Recently, I collected all four members of the House Hiritsu lance. Since I play House Liao, I would like to ask for some advice on how to use the units.

The Ascension Centurion has a nice command ability, but its stats seem to be weaker than YLW's (e.g. no agility). The pilot F. Jarta is great but unfortunately, the Ascension Centurion remains too weak to use in an actual game.

The Firefly Scourge has good stats. Usually I use it with a heavy pilot other than T. Sung and give it AP. While this seems to be a decent configuration, the Scourge can get killed easily (22d).

The Cornerstone Shen Yi is cool. I usually use it with an unit with Homing Beacon (e.g. Avalanche) so that I can ignore blocking. However, as with the Firefly, the 22d seems a bit weak, esp. since I often play against assault Mechs.

Lastly, the Paradise Vulture is amazing. J. Keck is a great pilot. Sure, the ballistic range is a bit iffy but as a whole, Paradise is solid.

So:
Here are my current configs:
Ascension+Jarta+Vibroblade
Firefly+Sung/Keck+AP
Cornerstone+H.Y. Cho
Paradise+Keck

My questions are:
1. Are those configs solid?
2. Should I use IT or Decoys on the Paradise?
3. What gears go well with Cornerstone?
4. How do I deal with armor (e.g. assault Mechs)?
5. What are some strategies related to the four Mechs?
6. Is devotion a feasible ability to use in a 600 pt. game?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Since when was a 22 defense with two clicks of reactive and 14 clicks of life and zero salvage clicks easy to kill?!?!? Now everyone is spoiled and says every defense lower than 24 is weak!

Besides that I can answer some of your questions:
1: I would replace vibroblade with improved myomer
2: I see little reason for IT or decoy on Paradise since it has 10 attack, 22 defense, and very stable primary damage. I would go with PPC Capacitor or Experimental Pulse to improve that incredibly long-lasting energy weapon.
3: I dunno
4: I thought you already equipped Firefly with AP
5: I dunno
6: Devotion is a silly ability in my opinion. You can only use when you're losing.

In the good old days, 22 was considered great. Now, with all those 12IT/11IT mechs out there, nobody is safe except for assault mechs.

For the AP, I can use Firefly but in a 600 pt. game, I can't really use both the Firefly and the Vulture. So, are there any other Liao units I can use for the AP?

Liao doesn't seem to have any cheap ballistic 'mechs except the Avalanche. A tank drop with a Liao R10 and a Kelswa is a possibility.

1. It's solid enough but I agree with Gato Grande with Improved Myomer on Ascension or maybe Rapid Strike. He's begging for higher damage potential since Yen-Lo-Wang overshadows it.
2. What would you like Paradise's role to be in an army? Accurate attack, hard-to-hit, or high firepower? I usually prefer the last which means PPC Capacitor.
3. Cornersone is good enough without gear. I'd rather invest in infantry.
4. With any of those four? Since Ascension is better off mowing down non-mech targets(Yen-Lo-Wang is so much better), I'd go with Firefly with ArP or pimp Paradise with PPC Capacitor. Armor can only reduce so much. You can do the same with Ascension but I'd rather use Yen-Lo-Wang with Danai's SLAM! and Vibroblade while keeping the mech busy with infantry.
5. Never used the lance in part or in whole. Still, Devotion ain't much use unless you field at least 2 them and fight attrition style. Not something I'd recommend. Despite 22 def, max health dial for their weight classes without salvage may mean headaches for your opponent and VC2 win regardless of how battered they are. Also, they're 22 def for good reason. Rest in front of your opponent and they suddenly become 23 def without the benefit of terrain due to Devotion(if you're using non-LE pilots). They work well with ample infantry support (e.g. ATV's, Simians, GDSBA).
6. Not really. It's better in large games where you can field the whole lance. It's useful on select occasions, but nothing else. Do not rely on it.

ArP on the Avalanche is not such a good idea. It's there to hit accurately. I like Pulse on it to make any single light mech think twice on getting near or Decoy while sitting on hindering. Kelswa is indeed one of the nutcrackers and could be assisted perfectly by a pair of TGR's who have the same range. It's an expensive combo, though.

