..So is this decent?

Do you like the models? Is it a legal army? Go for it.

It's not the list that decided the game, it depends on if you know how to play your list. There's not many bad choices in Infinity.

 -Loki- wrote:

 riverhawks32 wrote:
I know that 300 points is the standard

300 is the biggest the official missions go to, not the standard. The standard depends entirely on what mission is being played.

 riverhawks32 wrote:
but I know none of the rules..So is this decent?

Do you like the models? Is it a legal army? Go for it.

It's not the list that decided the game, it depends on if you know how to play your list. There's not many bad choices in Infinity.

Sorry to butt in, but I've been looking around at Infinity and was wondering just how true your last comment was. I've been playing 40k for a while and it really sucks to get hardcore bashed just for playing one army. Is this a well balanced game?

Looked up the Neoterran Capitaline army...I like my new list a lot better.

Squalo (LT)
Squalo
Garuda Tacbot
Bulleteer Armbot
Machinist
Peace Maker
- Auxbot

Would this be pretty straightforward and not require a lot of skill to field?

 riverhawks32 wrote:
Looked up the Neoterran Capitaline army...I like my new list a lot better.

Squalo (LT)
Squalo
Garuda Tacbot
Bulleteer Armbot
Machinist
Peace Maker
- Auxbot

Would this be pretty straightforward and not require a lot of skill to field?

I have yet to play my first game, so take my advices with a HUGE grain of salt. These are 2 points I've gleamed on the official forum, or figured out throughout my many passage over the book.

1) 7 figures for 300 points would be on the low end of what's acceptable for your order pool.
2) TAGs can and often are crutches. And if your trying to build a gaming group, there to be avoided, because they can lead to some very one-sided fights.

Actually, that's 6 orders at 300 points... not too good, at 300 you should have at least 9 orders imo. Also, you should try to do a 150 points list, and then work your way up slowly.

@Cypher: Yes, this game really is that balanced. I know it's hard to grasp at first, but it's true.

Cypher's Sword wrote:

Sorry to butt in, but I've been looking around at Infinity and was wondering just how true your last comment was. I've been playing 40k for a while and it really sucks to get hardcore bashed just for playing one army. Is this a well balanced game?

Pretty well balanced, yeah. I bought the models I like aesthetically without thought of strategy or whatever (haven't anticipated that I'll end up with 3 sniper models), then I tried to come up with a legal list of things I have. I'm doing extremely well with them.

Aye, buy the models that good to you, and that you can build legal lists with. *hint* use the free army building tool on the infinity website.

As an Aleph player, I can tell you, small order pools are a pain. I have played 200 points, with 9 orders, and with 6 (4 of which were available any given turn)

More orders = more flexability to get things done.

 riverhawks32 wrote:
Looked up the Neoterran Capitaline army...I like my new list a lot better.

Squalo (LT)
Squalo
Garuda Tacbot
Bulleteer Armbot
Machinist
Peace Maker
- Auxbot

Would this be pretty straightforward and not require a lot of skill to field?

Probably, but one thing to consider is that--as Kovnik mentioned--you will be order starved.

That is a Bad Thing.

If I might do a few suggestions...
One way to go is with this:
NEOTERRAN CAPITALINE ARMY
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

GROUP 1 (Regs: 9/Irrs: 0):

SQUALO MULTI HMG, Heavy Grenade Launcher / (101 | 2)
MOV:6-4 CC:18 BS:15 PH:17 WIP:12 ARM:8 BTS:-6 STR:3
Regular, Not Impetuous, G: Remote Presence
ECM, Lieutenant

AUXILIA Combi Rifle + AUXBOT_2 / Pistol, Knife (20)
MOV:4-4 CC:13 BS:11 PH:10 WIP:12 ARM:1 BTS:0 W:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, Cube, G: Synchronized
Forward Observer

AUXBOT_2 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse
MOV:6-4 CC:8 BS:10 PH:8 WIP:11 ARM:0 BTS:-3 W:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, G: Synchronized
Forward Observer

