Forces of the Freeborn: an army list review

This is the fourth and final chapter I'll be writing (I don't feel confident enough to advise on factions I don't actively play). I've really enjoyed putting the freeborn together and getting them down on the table, I'll happily say they've got the best model range in the game and can quite happily tailor to any playstyle you need. That said, what they have in flexibility is largely lost in durability and hitting power but both are largely countered by a pretty low starting cost on most troops, meaning you'll often have a dice-advantage over your opponent, in itself, this can be golden, especially against elite armies with lower dice counts as you can really rack up pins and neuter their offense which keeps your squishier dudes alive longer.
Complemented by a large suite of characters, freaks/weirdos and access to most of the C3 arsenal of drones and armour, the freeborn list is expansive and allows for a flexible force built to whatever fluff you desire for your own band of adventurer/traders/mercenaries!
In terms of composition, Freeborn tend to have the highest requirement for Tactical slots and also a large amount of support slots available per points-bracket so favour an MSU style approach of lots of units, lots of dice and multiple threats. They are capable of throwing down a lot of pins and smart use of command units can quickly overwhelm a flank with pins or save one with reactions without hurting your dice advantage too much.

Tactical:
Probably the key section to the Freeborn, the mix of the 5 required units you take at 1000points will largely dictate the rest of your build.
You can go very character heavy, or mass infantry and your infantry come in three differing cost brackets of increasing eliteness.

Freeborn Command Squad
Much like the rest of the Panhuman forces, a vanilla 3man squad is the first up on the roster, bringing with it the command/follow/hero/leader rules for buffing nearby units and allowing them to react better to enemy movements or synchronise with nearby units in "follow" actions.
At 111points, you get three guys in reflex armour with impact cloaks armed with plasma carbines (pistol on the captain) and the bevvy of rules mentioned above. They sport a good ACC of 6 and have access to basically the biggest upgrade list in any of the factions I play, making them somewhat of a points-sink if you're going a bit gung-ho with your list-building.
Due to the high requirement of tactical slots, its not a bad option to just take these guys cheap and keep them near a pack of support weapons or infantry and have them dish out a follow order each turn. A synchroniser drone comes in handy for a backfield command unit for spreading out the bubble of CO down the line too.
That said, if you want to utilise their high ACC (and why wouldn't you), upgrading them with extra bodies, better armour and compression carbines makes them an excellent tank/elite hunting unit, especially when aided by a well-armoured transport! In this mode, they become probably the best unit in the panhuman armies at dealing with Ghar suits, tanks and other heavies at range but as they need to get close for maximum bang out of the compression carbines, you'll want a hyperlight booster, one of the other armour options, a medi-drone and possibly a batter drone too making them a pretty sizeable investment but utterly lethal against their chosen targets. It should be noted that they lack the RES and weaponry to do well in CC so keep them well away if possible, they'll fold very quickly to any specialist unit or if outnumbered.
Main strengths:
-Hugely flexible
-Spread buffs to lots of units
-Follow rule gets best out of high-unit count
-ACC6 and compression carbines for dangerous offensive power
-Drones can shield/heal nearby units
Noteable weaknesses:
-Can get very pricey very quickly
-Hunter-killer squads need transportation due to short range
-Fold quickly in CC
-Points sink unless taken with focus in mind

Nuhu Renegade (+/- Meld)
One of the most esoteric units in the game, this takes the Nuhu platform and makes it actually really damn good. At base, you get a standard Nuhu like in the C3 list, gaining all the benefits of command/hero/leader rules as per the command squad above but with a much-reduced drone swarm vs the C3 variant. The standard nuhu has a decent gun but is pretty squishy and is more expensive than the above command squad with batter shield, but it does unlock mega cheap misgenic reject squads which add order dice and act as disposable meat-shields or are upgradeable to be a legitmate CC threat. Where this option gets really interesting though is when you add the second Nuhu to turn it into a MOD2 melded unit; instead of just dying to a stray wound, they now roll on a damage chart and get a substantially boosted RES which stacks with any appropriate cover bonuses making them very survivable.
The doubling of the firepower and CC output is also excellent as it significantly decreases the chance of whiffing due to poor dice. This makes them very dangerous to an opponent and very useful to you given the high SV on their boosted fire mode.
Shield drones are available as are spotters and the option of a second nano-drone is there if you have canny opponents who take them out with lucky shots.
Main strengths:
-Unlock cheap meat-shields
-Spread CO related buffs to nearby units
-Follow rule gets best out of high-unit count
-ACC6 and boosted imtel staves are very dangerous
-Resilient in a meld
-Best models in the range
Noteable weaknesses:
-Can get very pricey very quickly
-Need transportation/screening for aggressive work
-Single Nuhu very squishy and outcompeted by command squad

Vardnari squad:
These are the elite of the freeborn forces, coming armed with plasma carbines and armoured in reflex armour with impact cloaks, they're reasonably capable troops coming in at a similar price as a C3 strike squad but having 6men over the C3's 5 man standard for the same price. What you lose out on is the hyperlight armour and the lance option, but Freeborn are not hurting for support slots and weapon teams are cheap enough that you won't miss lances much. Vardnari do also gain options for a hyperlight booster drone, spotter drone and a synchroniser drone which help pass CO buffs down the line to other nearby units, making them a solid addition to a gunline. The plasma carbines they have as standard have more punch than the mag guns found on the majority of freeborn units and the extra SV can often be the difference between "heavily armoured" and pinnable targets when it comes to light vehicles and Ghar suits. Up to 2 extra bodies and grenades are the other options available as well as slingnet ammo for the leader's x-sling.
They're not great in CC given the lack of hand weapons on the majority of the unit, so I wouldn't commit even with hyperlight boosted reflex cloaks unless you have no better options. You're paying the points on these guys for the plasma carbines so sit back and use them at a comfortable range.
Main strengths:
-Can spread CO buffs to nearby units
-Hyperlight booster and good cover makes them resilient
-Plasma weaponry good for elite/light armour targets.
Noteable weaknesses:
-Lack punch in CC
-Can get pricey in multiples when upgraded

Domari squad:
Again, coming in base units of 6, these represent your "middling" unit, not particularly dangerous or resilient, but not costing the earth for the utility they provide. They're quite happy sitting on an objective going "down" all game as much as they are sitting back incover (+/- batter shields!) dishing out pins. Where they're not happy is in the thick of the fighting, especially out of cover.
The drop-off in points from vardnari gets them below 100points/squad at baseline but you lose plasma guns for mag-guns and lose reflex cloaks meaning they lose a lot of ranged punch and CC resilience is very poor against anything with massed attacks or some SV.
They do gain access to a Micro-X launcher as a 0point upgrade and can be outfitted with slingnet adding to their pin output (take a spotter drone to aid with this) and the leader needs an upgrade from his pistol to at least a mag gun to match the range of his boys. A plasma carbine is a prudent investment however, giving you the ability to pin light armour and elite squads as well as gaining extra shots in RF mode. The unit does have the option of taking grenades but it doesn't play well to their strengths though it does give last-ditch utility for dealing with drones and armour in CC.
 Main strengths:
-Cheap and cheerful infantry
-OH fire capable
Noteable weaknesses:
-Fold quickly in CC
-Not durable
-Mag guns a bit pillow-fisted
-Leader is largely useless without upgrades
-Needs buffs from elsewhere to shine

 Mhagris Feral squad:
These guys are your bargain basement infantry, unarmoured and armed with mag weaponry as standard, they clock in at 73 points for a 6man unit. Distinctly average stats abound here, but they can be invested in to get them reflex armour, grenades, a micro-X member and a plasma carbine for the leader bringing them up to Domari squads. The question with that is of course, why not just take Domari? The options that really justifiy the Mhagris are the cheap extra bodies and the soma grafts.
Both contribute to the main role of this unit, going "down" on an objective and not running away despite casualties. Though armour obviously helps with durability, it adds a lot of cost to the unit whilst only giving a marginal boost in survivability. Extra weapon options can largely be forgotten on these guys, they're unlikely to survive long enough to be useful and they're best going down for the survivability so they wont be shooting much anyway.
 Main strengths:
-Very Cheap
-Disposable meat-shield
-Soma grafts prevent unit breaking
Noteable weaknesses:
-Fold like tissue paper if not "down" in cover
-Paid upgrade options outside of grafts are a trap.

