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I'm mainly looking to get a handful of skitarii troops because they look pretty darn cool, but want them to be a useful ally at the same time. I'm looking to at least start with a box of rangers/vanguard, and was debating how best to build them.

I'm looking at two 5 man squads, to support a DA force. My DA are pretty rounded out, so not looking for any hard counter units, just something that will function as basic troops right now (although I might get some ruststalkers down the road).

First off, would it be better to go rangers or vanguard? Is one looking more powerful than the other right now? I was considering doing 5 of each just to try them out, but can't decide on weaponry either.

So what special weapons do you give them? Are vanguard a decent unit to charge with, or should I mostly just shoot? Do rangers benefit much from special weapons, or should I stick with the rifles?

Vanguard squad:
plasma caliver
omnispex
Alpha gets conversion field, blast pistol, and phase taser
focus on getting into melee

Rangers:
arc rifle
omnispex
Alpha gets conversion field

Skitarii Vanguard are pretty terrible in melee. If you want the -1 debuff for some DA assault unit to take advantage of, then charge them in but otherwise stay out of melee.

Plasma calivers are massively expensive. Consider just taking arc rifles on Vanguard to give them some versitlity

Rangers are probably best left without any special weapons. The Sniper Rifle is too expensive for what it does, unless you really want 60" range