AUXILIA Combi Rifle + AUXBOT_1 / Pistol, Knife (14)
MOV:4-4 CC:13 BS:11 PH:10 WIP:12 ARM:1 BTS:0 W:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, Cube, G: Synchronized

AUXBOT_1 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse
MOV:6-4 CC:8 BS:10 PH:8 WIP:11 ARM:0 BTS:-3 W:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, G: Synchronized

MACHINIST Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife (15)
MOV:4-4 CC:13 BS:12 PH:10 WIP:12 ARM:1 BTS:-3 W:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, Cube
Engineer

BULLETEER Heavy Shotgun / Electric Pulse (25)
MOV:6-4 CC:8 BS:12 PH:8 WIP:13 ARM:1 BTS:-3 STR:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, G: Remote Presence
ODD: Optical Disruptor, Repeater

BULLETEER Spitfire / Electric Pulse (29 | 1)
MOV:6-4 CC:8 BS:12 PH:8 WIP:13 ARM:1 BTS:-3 STR:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, G: Remote Presence
ODD: Optical Disruptor, Repeater

2x FUSILIER Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife (10)
MOV:4-4 CC:13 BS:12 PH:10 WIP:12 ARM:1 BTS:0 W:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, Cube, Linkable

FUSILIER Hacker Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife (22 | 0.5)
MOV:4-4 CC:13 BS:12 PH:10 WIP:12 ARM:1 BTS:0 W:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, Cube, Linkable
Hacking Device

PALBOT Electric Pulse (3)
MOV:6-4 CC:8 BS:8 PH:8 WIP:13 ARM:0 BTS:-3 STR:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, G: Servant
CH: Mimetism


249 Points | SWC: 3.5

ARMY CODE: eNozMlE1UzNSM6wxVDMEkwYg0hJCmcAokJQRmAMjTUESZiAOAOKlDnw=

You lose a Squalo, but could use this list for 250 pt games. For 300 point games--add a Squalo, or some Hexas, or whatever else you want to.
The Auxilia with FO is for the Squalo Lt and his Grenade Launcher, which could come in handy at a pinch.

If you are starting up with Infinity, especially coming from 40K, you need to go with baby steps. I am in exactly the same place as you, as someone who is just getting into Infinity with a background from 40K.

What you want to do first is to get a few small games under your belt just to get your bearings.

The faction you chose doesn't really matter at this early stage as you will be proxying everything anways but if you feel like PanO by all means go for it.

Make a simple list of no more than 150 points. Just a very simple, bare bones list to get to know the basics of the game. As you progress you can add more points and units using the more complex rules.

If you really want to use a TAG this could be a simple list to begin with:

PANOCEANIA
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

GROUP 1 (Regs: 5/Irrs: 0):

SQUALO (Armoured Cav.) Lieutenant MULTI HMG, Heavy Grenade Launcher (101 | 2)
3x FUSILIER Combi Rifle (10)
FUSILIER HMG (19 | 1)

150 Points | SWC: 3

ARMY CODE: eNozMlQ1MlAzUjOsMVQzwCCBEAB1QAcD Army Infinity v.3.0.


This list is all about the Squalo of course and relies heavily on "Ramboing". This means that the Fusiliers are there mostly to give your Squalo orders (called Cheerleading) so it can run around and kill stuff. An experienced player should be able to counter this relativly easy. For instance by air deploying a unit or two that can take out your Fusiliers thus starving your Squalo for orders.

But don't worry about that now. For now just go ahead and play a couple of games to get your bearing.

There's a ton of beginners advice on the official webpage and a ton of beginner threads on the official forums and here. Read 'em. Read 'em all.

Welcome to Infinity!

Nicely put bladerunner_35, I would second everything you say there.

When making a new force for Infinity, I would always recommend in order of priority:
1) Which models do I want? Whatever looks coolest, you can imagine painting in a particular way etc. AFAIK there are very few duff miniatures, and usually even those which seem less powerful are because they have to be used in a particular way.
2) Tie this in to the rules. Make in the army builder to make sure its legal (so you don't end up buying 5 TAGs or whatever )
3) Make a smaller list using the army builder, try and learn the basic game rule mechanics.