Hukk Bounty Hunter:




This mercenary bounty hunter brings with it some nice CC hit, some OH fire and some sniping ability and finds a lovely home in the Freeborn, being both a mercenary (fluffy) and useful at the asking price. As stock standard, he's a character with "wound" plus some hunting angriz which give the unit as a whole some bite in CC. The "Wound" rule means he has to be allocated the first hit and suffers cumulative penalties to his stats as the wounds tally up, meaning he starts strong but rapidly drops off in effectiveness as the game goes on as those penalties cannot be removed. Thankfully, he does have access to a drone swarm (shield and medi obviously help most here) and so long as he survives the hit allocated to him, everything is peachy.
He is armed with a custom mag-gun and if it hits, it automatically counts as a lucky hit, though it only has a basic mag-gun profile for damage/penetration which makes it far more useful for sniping off annoynances such as batter drones and opposing nanodrones than dug-in troopers. His High ACC and mag-gun bonus also help a lot in this role. He can also be outfitted with an underslung micro-x with special ammunition which brings utility and OH fire too, though it is innacurate and doesn't synergise fantastically with being a combat unit, though the blast mode helps in point blank shooting prior to CC.
Main Strengths:
-Solid CC unit in a tactical slot
-Reasonably durable
-Can snipe pesky buddy drones easily
-Source of OH fire
Noteable weaknesses:
-Wound rule is double edged sword
-Gets expensive with drone cloud
-High threat CC unit, will be targetted early

Togg
Another mercenary, he's one of the poster-boys for the freeborn forces and boils down to being a command squad in one infantry-man sized package. Functionally he subs in for a freeborn command squad for all intents though comes in a bit more expensive (though well armed).
In CC he dishes out three attacks with his hunting knife at SV1and on a charge hits with STR9 so will reliably get hits in.
His durability is not fantastic however at 6(8) for someone with two wounds (leader 3 does help somewhat) and a close combat orientation, so you'll need to pick his targets well (try to go for mag-gun armed foes where possible or those on "down" orders). He does have the benefit of having a fairly potent PBS attack though, as his genCarbine can lay down a massive hail of shots (6 shots from one guy!) though an equivalent (cheaper) command squad lay down the same fire, it should be noted.
As a commander, he brings the usual bevvy of Command/Leader/Hero traits so significantly boosts nearby units, and it is realistically these guys that you should send into combats first and use Togg to Mop up remnants and weakened units.
His second ranged attack is his tempest grenades; they cause a decent amount of pins but also confer sizeable risk of pinning himself so probably best to just stick to his genCarbine most of the time.
Togg can also take some drones to improve his survivability, the batter drone being the most useful all-round, but he becomes a very expensive model at this point and realistically is duplicating a lot of what the basic command squad do, but at a higher cost-of-entry. Granted, the wound rule means his damage output degrades slower than the command squad he replaces as he still shoots at full ROF, but its a minor bonus given the command squad can afford extra bodies before reaching Togg's asking price.
Main Strengths:
-Easy to hide from LOS due to small base size
-Good ROF and CC output for a single mini
-Buffs nearby units well
-Damage output degrades slower than the command squad he replaces
Noteable weaknesses:
-Pricey
-Command squad do what he does but cheaper
-Tempest grenades largely redundant

Support:
These slots are fairly numerous for the freeborn but only become mandatory above 1000 points.
They are definetly not a tax however, and with good access to cheap guns and plentiful units/characters with follow rules, you can easily set up for some devastating co-ordinated fire.
Given the lack of punch of many of your basic troopers, you'll be leaning on this section to provide some hitting power too.
Skyraider Command Squad
The command variant of the bikers available to the freeborn, they combine all the speed and armament of the biker squads whilst gaining all the benefits of being a command unit.
This obviously synergises well with highly mobile forces as the Command abilities need to follow the troops to be of much use. It does inflate the cost of the basic bike squad significantly though and the rules are largely wasted if they're not actively buffing nearby units.
The base abilities of the unit are the same as the below entry, except for; Command, Hero and Leader rules as per standard for this class of units. They can be upgraded with impact cloaks, a synchroniser drone and one of the bikers can take a plasma lance instead of the twin mag repeaters and another can be upgraded to a mag light support for 8points. This gives the squad versatility, in that the synchroniser drone (expensive at 20pts) allows the unit to move away from troops yet still confer aura buffs for similarly equipped units (that also need expensive buddy drones!) and considerable ranged punch and the lance gives the option to fire at a separate target, increasing potential pin output and light anti-armour capability. However, this makes the squad very pricey and will be given a high priority for elimination by your opponent. Bikes are 'Fast', equipped with mag repeatersx2 and have the option of dashing into CC and breaking out before melee. Given their ROF and speed, this makes them excellent hunters of weapon teams and depleted units, especially if they're on a down order.
They are however, fairly squishy unless on a 'Run' order, so make sure to retain them or utilise reactions to get to safety.
Main strengths:
-Fast rule makes them resilient on retained run orders
-Can cover vast distances
-Excellent hunters of depleted units and small teams
-Potentially able to pin multiple targets
-Can damage light armour with the lance
-Can buff and keep up with other fast/mechanised troopers
Noteable weaknesses:
-Get very pricey very quickly
-Poor synergy with infantry based lists
-Very vulnerable to scramble ammo
-Need run orders for survivability as 'Large'
-Mag repeaters pillow fisted against durable units

Skyraider Squad 
Much more efficient than the command squad above, they're cheap enough and less burdened with special rules that they can be taken as a cheap but effective harrassment unit. As with the command squad above, they're able to be kitted out with a lance +/- a mag light in lieue of the twin mag repeaters they're normally armed with either for free (lance) or 8pts for the mag light. Both options lose ROF compared to the repeaters, but do give options with SV and/or range. In their core role of decimating small teams/depleted units, they're good enough naked that they don't need the upgrades as they actively hurt their in-role abilities. As light armour hunters, the Lance and mag-light are useful as they gain SV and have the speed to swiftly relocate or find good angles for shots. They are dependent on run orders and hyperlight boosters for survivability though so once they do take fire that isn't being re-rolled, expect to take casualties and you can swiftly lose the unit to a well placed scramble round + shooting. They are cheap enough to be thoroughly disposable however and are well placed to murderise backfield units like howitzers and x-launchers.
Main strengths:
-Fast rule makes them resilient on retained run orders
-Can cover vast distances
-Excellent hunters of depleted units and small teams
-Potentially able to pin multiple targets
-Can damage light armour with the lance
Noteable weaknesses:
-Get very pricey very quickly
-Very vulnerable to scramble ammo
-Need run orders for survivability as 'Large'
-Mag repeaters pillow fisted against durable units

Mhagris Skark squad
A close-combat focussed riff on the above bikers, they start off as a cheap flanking threat, three models strong. The profile includes both rider and mount but features a low RES of 6 and the profile is further plagued by the 'Large' rule, preventing use of much cover and allowing them to be shot over the top of other units. The Skarks have 3 attacks a piece and the rider is armed with a maglash, so if you can deliver them in safely, they can competently do damage but honestly, its not gonna happen. They'll often take casualties from point blank shooting and will be well shot up before reaching their destination. They can be soma grafted to reduce their fleeing potential after taking casualties and can be given some weapon upgrades and impact cloaks but I honestly wouldn't bother. They're too squishy and will die as soon as someone pays them serious attention. One or two casualties and the unit is basically removed as a serious threat and can be largely ignored by your opponent.
They are "fast" so can launch long ranged assaults and gain benefits to being on retained run orders, but that stops them from fighting, and thats what you're taking them to do. Honestly, take the bikes. The twin mag repeaters and RES7 are far more reliable at doing damage and the firepower they have means they can be more utilitarian on the battlefield. By taking a squad you do unlock Meld skarks however, so you do need a squad if thats a unit you're building around.
Main strengths:
-Fast
-Large threat range
-Competent in CC if delivered safely
Noteable weaknesses:
-Unit is near useless once casualties taken
-Specialised for CC only
-Very squishy

Freeborn support team
An absolute steal at 34 points, they come with either a mag light support or an X-launcher at the base asking price and stagger up the upgrade tree from 10points for a mag-cannon right up to 40points for a compression or fractal cannon.
As a light weapons team, they remain fairly mobile with their hitting power and have spotter drones for increased fire reliability and batter drones for increased durability, though both obviously add a decent amount to the cost. The X-launcher gets the option of all the usual special ammunition and synergises well on a follow "Fire" order of dumping a scramble round into something with hyperlight boosters or batter drone protection before the other units hit them with firepower.
Mag cannons bring reliable and cheap anti-armour threat and the compression cannon is brutallly effective in the same role though needs to be up-close and personal given the SV drop-off with extended range brackets. The mag light is a lovely cheap pin platform and can perform well on an ambush order early in the turn, becoming something the opponent needs to then work around or deal with. Extra bodies and the leader rule for one of the crew can be added to up durability, but you're over half way to having another x-launcher or mag-light by the time you've paid the upgrades. keep em cheap, give em a spotter and take multiples. Cracking unit, take plenty but plan your movements so as not to block their LOF on important targets.
Main strengths:
-Cheap AI/AT platform
-Variety of loadouts
-Special ammunition opens up lots of tactics
-Works well with 'Follow' orders
-Batter drones protect other units
Noteable weaknesses:
-Small team, easy to take out
-Very vulnerable to fast CC units like bikes
-Spotters mandatory on X-launchers and AT guns due to one-dice syndrome
-Need good LOF to be useful

