MilkmanAl wrote:
These days, you want Shadowsun and a Commander outfitted with all the buffing gear and signature systems, including iridium armor and stims. Farsight is a relic of the past since you can now get 9 Crisis Suits in a unit without his help. The 3d6 JSJ helps you way more than the precision DS would, anyway.

As for armament, I go with either all CIB or a mix of CIB and fusion. Target locks all around, too. If you really feel like splashing points into this unit, there are fewer better buys in the game than the BS5, stealth/shrouded gun drones that can come with your suits. They're great for extra ablative wounds, and that volume of S5 tank/monster hunting, cover ignoring firepower is tough to beat. You might make your opponent punch you in the throat by JSJing a unit that large every turn, but if he doesn't have a load of cover ignoring weaponry, he's in for a long day.

 digital-animal wrote:
It's never a bad idea to use early warning override to protect your other units that would be targeted by alpha strikers. You can use the secondary systems on broadsides and riptides (or primary if need be) to cover your big suit-star with EWO. Kroot can also make a nice bubble wrap.

 digital-animal wrote:
You could do it either way, really. I just feel like it's a ton of points tied up in reserves waiting for a chance to come on unless you do the Retaliation Cadre. With Shadowsun granting stealth/shrouded it helps the unit survive a bit better. If you did plan to deploy them initially then I would kit them with missile pods perhaps. Otherwise if you are going to DS them CIB/FB would work just fine.

MilkmanAl wrote:
EWO is always your first line of defense against things getting in your face before you want them to be. You can have a sizable bomb and still squeeze in a Riptide Wing or a Stormsurge and marker support without issue. That should be plenty of firepower to prevent anything but some lucky cult ambush hijinks from getting to your bomb.

Always start the bomb on the table unless there's some overwhelming reason not to. That's far too many points to have off the board, even if just for a turn. They're super mobile, so they should be very able to get out of the way of anything heading their way. Psychic defense is a must, and with Sisters of Silence, there's no reason not to have it, honestly. You don't want your bomb going rogue and wasting your own stuff.