Obviously as you are just coming into the game, as Bladerunner_35 says try and keep things simple and straightforward. A few games at 100-150 points, or even less, with just some basic infantry units. Seriously you will have fun even with 3 line infantry armed with rifles a side, there is a lot of room for tactics even at that level, but again the mechanics will take some getting used to - especially being able to do stuff and keeping your attention on the board during your opponents turn (I found this the most difficult thing, not just 40k but with so many games I just tended to go into a semi-comatose state during my opponents turn! ). Then, introduce new units and special rules with each following game.

I will say using a TAG straight away you will probably have quite a one-sided experience. There are ways to deal with TAGs but an in-experienced opponent might struggle with them, giving the impression that the game in imbalanced in their favour.

I agree with a lot of what is being said here.

Start with the smaller force of the models you like but remember that orders are your life blood in this game. If you are playing a larger game say 300pts but only 6/7 orders you really need to plan ahead and if things dont go according to plan you wont have the spare orders to change tactics heal a critical miniature or relocate you forces if needs be.

Remember the great thing about infinity is that you can start with a core force and just by purchasing 1 or 2 models you can completly change your tactics and the way you play.

So orders are what allow you to make moves/attacks? And you get a certain amount of orders per unit?

you get one order per miniature (some exceptions - such as the Auxbot). You may spend every order on any miniature to perform two short or one long skill (example: move - shoot are the most common short skills, long skills include Suppressive Fire and Cautious Movement).

So having lots of line infantry/auxilia generally is easiest to use as they have so many orders?

It is to an extent, although you are limited to a maximum number of orders per 'Group' - specifically 10. This means if you have more than 10 minis, you have to make a second group with its own order pool. This acts as a regulatory mechanism to stop what would otherwise be the big benefits of going mental and getting like 30 line troopers in a 300pt game - of course some (crazy! ) people have done this, you will find battle reports on the official forums, but it's a bit of a one-trick pony and not generally the weapon of choice for how to play the game.

Most forces you see will be around the 8-10 model mark for 300 pts, although up to 15 or so (with 2 order groups) can be fairly common. The important thing to remember is that Infinity is about getting a balance of different elements in your force, and using the special components of it in the correct way, although there are many different ways that can be done successfully. Think of some action movies like 'The Dirty Dozen' or 'Magnificent Seven/Seven Samurai' - there are many different special characters, each with their own 'trick'. Infinity is kind of similar to that, you have your Special-Ops team and in it the sniper, the medic, the hacker, the Thermo-camouflagued sneaky guy, explosives expert - things like that.

 riverhawks32 wrote:
So having lots of line infantry/auxilia generally is easiest to use as they have so many orders?

Can be, yeah. Like Pacific says, the big thing to remember is that each unit has its own "niche".

In the NCA, the Auxilia's niche is that they are your "Availability: Total" unit--meaning your unlimited availability units. They're a bit too expensive (both money wise and points wise) to run a "spam" list consisting of nothing but those and a Squallo--but adding in some Fusiliers (who can be Linked, as it's a Sectorial) and things like a Dronbot Remote or Swiss Guard/Hexas/Aquila Guard will give some extra Orders for your Order Pool and depending on if you want it to be an "Elite Superkilly" force which relies upon punching out the enemy's big hitters ASAP or a more conventional force you could just swap a few things here and there.

Great advice on getting started everybody

 bladerunner_35 wrote:
Make a simple list of no more than 150 points. Just a very simple, bare bones list to get to know the basics of the game. As you progress you can add more points and units using the more complex rules.

Personally, I started at 200 because I wanted more cool toys, more cool models, more orders and a more involved game. And part of INF list building (in the beginning anyway ) for me is keeping $$ in mind, which means I tend to see what models are available in packs. Usually this means picking up a starter box, even if I only end up using 4/6 of it, since I'm happy to have some depth for later army exploits.