T7 Transporter
A concord-supplied transport craft, this is the only transport available to the freeborn at present.
It can be kept unarmed and lightly armoured to provide cheap wheels to your forces or up-armoured and up-gunned to be a decent threat thanks to its plasma light support or mag(+/-twin mag)light support options. As a MOD2 unit, a twin mag light support can lay down a really decent ROF and with the extra armour, requires proper AT weaponry to reliably bring down. However, these options double the asking price (especially with the auto-take 10pt ACC upgrade) and put you into battle-tank points brackets with less hitting power (A MOD2 mag-cannon is nothing to be sniffed at though). Their ability to get a unit into the fight or relocate beleagured units out of harms way is nothing to be sniffed at though and they are competent gun platforms with the upgrades. Personally, I feel the un-upgraded variants are very squishy and can easily become a death-trap for embarked units unless taken in multiples as scramble munitions and decent SV weaponry will tear them apart with little difficulty.
An off-beat option is the sensor suite, effectively a laser designation system, it can "paint" an enemy unit to confer +1ACC for all other units targetting them, something that can really help an artillery park or your hordes of otherwise distinctly average infantry to hit well.
Main strengths:
-Cheap transport or good gunship option
-MOD2
-Can be resilient and dogged utility vehicle
-Great for "escape the board" style scenarios
-Can buff multiple units' ACC
-Doesn't use up a strategic slot anymore
Noteable weaknesses:
-Gets really expensive, really quickly
-Extremely squshy if kept cheap
-Embarked units take big hit if transport goes down

Striker attack skimmer
A light vehicle, this is essentially a faster, more limited, MOD2 support team with RES11.
It comes with a plasma light support but can take a plasma cannon instead for a mere 5pts, making it a good armour hunter given its inherent speed from being MOD2. RES11 is squishy though, plasma carbines can take it below "heavily armoured" territory and pin/down it reasonably well and dedicated AT guns will blow it apart. It can take a hyperlight booster and batter drone, but those options put it near the 200point mark and you can get an armed RES13 T7 for similar costs with more utility. Given you can get a plasma light support or mag-cannon with ACC6 for the same or less points on the T7(plus transport capacity), this is fairly redundant as an option in all honesty.
Main strengths:
-Cool model
-MOD2 gun platform
Noteable weaknesses:
-Out-competed by the T7
-Expensive
-Squishy

Strategic
The home of the true big guns, this slot doesn't open up until you're playing games above 1000points and you don't get multiples until 1250points.
Given the inherent cost on a lot of these and limited slots for them to go in, you'll need to be thinking about which units you're using early in the list building phase and factoring that in for the rest of your build.
Heavy support team
Much like the support-slot variant, this heavy team comes armed with field guns of varying roles for a 10point upgrade from the stock Mag heavy support. at 91points with 3 crew, a spotter and a mag heavy, its a distinctly "ok" platform that is frankly better served by taking two mag light teams and using the spare change on other things. Where the team gets really interesting though is the X-Howitzer or Mag-Mortar upgrade. Both of these bring serious upgrades in firepower and range over the x-launchers and double OH templates can make short work of backfield units or light infantry, especially those holed up on multiple levels of buildings. They can obviously fire indirectly and the double templates available mitigate some of the scatter by improving the chances of hitting at least something. Special ammunition is available too, vastly improving utility of the platform for a modest upgrade price. The heavy mag-cannon is less of an auto-take, but if you're seeing lots of heavy armour in your meta, it is pretty capable of putting a hole in main battle tanks and transports.
As with all heavy weapons, they are slow and these are classed as large so don't have to worry as much about LOS as the smaller teams do. The flipside being that they can be shot at over smaller teams. Batter drones, extra crew (+ a leader option) and impact cloaks are all available to improve survivability but rapidly inflate the cost (enough that a batter, extra crew, leader and cloaks have paid for a support slot mag-cannon team!) so be very mindful of only paying for what you actually need to make the unit work. As with all OH fire weapons, list-wide support of spotter drones/shards, targetting probes etc further enhance the damage output so make sure to build those in if you're going that way.
Main strengths:
-OH fire options bring huge utility and back-line threat
-Heavy mag cannon brings good AT punch
-Special ammunition brings huge versatility
-Works well with "Follow" orders
Noteable weaknesses:
-Need list-wide support to get most out of OH fire platforms
-Very vulnerable to CC hunters like bikers
-Batter shield can protect multiple units
-Gets pricey quickly
-Mag heavy outcompeted by taking x2 mag light squads
-Vulnerable to single-dice syndrome
-High threat unit, enemy will prioritise
-Large
-Slow

Specialist heavy support team
A riff on the above team, they bring options of more esoteric weaponry suited to heavy-armour hunting and building destruction. The plasma and compression bombards are excellently suited to punching holes in buildings and super-heavy tanks but are largely overkill against any other target and as such, this utility of this team is likely to be very meta-dependent. Fractal is pretty solid at destroying buildings and other largely immobile targets but often takes more time than is sensible, so the heavy mag-cannon above or the compression bombard is more reliable in many circumstances. Otherwise, they have much of the same pro's and con's as above
Main strengths:
-Plasma/compression bombards bring superb AT punch
-Cover meta-specific needs excellently
-Works well with "Follow" orders
Noteable weaknesses:
-Very vulnerable to CC hunters like bikers
-Batter shield can protect multiple units
-Gets pricey quickly
-Vulnerable to single-dice syndrome
-High threat unit, enemy will prioritise
-Large
-Slow
-Meta-dependent

M4 combat drone
A concord-manufactured main battle tank equivalent, this MOD2 bruiser comes armed with a plasma cannon and a plasma light support giving it decent threat vs anything the enemy can throw at you. For a modest increase in cost, the main cannon can be swapped out for a compression cannon or a fractal cannon. It starts with the fully upgraded T7 chassis of ARM13, ACC6 which makes it a very reliable gun platform, especially considering it comes with a spotter included.
The MOD2 is the shining aspect of the tank alongside its mobility. It can rapidly haul up to a good spot and punish exposed units with potent weaponry. The compression cannon is lethal against armour and the tank is mobile enough to get into its good bands. The fractal cannon is actually useful on this platform as it can rapidly wrap two order dice at the end of the turn into the early dice of the next turn to make best use of the fractal lock rule, rapidly punishing anything static or caught on the hop after its activation.
To further its durability, shield drones and batter drones can be taken, and it has an optional self-repair rule to get around weapon destroyed and immobilised results, though again, it gets pricey quickly considering its 249point base cost! As a vehicle, it can be one-shotted however, so be exceedingly mindful of opposing armour and AT guns, kill them early!!! It is also very vulnerable in CC vs grenade armed units or CC specialists with good SV, so screen it and engage at range.
Main strengths:
-MOD2 Gun platform
-Durable
-Can make most of fractal weaponry
-Compression cannon is lethal vs armour
-Makes the opponent have to react to it!
Noteable weaknesses:
-Can be one-shotted
-Vulnerable in CC
-Expensive!
-Main gun is overkill against infantry based armies

Mhagris Meld Skark
An Esoteric "monster" style unit, it is unlocked as a choice once you've taken the standard skark unit.
It starts at 60points but that is frankly a trap because it wastes its potential is is pretty squishy considering the threat it projects in CC. The unit has access to MOD2 and leader 3 as well as a durability boost to RES 8(9) so if you're taking one of these over your other strategic slot options, go big or go home as a leader3, RES9 MOD2 CC unit is vastly more useful to you and dangerous to your opponent! It is a humongous beast unit and as such rolls on a damage chart to ascertain damage and the leader rules mean you roll the number of dice that is equivalent to your leader level and choose the lowest result (leader 3= roll three dice on the chart and choose lowest result). This makes it pretty damn durable and soma grafts interact nicely with it, allowing it to soak up pins with relative impunity whislt still remaining useful. The rider is armed with a maglash and the skark puts out 6 attacks with an SV2 hit, passing any order to assault on a roll of anything but a 10 thanks to savage strike. This unit is about the best dedicated CC unit that we have given how its rules, durability and stats stack up. Its fast and dangerous but does preclude other strategic choices in 1000points games so make sure to cover your weaknesses from the support slots.
This is the fourth and final chapter I'll be writing (I don't feel confident enough to advise on factions I don't actively play). I've really enjoyed putting the freeborn together and getting them down on the table, I'll happily say they've got the best model range in the game and can quite happily tailor to any playstyle you need. That said, what they have in flexibility is largely lost in durability and hitting power but both are largely countered by a pretty low starting cost on most troops, meaning you'll often have a dice-advantage over your opponent, in itself, this can be golden, especially against elite armies with lower dice counts as you can really rack up pins and neuter their offense which keeps your squishier dudes alive longer.
Complemented by a large suite of characters, freaks/weirdos and access to most of the C3 arsenal of drones and armour, the freeborn list is expansive and allows for a flexible force built to whatever fluff you desire for your own band of adventurer/traders/mercenaries!
In terms of composition, Freeborn tend to have the highest requirement for Tactical slots and also a large amount of support slots available per points-bracket so favour an MSU style approach of lots of units, lots of dice and multiple threats. They are capable of throwing down a lot of pins and smart use of command units can quickly overwhelm a flank with pins or save one with reactions without hurting your dice advantage too much.

