Infinity Unit Review: Peacemakers
Don't let the name fool you, Peacemakers are deadly mechanized remotes that bring a buddy along for fun. They may look a little cute and cuddly, with their bulbous forms and rounded features, but don't get too close or they'll blast you to pieces.
Stats and Special Rules
Peacemakers have a pretty solid stat-line across the board. They're quite speedy with MOV 6-4, their firepower is accurate with BS12, and a point of armor and three BTS helps give it a little extra survivability. They are Repeaters, so they're always in range for Supportware, but the stand out characteristic of the Peacemaker is Mechanized Deployment. Working much like Infiltration, this allows you to put the Peacemaker anywhere on your table half, though if you take multiple, they'll all have to be within 8" of each other, including the AUXBOT_3.
Profiles
Heavy Shotgun. While being the budget profile, a Heavy Shotgun is nothing to be ashamed of. Since the Peacemaker is deploying with Mechanized Deployment, you're now talking a potentially Marksmanship L2, damage 15, shock ammo shotgun that can peek around corners and utterly wreck anything in it's sight.
Spitfire. If you have a few extra points and a SWC, then I'd very much recommend trying out this profile. Since you start further up the board, you are more likely to be in optimal range of the weapon, and if the enemy gets to close... FWOOSH! The AUXBOT can roar into action.
AUXBOT_3
The humble AUXBOT deserves a bit of discussion all on it's own, while ubiquitous in PanOceania is a rare sight elsewhere. They are dirt cheap and tote a brutal Heavy Flamethrower. Since they are G:Synchronized, they benefit from any supportware put onto it's parent Peacemaker. That is a HUGE deal. If you use an EVO hacker to dish out Overclock, it will not only make the Peacemakers B2, but also their AUXBOTs, and even better, if you give the Peacemaker Assisted Fire, that AUXBOT's heavy flamethrower is suddenly inflicting Shock as well.
When you're getting up close to the enemy, it helps to think of the AUXBOT as something between a Fast Panda and an Antipersonnel Mine. If you have both the AUXBOT and the Peacemaker peek around a corner before firing, your enemy is put into a no-win situation. If they shoot back at the Peacemaker they're guaranteed to take the hit from the Heavy Flamethrower, but if they Dodge, they're not stopping you from attacking again.
Similarly, you can treat the AUXBOT as something of a S1 warband, which also happens to bring a combat remote along for the ride. Keeping the Peacemaker out of LOF, while using the AUXBOT to harass the enemy is a totally reasonable tactic, which can pay off quite well, especially considering the AUXBOT is a mere 4 points.
On The Table
Combining Mechanized Deployment with powerful short-ranged firepower, on a fast moving model is a match made in heaven. Peacemakers make great roadblocks, helping to keep enemy warbands from advancing up the board. In the Active Turn they can be truly devastating as well, not only for their own weaponry, but when you can leverage the AUXBOT effectively, you can inflict horrendous amounts of damage.
Being a repeater is also very handy, you can hack through them to immobilize a larger threat, before moving in for the kill with the heavy shotgun and heavy flamethrower. In general, the extended hacking radius is a potentially powerful tool, provided you have the hackers to take advantage of it. If you are playing Druze, it's pretty easy to take an assault hacker, killer hacker, and Gromoz for a standard hacking device, which will help you capitalize on this extended hacking area.
In Druze they're a bit of a no-brainer for me, particularly if playing missions without exclusion zones. Stopping enemy warbands is critical, and they're well suited for the job. In PanOceania it's a little different, and they often get overlooked for the cheaper, ODD equipped, Bulleteer. As a semi-infiltrating 6-4, heavy shotgun and heavy flamethrower equipped warband, they probably deserve a little more attention than they get.