Thing is, PanO's box is kinda meh IMO, and doesn't seem to head where you're looking? But fusiliers do come in a happy three pack, and also happen to be a Link Team under the NCA sectorial list. If you're interested, here's my shot at a 200 point simplified version of your 300 pointer:

NEOTERRAN CAPITALINE ARMY
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

GROUP 1 (Regs: 8/Irrs: 0):

SQUALO MULTI HMG, Heavy Grenade Launcher / (101 | 2)
MOV:6-4 CC:18 BS:15 PH:17 WIP:12 ARM:8 BTS:-6 STR:3
Regular, Not Impetuous, G: Remote Presence
ECM, Lieutenant

2x AUXILIA Combi Rifle + AUXBOT_1 / Pistol, Knife (14)
MOV:4-4 CC:13 BS:11 PH:10 WIP:12 ARM:1 BTS:0 W:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, Cube, G: Synchronized

AUXBOT_1 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse
MOV:6-4 CC:8 BS:10 PH:8 WIP:11 ARM:0 BTS:-3 W:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, G: Synchronized

MACHINIST Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife (15)
MOV:4-4 CC:13 BS:12 PH:10 WIP:12 ARM:1 BTS:-3 W:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, Cube
Engineer

FUSILIER HMG / Pistol, Knife (19 | 1)
MOV:4-4 CC:13 BS:12 PH:10 WIP:12 ARM:1 BTS:0 W:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, Cube, Linkable

FUSILIER Paramedic Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife (14)
MOV:4-4 CC:13 BS:12 PH:10 WIP:12 ARM:1 BTS:0 W:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, Cube, Linkable
Paramedic, Medikit

2x FUSILIER Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife (10)
MOV:4-4 CC:13 BS:12 PH:10 WIP:12 ARM:1 BTS:0 W:1
Regular, Not Impetuous, Cube, Linkable


197 Points | SWC: 3

ARMY CODE: eNozMlE1UzNSM6wxVDNAkJZgCigMJs3BpAGMBAAgCwss Army Infinity v.3.0.

Got your Squalo LT ready to go rambo, with both Auxilia from their boxed set, a Machinist to keep the robots going (and other stuff), then all three Fusiliers from their three pack (one is a paramedic so you can at least have a shot at getting your dudes back up), and a HMG Fusilier to round out the four-strong link team. You could go with the sniper instead - and that would add more variety to your weapon loadout - but the HMG model is better IMO, and with BS12 I'd rather the kick of the machine gun (which gets a little juicier with the linking ).

Note of course that Link Teams are a somewhat advanced rule that you'd likely wait a few games to employ, though it makes your weaker troops quite fearsome.

- Salvage

Alright, seems you are still working with the basics here so I'll start from the top before getting in to how a faction plays and all that jazz.

In Infinity armies are composed of things called combat groups. A combat group is composed of no more than 10 models. You then have something called an Order Pool that is separate for each Combat Group. Each model designated 'Regular' adds his order to the pool and it can be shared with any other model in the combat group. Each model designated 'Irregular' also adds its order to the pool, but the difference here is that it is the only model that can use that order (for simplicity most people describe it as them not adding their order to the pool as it effectively isn't; but I'm going slow before taking explanatory shortcuts). So as you can see the maximum size of a combat group will limit you to 10 orders in the Order Pool. The more orders in a combat group, the better, as it makes you better able to perform more actions on your turn.

At 300 points few armies have troubles fielding ten models in a combat group. So it tends to be that forces that have an order pool of 9 or less are at a big disadvantage. So it isn't that line troopers inherently provide more orders to the pool, but they are cheap and work well at getting up to the 10 order cap. That said at lower point games (like 150 or so) you can often get by with much smaller order pools since most forces will average 5-6 models in their army.