Tactical:
Probably the key section to the Freeborn, the mix of the 5 required units you take at 1000points will largely dictate the rest of your build.
You can go very character heavy, or mass infantry and your infantry come in three differing cost brackets of increasing eliteness.

Freeborn Command Squad
Much like the rest of the Panhuman forces, a vanilla 3man squad is the first up on the roster, bringing with it the command/follow/hero/leader rules for buffing nearby units and allowing them to react better to enemy movements or synchronise with nearby units in "follow" actions.
At 111points, you get three guys in reflex armour with impact cloaks armed with plasma carbines (pistol on the captain) and the bevvy of rules mentioned above. They sport a good ACC of 6 and have access to basically the biggest upgrade list in any of the factions I play, making them somewhat of a points-sink if you're going a bit gung-ho with your list-building.
Due to the high requirement of tactical slots, its not a bad option to just take these guys cheap and keep them near a pack of support weapons or infantry and have them dish out a follow order each turn. A synchroniser drone comes in handy for a backfield command unit for spreading out the bubble of CO down the line too.
That said, if you want to utilise their high ACC (and why wouldn't you), upgrading them with extra bodies, better armour and compression carbines makes them an excellent tank/elite hunting unit, especially when aided by a well-armoured transport! In this mode, they become probably the best unit in the panhuman armies at dealing with Ghar suits, tanks and other heavies at range but as they need to get close for maximum bang out of the compression carbines, you'll want a hyperlight booster, one of the other armour options, a medi-drone and possibly a batter drone too making them a pretty sizeable investment but utterly lethal against their chosen targets. It should be noted that they lack the RES and weaponry to do well in CC so keep them well away if possible, they'll fold very quickly to any specialist unit or if outnumbered.
Main strengths:
-Hugely flexible
-Spread buffs to lots of units
-Follow rule gets best out of high-unit count
-ACC6 and compression carbines for dangerous offensive power
-Drones can shield/heal nearby units
Noteable weaknesses:
-Can get very pricey very quickly
-Hunter-killer squads need transportation due to short range
-Fold quickly in CC
-Points sink unless taken with focus in mind

Nuhu Renegade (+/- Meld)
One of the most esoteric units in the game, this takes the Nuhu platform and makes it actually really damn good. At base, you get a standard Nuhu like in the C3 list, gaining all the benefits of command/hero/leader rules as per the command squad above but with a much-reduced drone swarm vs the C3 variant. The standard nuhu has a decent gun but is pretty squishy and is more expensive than the above command squad with batter shield, but it does unlock mega cheap misgenic reject squads which add order dice and act as disposable meat-shields or are upgradeable to be a legitmate CC threat. Where this option gets really interesting though is when you add the second Nuhu to turn it into a MOD2 melded unit; instead of just dying to a stray wound, they now roll on a damage chart and get a substantially boosted RES which stacks with any appropriate cover bonuses making them very survivable.
The doubling of the firepower and CC output is also excellent as it significantly decreases the chance of whiffing due to poor dice. This makes them very dangerous to an opponent and very useful to you given the high SV on their boosted fire mode.
Shield drones are available as are spotters and the option of a second nano-drone is there if you have canny opponents who take them out with lucky shots.
Main strengths:
-Unlock cheap meat-shields
-Spread CO related buffs to nearby units
-Follow rule gets best out of high-unit count
-ACC6 and boosted imtel staves are very dangerous
-Resilient in a meld
-Best models in the range
Noteable weaknesses:
-Can get very pricey very quickly
-Need transportation/screening for aggressive work
-Single Nuhu very squishy and outcompeted by command squad

Vardnari squad:
These are the elite of the freeborn forces, coming armed with plasma carbines and armoured in reflex armour with impact cloaks, they're reasonably capable troops coming in at a similar price as a C3 strike squad but having 6men over the C3's 5 man standard for the same price. What you lose out on is the hyperlight armour and the lance option, but Freeborn are not hurting for support slots and weapon teams are cheap enough that you won't miss lances much. Vardnari do also gain options for a hyperlight booster drone, spotter drone and a synchroniser drone which help pass CO buffs down the line to other nearby units, making them a solid addition to a gunline. The plasma carbines they have as standard have more punch than the mag guns found on the majority of freeborn units and the extra SV can often be the difference between "heavily armoured" and pinnable targets when it comes to light vehicles and Ghar suits. Up to 2 extra bodies and grenades are the other options available as well as slingnet ammo for the leader's x-sling.
They're not great in CC given the lack of hand weapons on the majority of the unit, so I wouldn't commit even with hyperlight boosted reflex cloaks unless you have no better options. You're paying the points on these guys for the plasma carbines so sit back and use them at a comfortable range.
Main strengths:
-Can spread CO buffs to nearby units
-Hyperlight booster and good cover makes them resilient
-Plasma weaponry good for elite/light armour targets.
Noteable weaknesses:
-Lack punch in CC
-Can get pricey in multiples when upgraded

Domari squad:
Again, coming in base units of 6, these represent your "middling" unit, not particularly dangerous or resilient, but not costing the earth for the utility they provide. They're quite happy sitting on an objective going "down" all game as much as they are sitting back incover (+/- batter shields!) dishing out pins. Where they're not happy is in the thick of the fighting, especially out of cover.
The drop-off in points from vardnari gets them below 100points/squad at baseline but you lose plasma guns for mag-guns and lose reflex cloaks meaning they lose a lot of ranged punch and CC resilience is very poor against anything with massed attacks or some SV.
They do gain access to a Micro-X launcher as a 0point upgrade and can be outfitted with slingnet adding to their pin output (take a spotter drone to aid with this) and the leader needs an upgrade from his pistol to at least a mag gun to match the range of his boys. A plasma carbine is a prudent investment however, giving you the ability to pin light armour and elite squads as well as gaining extra shots in RF mode. The unit does have the option of taking grenades but it doesn't play well to their strengths though it does give last-ditch utility for dealing with drones and armour in CC.
 Main strengths:
-Cheap and cheerful infantry
-OH fire capable
Noteable weaknesses:
-Fold quickly in CC
-Not durable
-Mag guns a bit pillow-fisted
-Leader is largely useless without upgrades
-Needs buffs from elsewhere to shine

 Mhagris Feral squad:
These guys are your bargain basement infantry, unarmoured and armed with mag weaponry as standard, they clock in at 73 points for a 6man unit. Distinctly average stats abound here, but they can be invested in to get them reflex armour, grenades, a micro-X member and a plasma carbine for the leader bringing them up to Domari squads. The question with that is of course, why not just take Domari? The options that really justifiy the Mhagris are the cheap extra bodies and the soma grafts.
Both contribute to the main role of this unit, going "down" on an objective and not running away despite casualties. Though armour obviously helps with durability, it adds a lot of cost to the unit whilst only giving a marginal boost in survivability. Extra weapon options can largely be forgotten on these guys, they're unlikely to survive long enough to be useful and they're best going down for the survivability so they wont be shooting much anyway.
 Main strengths:
-Very Cheap
-Disposable meat-shield
-Soma grafts prevent unit breaking
Noteable weaknesses:
-Fold like tissue paper if not "down" in cover
-Paid upgrade options outside of grafts are a trap.