Liao does not really need ArP on their mechs as long as you invest in firepower. Case in point, 2 of my HL Anubis(Sang-Wei+IT) killed a lone undamaged and armored WH Thor with no casualties with the assistance of HL Ruthlessness Faction Pride(+1dam on :^: and :^^: targets, 2/450). One of them did take 9 points of damage but it was still standing due to having no salvage on its dial. Liao can always be converted to one of high damage with the gears available out there. Even a SU Pulse on a Loki may mean a dead medium mech in one order with or without FP.

Does devotion work if I use a different Hiritsu pilot for a Mech than the preferred one? e.g. I use Jas Keck in Cornerstone. Does it still get the +1 to d when there are no order tokens?

Pilots with special abilities do not work if you use them in a mech other than their preferred unit. So, no, Cornerstone does not get that +1 to defense if piloted by Jas Keck even if he has that same ability. I have yet to see a pilot who could use their special ability outside their preferred ride.

What are some good support pieces for a House Liao army right now?

so far, I have found these to pretty good:
transported formations of Ravager BA's with MHI Hawk Moth Gunships used in conjuction can surprise enemy tanks, the Ravagers and MHI both have AP.
Laser Teams, not bad for how cheap they are, they die quick, but are good to support stronger units in formations.
Also if you are into artillery, Arrow IV, and Paladins are must haves.

I have the Paladin. How do you use it?

@CapnCarnage
I agree that's a good mix of support. I like the Laser Teams since 8 w/ IT is accurate in a formation. Not my style to use infy/tank drops, though. Too order intensive for me. That and our venue has at least 2 swift mech armies around to screw a slow support heavy army.


I go for heavy infantry for support with the occasional artillery or Yasha VTOL. That's why I go for fast infantry. Simians, ATV's, Minigun Cycle, Monocycles, GDSBA. The latter's not exactly fast but Recon gear does wonders. Of those in this list, the ATV's and the Minigun Cycles are the hard ones to get since they're old units, and very cheap in points for their role and toughness. I highly recommend the Simian, GDSBA and Monocycle. Have 5-6 pieces of each with you at least. May seem excessive but I use a lot.

And, yes, the Arrow IV and the Paladin Defense Tank is a must have. It's fun keeping them busy with swift infy with our Grapple Faction Pride (Opposing units get -1 to breakaway roll results against Liao infantry; units w/ jumpjets and evade suddenly fail on a 2 :laugh: ) then unleash one of the worst artillery barrages available in the game. I found it hilarious seeing Seka having a hell of a time breaking away from an ATV. :laugh:

The Paladin is a 'carpet-bomber'. You don't need to place a pog under your intended target to hit and is a bane to slow infantry (except RD infy) due to the area it can threaten. Also, if you notice, the drift is predicable. That makes missing a very unlucky event if you're after a single mech target for example since you can position the pogs in that you get to hit your target whatever the drift short of rolling very low or rolling a critical miss if he/she does not move away. It's nice to keep an opponent away from water and a second artillery (Arrow IV preferrably) can force further heat by placing a pog at the mech's center dot (12 to hit squarely, 9 to hit center dot) if he does not move away.

Thanks. Back to the Armor topic, what do I do if I can't find any of the good laser gear cards. I traded for the Paradise Vulture so I do not have the PPC Capacitor. Are there any other ways to deal with enemy armor? Particularly troublesome is Jonah Levin's Atlas as it not only has hardened armor, but also a killer 24 defense.

You could crack Solitude's armor with a Kelswa+TGR drop beyond his 10" range and fire in formation. You may use a WH MH1 to save on an order to drop a pair of TGR's with its recon.

Personally, I'd be trying to hit him from long range with a HL Loki w/ SU Pulse+LRM Battery/Sniper Team fire formation while he's based with an infantry.

Best advice I could give you is to keep Solitude busy with basers. With a minimum range on his ballistics of 2, he cannot kill a solitary HL baser in a single turn without help. Also, he cannot target you beyond 10" unless he shoots out. You could always win by killing everyone else around him. You don't face him head-on unless you have firepower and/or ArP at your disposal.