So as to the particulars on why that dual-Squalo list would have a hard time in Infinity for a 300 point list, you will hear people toss around terms like order-hungry and order-starved. This is a concept that stems from you being able to use regular orders from your order pool on any model in the army (even Irregular models can take from the pool even though they never really give to it). Some models are prone to using more orders than others. For example, line troopers like the Fusilier may not even activate every turn, meanwhile specialist units like TAGs are prone to eating half or more of a pool on their own (the latter is usually called ramboing and while it is popular for new players it is easy to shut down an army that relies on it). Units like TAGs, heavy infantry with specialized equipment and other funky units are often described as order-hungry because of this. If you have a small order pool combined with several order hungry units, then you get in to a situation where some units are order-starved and can't act as much as you want them to. In the case of the Squalo list those two TAGs will easily burn through the pool on their own leaving nothing for anyone else. This in turn leaves you vulnerable to easy counterattacks from infiltrators and airborne troops. And the rest of your force is fairly fragile outside of them. If you take out a Squalo and use the points saved to buy some basic line troops and maybe another, smaller, specialist unit then you will be able to get to the 10-order cap which will allow you to feed the TAG the orders it needs without leaving you vulnerable to counterattack.

Hope that helps a bit on list-building basics.

 riverhawks32 wrote:
Hey guys, I was checking out the PanOceania models on Infinity and got interested in trying the game using that faction. Using the list maker I created a list (Curses! Cannot do all mechs!).
I know that 300 points is the standard but I know none of the rules..So is this decent?

Jotum (LT)
Fusilier
Fusilier w/ HMG
Fusilier w/ HMG
Regular
Regular
Commando Akal
Commando Akal
Orc
Orc

I actually kind of like this list.

All other lists after it are hampered by the sad and severe lack of Jotum.

I can't wait for the PanO Svalarheima Sectorial...

One other thing to remember is that there is also the SWC allowance which is always causing me problems.

I keep buying all my new toys but struggle to put together a cohesive force as i keep geting the really nice toys....

"got to have a nisses, ooooooh it comes a hmg or a sniper rifle" and now I have another to find away to fit another 3 SWC into my list.

So it would be fair to say that having one mech is the safest move?

One is not bad at all. You might want a hacker to defend him though. Just in case the enemy tries to hack him instead of just blowing him up.

One being the limit..?

Well, there are certainly ways to field two TAGs in a list, but it would be a list that was based around them almost entirely which leaves them really vulnerable to either having their order pool wiped out (because it would be composed of rather vulnerable, cheap, troopers) or having the TAGs taken out by a combined offensive early on, leaving you with nothing. For an example of a 2-TAG list for 300 points that wouldn't leave one of the TAGs order starved (using the Squalo... though I still don't think this list is a great one, myself):

[edit - forgot Squalo were only AVA 2 in NeoTerran list; redoing]

Combat Group 1
1x Squalo Lt.
2x Fusilier
3x Auxilia

Combat Group 2
1x Squalo w/ Heavy Flamethrower
3x Fusilier
1x Auxilia

This gives each TAG an order pool of 6 (on the low side, but since each one has 6, I think it is workable) and even has some spare points for a Forward Observer for the Lt.'s grenade launcher. Importantly the Lt. can be anything else in the list save the Forward Observer or the other Squalo, so this keeps the Lieutenant safe.

That said, this list will probably get torn apart by infiltrators and AD troops while heavy elements engage the TAGs and either slow them down, or destroy them. I find that if you want to run multiple TAGs and still maintain points for flexibility then you need to use light TAGs. Unfortunately PanO doesn't have models for the Tikbalang yet (80 points for a TAG means saving 10-20 points per, which is nice).

For starting players the above list is likely to be all or nothing. The first time you field it, your opponent (if he is also new) will likely lose and lose hard. But once everyone gains more experience to see the inherent weaknesses in a list that tries to get two TAGs and enough orders to run them, then the list will be hard pressed to win. I wouldn't call a list utilizing two TAGs a very newbie friendly one for those reasons. Starting with one is a much better proposition while learning the game.

What would everyone say is the best lone mech to use?

As with most "what is the best [insert a thing] in Infinity" questions, the answer is: it depends. And in PanO it is certainly hard to answer because they are spoiled for choice.