Hukk Bounty Hunter:




This mercenary bounty hunter brings with it some nice CC hit, some OH fire and some sniping ability and finds a lovely home in the Freeborn, being both a mercenary (fluffy) and useful at the asking price. As stock standard, he's a character with "wound" plus some hunting angriz which give the unit as a whole some bite in CC. The "Wound" rule means he has to be allocated the first hit and suffers cumulative penalties to his stats as the wounds tally up, meaning he starts strong but rapidly drops off in effectiveness as the game goes on as those penalties cannot be removed. Thankfully, he does have access to a drone swarm (shield and medi obviously help most here) and so long as he survives the hit allocated to him, everything is peachy.
He is armed with a custom mag-gun and if it hits, it automatically counts as a lucky hit, though it only has a basic mag-gun profile for damage/penetration which makes it far more useful for sniping off annoynances such as batter drones and opposing nanodrones than dug-in troopers. His High ACC and mag-gun bonus also help a lot in this role. He can also be outfitted with an underslung micro-x with special ammunition which brings utility and OH fire too, though it is innacurate and doesn't synergise fantastically with being a combat unit, though the blast mode helps in point blank shooting prior to CC.
Main Strengths:
-Solid CC unit in a tactical slot
-Reasonably durable
-Can snipe pesky buddy drones easily
-Source of OH fire
Noteable weaknesses:
-Wound rule is double edged sword
-Gets expensive with drone cloud
-High threat CC unit, will be targetted early

Togg
Another mercenary, he's one of the poster-boys for the freeborn forces and boils down to being a command squad in one infantry-man sized package. Functionally he subs in for a freeborn command squad for all intents though comes in a bit more expensive (though well armed).
In CC he dishes out three attacks with his hunting knife at SV1and on a charge hits with STR9 so will reliably get hits in.
His durability is not fantastic however at 6(8) for someone with two wounds (leader 3 does help somewhat) and a close combat orientation, so you'll need to pick his targets well (try to go for mag-gun armed foes where possible or those on "down" orders). He does have the benefit of having a fairly potent PBS attack though, as his genCarbine can lay down a massive hail of shots (6 shots from one guy!) though an equivalent (cheaper) command squad lay down the same fire, it should be noted.
As a commander, he brings the usual bevvy of Command/Leader/Hero traits so significantly boosts nearby units, and it is realistically these guys that you should send into combats first and use Togg to Mop up remnants and weakened units.
His second ranged attack is his tempest grenades; they cause a decent amount of pins but also confer sizeable risk of pinning himself so probably best to just stick to his genCarbine most of the time.
Togg can also take some drones to improve his survivability, the batter drone being the most useful all-round, but he becomes a very expensive model at this point and realistically is duplicating a lot of what the basic command squad do, but at a higher cost-of-entry. Granted, the wound rule means his damage output degrades slower than the command squad he replaces as he still shoots at full ROF, but its a minor bonus given the command squad can afford extra bodies before reaching Togg's asking price.
Main Strengths:
-Easy to hide from LOS due to small base size
-Good ROF and CC output for a single mini
-Buffs nearby units well
-Damage output degrades slower than the command squad he replaces
Noteable weaknesses:
-Pricey
-Command squad do what he does but cheaper
-Tempest grenades largely redundant

Support:
These slots are fairly numerous for the freeborn but only become mandatory above 1000 points.
They are definetly not a tax however, and with good access to cheap guns and plentiful units/characters with follow rules, you can easily set up for some devastating co-ordinated fire.
Given the lack of punch of many of your basic troopers, you'll be leaning on this section to provide some hitting power too.
Skyraider Command Squad
The command variant of the bikers available to the freeborn, they combine all the speed and armament of the biker squads whilst gaining all the benefits of being a command unit.
This obviously synergises well with highly mobile forces as the Command abilities need to follow the troops to be of much use. It does inflate the cost of the basic bike squad significantly though and the rules are largely wasted if they're not actively buffing nearby units.
The base abilities of the unit are the same as the below entry, except for; Command, Hero and Leader rules as per standard for this class of units. They can be upgraded with impact cloaks, a synchroniser drone and one of the bikers can take a plasma lance instead of the twin mag repeaters and another can be upgraded to a mag light support for 8points. This gives the squad versatility, in that the synchroniser drone (expensive at 20pts) allows the unit to move away from troops yet still confer aura buffs for similarly equipped units (that also need expensive buddy drones!) and considerable ranged punch and the lance gives the option to fire at a separate target, increasing potential pin output and light anti-armour capability. However, this makes the squad very pricey and will be given a high priority for elimination by your opponent. Bikes are 'Fast', equipped with mag repeatersx2 and have the option of dashing into CC and breaking out before melee. Given their ROF and speed, this makes them excellent hunters of weapon teams and depleted units, especially if they're on a down order.
They are however, fairly squishy unless on a 'Run' order, so make sure to retain them or utilise reactions to get to safety.
Main strengths:
-Fast rule makes them resilient on retained run orders
-Can cover vast distances
-Excellent hunters of depleted units and small teams
-Potentially able to pin multiple targets
-Can damage light armour with the lance
-Can buff and keep up with other fast/mechanised troopers
Noteable weaknesses:
-Get very pricey very quickly
-Poor synergy with infantry based lists
-Very vulnerable to scramble ammo
-Need run orders for survivability as 'Large'
-Mag repeaters pillow fisted against durable units

Skyraider Squad 
Much more efficient than the command squad above, they're cheap enough and less burdened with special rules that they can be taken as a cheap but effective harrassment unit. As with the command squad above, they're able to be kitted out with a lance +/- a mag light in lieue of the twin mag repeaters they're normally armed with either for free (lance) or 8pts for the mag light. Both options lose ROF compared to the repeaters, but do give options with SV and/or range. In their core role of decimating small teams/depleted units, they're good enough naked that they don't need the upgrades as they actively hurt their in-role abilities. As light armour hunters, the Lance and mag-light are useful as they gain SV and have the speed to swiftly relocate or find good angles for shots. They are dependent on run orders and hyperlight boosters for survivability though so once they do take fire that isn't being re-rolled, expect to take casualties and you can swiftly lose the unit to a well placed scramble round + shooting. They are cheap enough to be thoroughly disposable however and are well placed to murderise backfield units like howitzers and x-launchers.
Main strengths:
-Fast rule makes them resilient on retained run orders
-Can cover vast distances
-Excellent hunters of depleted units and small teams
-Potentially able to pin multiple targets
-Can damage light armour with the lance
Noteable weaknesses:
-Get very pricey very quickly
-Very vulnerable to scramble ammo
-Need run orders for survivability as 'Large'
-Mag repeaters pillow fisted against durable units

Mhagris Skark squad
A close-combat focussed riff on the above bikers, they start off as a cheap flanking threat, three models strong. The profile includes both rider and mount but features a low RES of 6 and the profile is further plagued by the 'Large' rule, preventing use of much cover and allowing them to be shot over the top of other units. The Skarks have 3 attacks a piece and the rider is armed with a maglash, so if you can deliver them in safely, they can competently do damage but honestly, its not gonna happen. They'll often take casualties from point blank shooting and will be well shot up before reaching their destination. They can be soma grafted to reduce their fleeing potential after taking casualties and can be given some weapon upgrades and impact cloaks but I honestly wouldn't bother. They're too squishy and will die as soon as someone pays them serious attention. One or two casualties and the unit is basically removed as a serious threat and can be largely ignored by your opponent.
They are "fast" so can launch long ranged assaults and gain benefits to being on retained run orders, but that stops them from fighting, and thats what you're taking them to do. Honestly, take the bikes. The twin mag repeaters and RES7 are far more reliable at doing damage and the firepower they have means they can be more utilitarian on the battlefield. By taking a squad you do unlock Meld skarks however, so you do need a squad if thats a unit you're building around.
Main strengths:
-Fast
-Large threat range
-Competent in CC if delivered safely
Noteable weaknesses:
-Unit is near useless once casualties taken
-Specialised for CC only
-Very squishy

Freeborn support team
An absolute steal at 34 points, they come with either a mag light support or an X-launcher at the base asking price and stagger up the upgrade tree from 10points for a mag-cannon right up to 40points for a compression or fractal cannon.
As a light weapons team, they remain fairly mobile with their hitting power and have spotter drones for increased fire reliability and batter drones for increased durability, though both obviously add a decent amount to the cost. The X-launcher gets the option of all the usual special ammunition and synergises well on a follow "Fire" order of dumping a scramble round into something with hyperlight boosters or batter drone protection before the other units hit them with firepower.
Mag cannons bring reliable and cheap anti-armour threat and the compression cannon is brutallly effective in the same role though needs to be up-close and personal given the SV drop-off with extended range brackets. The mag light is a lovely cheap pin platform and can perform well on an ambush order early in the turn, becoming something the opponent needs to then work around or deal with. Extra bodies and the leader rule for one of the crew can be added to up durability, but you're over half way to having another x-launcher or mag-light by the time you've paid the upgrades. keep em cheap, give em a spotter and take multiples. Cracking unit, take plenty but plan your movements so as not to block their LOF on important targets.
Main strengths:
-Cheap AI/AT platform
-Variety of loadouts
-Special ammunition opens up lots of tactics
-Works well with 'Follow' orders
-Batter drones protect other units
Noteable weaknesses:
-Small team, easy to take out
-Very vulnerable to fast CC units like bikes
-Spotters mandatory on X-launchers and AT guns due to one-dice syndrome
-Need good LOF to be useful

T7 Transporter
A concord-supplied transport craft, this is the only transport available to the freeborn at present.
It can be kept unarmed and lightly armoured to provide cheap wheels to your forces or up-armoured and up-gunned to be a decent threat thanks to its plasma light support or mag(+/-twin mag)light support options. As a MOD2 unit, a twin mag light support can lay down a really decent ROF and with the extra armour, requires proper AT weaponry to reliably bring down. However, these options double the asking price (especially with the auto-take 10pt ACC upgrade) and put you into battle-tank points brackets with less hitting power (A MOD2 mag-cannon is nothing to be sniffed at though). Their ability to get a unit into the fight or relocate beleagured units out of harms way is nothing to be sniffed at though and they are competent gun platforms with the upgrades. Personally, I feel the un-upgraded variants are very squishy and can easily become a death-trap for embarked units unless taken in multiples as scramble munitions and decent SV weaponry will tear them apart with little difficulty.
An off-beat option is the sensor suite, effectively a laser designation system, it can "paint" an enemy unit to confer +1ACC for all other units targetting them, something that can really help an artillery park or your hordes of otherwise distinctly average infantry to hit well.
Main strengths:
-Cheap transport or good gunship option
-MOD2
-Can be resilient and dogged utility vehicle
-Great for "escape the board" style scenarios
-Can buff multiple units' ACC
-Doesn't use up a strategic slot anymore
Noteable weaknesses:
-Gets really expensive, really quickly
-Extremely squshy if kept cheap
-Embarked units take big hit if transport goes down

Striker attack skimmer
A light vehicle, this is essentially a faster, more limited, MOD2 support team with RES11.
It comes with a plasma light support but can take a plasma cannon instead for a mere 5pts, making it a good armour hunter given its inherent speed from being MOD2. RES11 is squishy though, plasma carbines can take it below "heavily armoured" territory and pin/down it reasonably well and dedicated AT guns will blow it apart. It can take a hyperlight booster and batter drone, but those options put it near the 200point mark and you can get an armed RES13 T7 for similar costs with more utility. Given you can get a plasma light support or mag-cannon with ACC6 for the same or less points on the T7(plus transport capacity), this is fairly redundant as an option in all honesty.
Main strengths:
-Cool model
-MOD2 gun platform
Noteable weaknesses:
-Out-competed by the T7
-Expensive
-Squishy

Strategic
The home of the true big guns, this slot doesn't open up until you're playing games above 1000points and you don't get multiples until 1250points.
Given the inherent cost on a lot of these and limited slots for them to go in, you'll need to be thinking about which units you're using early in the list building phase and factoring that in for the rest of your build.
Heavy support team
Much like the support-slot variant, this heavy team comes armed with field guns of varying roles for a 10point upgrade from the stock Mag heavy support. at 91points with 3 crew, a spotter and a mag heavy, its a distinctly "ok" platform that is frankly better served by taking two mag light teams and using the spare change on other things. Where the team gets really interesting though is the X-Howitzer or Mag-Mortar upgrade. Both of these bring serious upgrades in firepower and range over the x-launchers and double OH templates can make short work of backfield units or light infantry, especially those holed up on multiple levels of buildings. They can obviously fire indirectly and the double templates available mitigate some of the scatter by improving the chances of hitting at least something. Special ammunition is available too, vastly improving utility of the platform for a modest upgrade price. The heavy mag-cannon is less of an auto-take, but if you're seeing lots of heavy armour in your meta, it is pretty capable of putting a hole in main battle tanks and transports.
As with all heavy weapons, they are slow and these are classed as large so don't have to worry as much about LOS as the smaller teams do. The flipside being that they can be shot at over smaller teams. Batter drones, extra crew (+ a leader option) and impact cloaks are all available to improve survivability but rapidly inflate the cost (enough that a batter, extra crew, leader and cloaks have paid for a support slot mag-cannon team!) so be very mindful of only paying for what you actually need to make the unit work. As with all OH fire weapons, list-wide support of spotter drones/shards, targetting probes etc further enhance the damage output so make sure to build those in if you're going that way.
Main strengths:
-OH fire options bring huge utility and back-line threat
-Heavy mag cannon brings good AT punch
-Special ammunition brings huge versatility
-Works well with "Follow" orders
Noteable weaknesses:
-Need list-wide support to get most out of OH fire platforms
-Very vulnerable to CC hunters like bikers
-Batter shield can protect multiple units
-Gets pricey quickly
-Mag heavy outcompeted by taking x2 mag light squads
-Vulnerable to single-dice syndrome
-High threat unit, enemy will prioritise
-Large
-Slow

Specialist heavy support team
A riff on the above team, they bring options of more esoteric weaponry suited to heavy-armour hunting and building destruction. The plasma and compression bombards are excellently suited to punching holes in buildings and super-heavy tanks but are largely overkill against any other target and as such, this utility of this team is likely to be very meta-dependent. Fractal is pretty solid at destroying buildings and other largely immobile targets but often takes more time than is sensible, so the heavy mag-cannon above or the compression bombard is more reliable in many circumstances. Otherwise, they have much of the same pro's and con's as above
Main strengths:
-Plasma/compression bombards bring superb AT punch
-Cover meta-specific needs excellently
-Works well with "Follow" orders
Noteable weaknesses:
-Very vulnerable to CC hunters like bikers
-Batter shield can protect multiple units
-Gets pricey quickly
-Vulnerable to single-dice syndrome
-High threat unit, enemy will prioritise
-Large
-Slow
-Meta-dependent

M4 combat drone
A concord-manufactured main battle tank equivalent, this MOD2 bruiser comes armed with a plasma cannon and a plasma light support giving it decent threat vs anything the enemy can throw at you. For a modest increase in cost, the main cannon can be swapped out for a compression cannon or a fractal cannon. It starts with the fully upgraded T7 chassis of ARM13, ACC6 which makes it a very reliable gun platform, especially considering it comes with a spotter included.
The MOD2 is the shining aspect of the tank alongside its mobility. It can rapidly haul up to a good spot and punish exposed units with potent weaponry. The compression cannon is lethal against armour and the tank is mobile enough to get into its good bands. The fractal cannon is actually useful on this platform as it can rapidly wrap two order dice at the end of the turn into the early dice of the next turn to make best use of the fractal lock rule, rapidly punishing anything static or caught on the hop after its activation.
To further its durability, shield drones and batter drones can be taken, and it has an optional self-repair rule to get around weapon destroyed and immobilised results, though again, it gets pricey quickly considering its 249point base cost! As a vehicle, it can be one-shotted however, so be exceedingly mindful of opposing armour and AT guns, kill them early!!! It is also very vulnerable in CC vs grenade armed units or CC specialists with good SV, so screen it and engage at range.
Main strengths:
-MOD2, "fast" dedicated CC hitter
-Fairly durable with upgrades
-Capable of mincing two non-dedicated CC specialists a turn!
-Soma grafts keep it in the fight
-Nearly always passes orders to assault
Noteable weaknesses:
-Most optional upgrades are basically mandatory
-Precludes ranged strategic options at 1k
-High threat unit
-Vulnerable to AT weaponry (especially 'massive damage')
-Vulnerable to CC specialists
-Goes out of control after enough pins

M407 Close support drone
A close-support variant of the M4, it swaps out the main cannon armament for an extra turret and comes armed with two lots of twinned plasma carbines and a plasma light support. At firs this sounds a bit pillow fisted, but it is capable of generating a huge ROF and on fire orders, can spread a lot of pins about thanks to being MOD2. It is equally capable of swamping small units with quality fire and inflicting casualties, especially if they've been hit with scramble first or forced out of cover with special rounds. The twinned plasma carbines can be upgraded to plasma light supports for a triple PLS loadout, but the fearsome damage output is matched with a high cost of entry!
As with the M4, batter drones, shield drones and an extra spotter can be taken.
This is the fourth and final chapter I'll be writing (I don't feel confident enough to advise on factions I don't actively play). I've really enjoyed putting the freeborn together and getting them down on the table, I'll happily say they've got the best model range in the game and can quite happily tailor to any playstyle you need. That said, what they have in flexibility is largely lost in durability and hitting power but both are largely countered by a pretty low starting cost on most troops, meaning you'll often have a dice-advantage over your opponent, in itself, this can be golden, especially against elite armies with lower dice counts as you can really rack up pins and neuter their offense which keeps your squishier dudes alive longer.
Complemented by a large suite of characters, freaks/weirdos and access to most of the C3 arsenal of drones and armour, the freeborn list is expansive and allows for a flexible force built to whatever fluff you desire for your own band of adventurer/traders/mercenaries!
In terms of composition, Freeborn tend to have the highest requirement for Tactical slots and also a large amount of support slots available per points-bracket so favour an MSU style approach of lots of units, lots of dice and multiple threats. They are capable of throwing down a lot of pins and smart use of command units can quickly overwhelm a flank with pins or save one with reactions without hurting your dice advantage too much.