Keep in mind I'm a Yu Jing and Nomad player so I mostly just face these things on the other side of the table, but here is my take (also, just a note but the list I posted is illegal because the basic PanO list only has availability 1, I will edit my example in light of that):

Squalo Armoured Cavalry: This guy is kind of the basic TAG you tend to see. MULTI HMG and heavy GL or heavy flamethrower options. He has average armour, average BTS and average just about everything else for a TAG. But average for a TAG is a relative term. MULTI HMGs can be devastatingly effective. The heavy flamethrower version is cheap for a full-sized TAG and comes with PanO's usual remote presence perks (no cube to Sepsitorize and Courage). The heavy GL version can be used as fairly accurate close-support artillery that can still pack a direct-fire punch. This guy is the basic TAG model that does what it needs to without too many fancy bells and whistles. And of

Clauswitz Uhlan (no model): This one is a nasty little piece of work that actually is fairly out-there for a PanO design. First things first, though, it is a light TAG. That means it has less armour than things like the Squalo and it carries lighter, infantry-scale weapons. This one "only" comes with an HMG (good active, direct-fire weapon) and a Feuerbach (awesome anti-TAG or reaction-fire weapon). What makes it so out there is that it actually uses a fairly low-tech skill (camo) to make itself a great ambusher without breaking the bank too-much (like, say, the Cutter). If used as a hit-and-run unit this thing will certainly do well.

Dragoes: A nasty direct-fire specialist that mounts the terrifying hyper-rapid magnetic cannon. Unfortunately, unlike MULTI HMG carrying TAGs, this means it is slightly less awesome on the defense. So this thing is definitely an active turn assaulter. It is also relatively inexpensive for a full-sized TAG at only 94 points.

Tikbalang (no model): As another light TAG, this one lacks some of the bells and whistles of the Clauswitz. But what it lacks, it makes up for by being incredibly cheap as a TAG. This thing is more of a fast heavy infantry unit than a TAG. But it is still fast and sturdy (and hard to hit thanks to mimetism) so it makes a great primary assaulter. In an Accontecimento list it is availability 2 and I think you could make a decent list using a pair of them since they are only 80 points a piece.

Seraph (no model): The Seraph is a bit of an odd duck. It is not quite as well armoured as a standard TAG but not quite a light TAG either. It is, however, very lightly armed for a TAG as it carries only a Spitfire (kind of like an LMG). It does, however, come with something called an Auxbot which is like a little mono-wheeled robot partner with a flamethrower on it. This basically allows it to provide its own covering fire and close support to itself which is kind of neat. It is also fairly cheap (85 points). It is also better equipped for close combat than most TAGs tend to be (by no means a specialist, but an explosive CCW and a CC skill of 19 aren't to bad).

Cutters: These are the most expensive TAG you can take, and it is no wonder, considering it comes with TO camouflage. This thing is very, very capable of mauling an enemy force that it takes by surprise. Its downsides are, of course, that it is a fairly heft chunk of points in one package. When it is revealed the enemy will be gunning for it and experienced players aren't as shaken by a TO camo TAG as new ones. Due to the expense it is quite possible that the enemy will attempt to land in your backfield to try and kill of its order pool, so you may want to invest in some security on the back lines if you take it. It can also be fairly obvious that it has been taken when people notice you have a large order pool on the board and 1/3rd of your points are not accounted for (but you can use units with Holoprojector to confuse this and keep the element of surprise).

Jotums: You take a Jotum because you want to take the hardest thing to kill in the game next to an Avatar. 10 armour, the usual 3 structure and even a whopping -9 BTS means that this thing can weather loads of fire without going down. Outside of that it carries the MULTI HMG+flame thrower combo that makes it a direct fire specialist as well as a good defensive anchor. Keep in mind that there are some ammo types in the game that even it fears, and unlike the Avatar it doesn't have that extra layer of optical disruption to protect it. Beware monofilament weapons as well as armour piercing+explosive weapons (Panzerfaust and Missile Launcher). Luckily it has PanO's high BS going for it so it is great in a firefight.

Long story short, all the TAGs have upsides and downsides depending on the role you want them to play. If you want something that can double as artillery then a Squalo is a good choice. If you want something aggressive then a Drago, Cutter or Clauswitz seems like a good plan. If you want something that can stomp forward and basically just ignore most enemy fire then the Jotum is a great choice. If you want a TAG in the force but don't want to break the bank then grab a Tikbalang and get a fast, better armoured HI unit with mimetism.