Tactical:
Probably the key section to the Freeborn, the mix of the 5 required units you take at 1000points will largely dictate the rest of your build.
You can go very character heavy, or mass infantry and your infantry come in three differing cost brackets of increasing eliteness.

Freeborn Command Squad
Much like the rest of the Panhuman forces, a vanilla 3man squad is the first up on the roster, bringing with it the command/follow/hero/leader rules for buffing nearby units and allowing them to react better to enemy movements or synchronise with nearby units in "follow" actions.
At 111points, you get three guys in reflex armour with impact cloaks armed with plasma carbines (pistol on the captain) and the bevvy of rules mentioned above. They sport a good ACC of 6 and have access to basically the biggest upgrade list in any of the factions I play, making them somewhat of a points-sink if you're going a bit gung-ho with your list-building.
Due to the high requirement of tactical slots, its not a bad option to just take these guys cheap and keep them near a pack of support weapons or infantry and have them dish out a follow order each turn. A synchroniser drone comes in handy for a backfield command unit for spreading out the bubble of CO down the line too.
That said, if you want to utilise their high ACC (and why wouldn't you), upgrading them with extra bodies, better armour and compression carbines makes them an excellent tank/elite hunting unit, especially when aided by a well-armoured transport! In this mode, they become probably the best unit in the panhuman armies at dealing with Ghar suits, tanks and other heavies at range but as they need to get close for maximum bang out of the compression carbines, you'll want a hyperlight booster, one of the other armour options, a medi-drone and possibly a batter drone too making them a pretty sizeable investment but utterly lethal against their chosen targets. It should be noted that they lack the RES and weaponry to do well in CC so keep them well away if possible, they'll fold very quickly to any specialist unit or if outnumbered.
Main strengths:
-Hugely flexible
-Spread buffs to lots of units
-Follow rule gets best out of high-unit count
-ACC6 and compression carbines for dangerous offensive power
-Drones can shield/heal nearby units
Noteable weaknesses:
-Can get very pricey very quickly
-Hunter-killer squads need transportation due to short range
-Fold quickly in CC
-Points sink unless taken with focus in mind

Nuhu Renegade (+/- Meld)
One of the most esoteric units in the game, this takes the Nuhu platform and makes it actually really damn good. At base, you get a standard Nuhu like in the C3 list, gaining all the benefits of command/hero/leader rules as per the command squad above but with a much-reduced drone swarm vs the C3 variant. The standard nuhu has a decent gun but is pretty squishy and is more expensive than the above command squad with batter shield, but it does unlock mega cheap misgenic reject squads which add order dice and act as disposable meat-shields or are upgradeable to be a legitmate CC threat. Where this option gets really interesting though is when you add the second Nuhu to turn it into a MOD2 melded unit; instead of just dying to a stray wound, they now roll on a damage chart and get a substantially boosted RES which stacks with any appropriate cover bonuses making them very survivable.
The doubling of the firepower and CC output is also excellent as it significantly decreases the chance of whiffing due to poor dice. This makes them very dangerous to an opponent and very useful to you given the high SV on their boosted fire mode.
Shield drones are available as are spotters and the option of a second nano-drone is there if you have canny opponents who take them out with lucky shots.
Main strengths:
-Unlock cheap meat-shields
-Spread CO related buffs to nearby units
-Follow rule gets best out of high-unit count
-ACC6 and boosted imtel staves are very dangerous
-Resilient in a meld
-Best models in the range
Noteable weaknesses:
-Can get very pricey very quickly
-Need transportation/screening for aggressive work
-Single Nuhu very squishy and outcompeted by command squad

Vardnari squad:
These are the elite of the freeborn forces, coming armed with plasma carbines and armoured in reflex armour with impact cloaks, they're reasonably capable troops coming in at a similar price as a C3 strike squad but having 6men over the C3's 5 man standard for the same price. What you lose out on is the hyperlight armour and the lance option, but Freeborn are not hurting for support slots and weapon teams are cheap enough that you won't miss lances much. Vardnari do also gain options for a hyperlight booster drone, spotter drone and a synchroniser drone which help pass CO buffs down the line to other nearby units, making them a solid addition to a gunline. The plasma carbines they have as standard have more punch than the mag guns found on the majority of freeborn units and the extra SV can often be the difference between "heavily armoured" and pinnable targets when it comes to light vehicles and Ghar suits. Up to 2 extra bodies and grenades are the other options available as well as slingnet ammo for the leader's x-sling.
They're not great in CC given the lack of hand weapons on the majority of the unit, so I wouldn't commit even with hyperlight boosted reflex cloaks unless you have no better options. You're paying the points on these guys for the plasma carbines so sit back and use them at a comfortable range.
Main strengths:
-Can spread CO buffs to nearby units
-Hyperlight booster and good cover makes them resilient
-Plasma weaponry good for elite/light armour targets.
Noteable weaknesses:
-Lack punch in CC
-Can get pricey in multiples when upgraded

Domari squad:
Again, coming in base units of 6, these represent your "middling" unit, not particularly dangerous or resilient, but not costing the earth for the utility they provide. They're quite happy sitting on an objective going "down" all game as much as they are sitting back incover (+/- batter shields!) dishing out pins. Where they're not happy is in the thick of the fighting, especially out of cover.
The drop-off in points from vardnari gets them below 100points/squad at baseline but you lose plasma guns for mag-guns and lose reflex cloaks meaning they lose a lot of ranged punch and CC resilience is very poor against anything with massed attacks or some SV.
They do gain access to a Micro-X launcher as a 0point upgrade and can be outfitted with slingnet adding to their pin output (take a spotter drone to aid with this) and the leader needs an upgrade from his pistol to at least a mag gun to match the range of his boys. A plasma carbine is a prudent investment however, giving you the ability to pin light armour and elite squads as well as gaining extra shots in RF mode. The unit does have the option of taking grenades but it doesn't play well to their strengths though it does give last-ditch utility for dealing with drones and armour in CC.
 Main strengths:
-Cheap and cheerful infantry
-OH fire capable
Noteable weaknesses:
-Fold quickly in CC
-Not durable
-Mag guns a bit pillow-fisted
-Leader is largely useless without upgrades
-Needs buffs from elsewhere to shine

 Mhagris Feral squad:
These guys are your bargain basement infantry, unarmoured and armed with mag weaponry as standard, they clock in at 73 points for a 6man unit. Distinctly average stats abound here, but they can be invested in to get them reflex armour, grenades, a micro-X member and a plasma carbine for the leader bringing them up to Domari squads. The question with that is of course, why not just take Domari? The options that really justifiy the Mhagris are the cheap extra bodies and the soma grafts.
Both contribute to the main role of this unit, going "down" on an objective and not running away despite casualties. Though armour obviously helps with durability, it adds a lot of cost to the unit whilst only giving a marginal boost in survivability. Extra weapon options can largely be forgotten on these guys, they're unlikely to survive long enough to be useful and they're best going down for the survivability so they wont be shooting much anyway.
 Main strengths:
-Very Cheap
-Disposable meat-shield
-Soma grafts prevent unit breaking
Noteable weaknesses:
-Fold like tissue paper if not "down" in cover
-Paid upgrade options outside of grafts are a trap.

Hukk Bounty Hunter:




This mercenary bounty hunter brings with it some nice CC hit, some OH fire and some sniping ability and finds a lovely home in the Freeborn, being both a mercenary (fluffy) and useful at the asking price. As stock standard, he's a character with "wound" plus some hunting angriz which give the unit as a whole some bite in CC. The "Wound" rule means he has to be allocated the first hit and suffers cumulative penalties to his stats as the wounds tally up, meaning he starts strong but rapidly drops off in effectiveness as the game goes on as those penalties cannot be removed. Thankfully, he does have access to a drone swarm (shield and medi obviously help most here) and so long as he survives the hit allocated to him, everything is peachy.
He is armed with a custom mag-gun and if it hits, it automatically counts as a lucky hit, though it only has a basic mag-gun profile for damage/penetration which makes it far more useful for sniping off annoynances such as batter drones and opposing nanodrones than dug-in troopers. His High ACC and mag-gun bonus also help a lot in this role. He can also be outfitted with an underslung micro-x with special ammunition which brings utility and OH fire too, though it is innacurate and doesn't synergise fantastically with being a combat unit, though the blast mode helps in point blank shooting prior to CC.
Main Strengths:
-Solid CC unit in a tactical slot
-Reasonably durable
-Can snipe pesky buddy drones easily
-Source of OH fire
Noteable weaknesses:
-Wound rule is double edged sword
-Gets expensive with drone cloud
-High threat CC unit, will be targetted early

Togg
Another mercenary, he's one of the poster-boys for the freeborn forces and boils down to being a command squad in one infantry-man sized package. Functionally he subs in for a freeborn command squad for all intents though comes in a bit more expensive (though well armed).
In CC he dishes out three attacks with his hunting knife at SV1and on a charge hits with STR9 so will reliably get hits in.
His durability is not fantastic however at 6(8) for someone with two wounds (leader 3 does help somewhat) and a close combat orientation, so you'll need to pick his targets well (try to go for mag-gun armed foes where possible or those on "down" orders). He does have the benefit of having a fairly potent PBS attack though, as his genCarbine can lay down a massive hail of shots (6 shots from one guy!) though an equivalent (cheaper) command squad lay down the same fire, it should be noted.
As a commander, he brings the usual bevvy of Command/Leader/Hero traits so significantly boosts nearby units, and it is realistically these guys that you should send into combats first and use Togg to Mop up remnants and weakened units.
His second ranged attack is his tempest grenades; they cause a decent amount of pins but also confer sizeable risk of pinning himself so probably best to just stick to his genCarbine most of the time.
Togg can also take some drones to improve his survivability, the batter drone being the most useful all-round, but he becomes a very expensive model at this point and realistically is duplicating a lot of what the basic command squad do, but at a higher cost-of-entry. Granted, the wound rule means his damage output degrades slower than the command squad he replaces as he still shoots at full ROF, but its a minor bonus given the command squad can afford extra bodies before reaching Togg's asking price.
Main Strengths:
-Easy to hide from LOS due to small base size
-Good ROF and CC output for a single mini
-Buffs nearby units well
-Damage output degrades slower than the command squad he replaces
Noteable weaknesses:
-Pricey
-Command squad do what he does but cheaper
-Tempest grenades largely redundant

Support:
These slots are fairly numerous for the freeborn but only become mandatory above 1000 points.
They are definetly not a tax however, and with good access to cheap guns and plentiful units/characters with follow rules, you can easily set up for some devastating co-ordinated fire.
Given the lack of punch of many of your basic troopers, you'll be leaning on this section to provide some hitting power too.
Skyraider Command Squad
The command variant of the bikers available to the freeborn, they combine all the speed and armament of the biker squads whilst gaining all the benefits of being a command unit.
This obviously synergises well with highly mobile forces as the Command abilities need to follow the troops to be of much use. It does inflate the cost of the basic bike squad significantly though and the rules are largely wasted if they're not actively buffing nearby units.
The base abilities of the unit are the same as the below entry, except for; Command, Hero and Leader rules as per standard for this class of units. They can be upgraded with impact cloaks, a synchroniser drone and one of the bikers can take a plasma lance instead of the twin mag repeaters and another can be upgraded to a mag light support for 8points. This gives the squad versatility, in that the synchroniser drone (expensive at 20pts) allows the unit to move away from troops yet still confer aura buffs for similarly equipped units (that also need expensive buddy drones!) and considerable ranged punch and the lance gives the option to fire at a separate target, increasing potential pin output and light anti-armour capability. However, this makes the squad very pricey and will be given a high priority for elimination by your opponent. Bikes are 'Fast', equipped with mag repeatersx2 and have the option of dashing into CC and breaking out before melee. Given their ROF and speed, this makes them excellent hunters of weapon teams and depleted units, especially if they're on a down order.
They are however, fairly squishy unless on a 'Run' order, so make sure to retain them or utilise reactions to get to safety.
Main strengths:
-Fast rule makes them resilient on retained run orders
-Can cover vast distances
-Excellent hunters of depleted units and small teams
-Potentially able to pin multiple targets
-Can damage light armour with the lance
-Can buff and keep up with other fast/mechanised troopers
Noteable weaknesses:
-Get very pricey very quickly
-Poor synergy with infantry based lists
-Very vulnerable to scramble ammo
-Need run orders for survivability as 'Large'
-Mag repeaters pillow fisted against durable units

Skyraider Squad 
Much more efficient than the command squad above, they're cheap enough and less burdened with special rules that they can be taken as a cheap but effective harrassment unit. As with the command squad above, they're able to be kitted out with a lance +/- a mag light in lieue of the twin mag repeaters they're normally armed with either for free (lance) or 8pts for the mag light. Both options lose ROF compared to the repeaters, but do give options with SV and/or range. In their core role of decimating small teams/depleted units, they're good enough naked that they don't need the upgrades as they actively hurt their in-role abilities. As light armour hunters, the Lance and mag-light are useful as they gain SV and have the speed to swiftly relocate or find good angles for shots. They are dependent on run orders and hyperlight boosters for survivability though so once they do take fire that isn't being re-rolled, expect to take casualties and you can swiftly lose the unit to a well placed scramble round + shooting. They are cheap enough to be thoroughly disposable however and are well placed to murderise backfield units like howitzers and x-launchers.
Main strengths:
-Fast rule makes them resilient on retained run orders
-Can cover vast distances
-Excellent hunters of depleted units and small teams
-Potentially able to pin multiple targets
-Can damage light armour with the lance
Noteable weaknesses:
-Get very pricey very quickly
-Very vulnerable to scramble ammo
-Need run orders for survivability as 'Large'
-Mag repeaters pillow fisted against durable units

Mhagris Skark squad
A close-combat focussed riff on the above bikers, they start off as a cheap flanking threat, three models strong. The profile includes both rider and mount but features a low RES of 6 and the profile is further plagued by the 'Large' rule, preventing use of much cover and allowing them to be shot over the top of other units. The Skarks have 3 attacks a piece and the rider is armed with a maglash, so if you can deliver them in safely, they can competently do damage but honestly, its not gonna happen. They'll often take casualties from point blank shooting and will be well shot up before reaching their destination. They can be soma grafted to reduce their fleeing potential after taking casualties and can be given some weapon upgrades and impact cloaks but I honestly wouldn't bother. They're too squishy and will die as soon as someone pays them serious attention. One or two casualties and the unit is basically removed as a serious threat and can be largely ignored by your opponent.
They are "fast" so can launch long ranged assaults and gain benefits to being on retained run orders, but that stops them from fighting, and thats what you're taking them to do. Honestly, take the bikes. The twin mag repeaters and RES7 are far more reliable at doing damage and the firepower they have means they can be more utilitarian on the battlefield. By taking a squad you do unlock Meld skarks however, so you do need a squad if thats a unit you're building around.
Main strengths:
-Fast
-Large threat range
-Competent in CC if delivered safely
Noteable weaknesses:
-Unit is near useless once casualties taken
-Specialised for CC only
-Very squishy

Freeborn support team
An absolute steal at 34 points, they come with either a mag light support or an X-launcher at the base asking price and stagger up the upgrade tree from 10points for a mag-cannon right up to 40points for a compression or fractal cannon.
As a light weapons team, they remain fairly mobile with their hitting power and have spotter drones for increased fire reliability and batter drones for increased durability, though both obviously add a decent amount to the cost. The X-launcher gets the option of all the usual special ammunition and synergises well on a follow "Fire" order of dumping a scramble round into something with hyperlight boosters or batter drone protection before the other units hit them with firepower.
Mag cannons bring reliable and cheap anti-armour threat and the compression cannon is brutallly effective in the same role though needs to be up-close and personal given the SV drop-off with extended range brackets. The mag light is a lovely cheap pin platform and can perform well on an ambush order early in the turn, becoming something the opponent needs to then work around or deal with. Extra bodies and the leader rule for one of the crew can be added to up durability, but you're over half way to having another x-launcher or mag-light by the time you've paid the upgrades. keep em cheap, give em a spotter and take multiples. Cracking unit, take plenty but plan your movements so as not to block their LOF on important targets.
Main strengths:
-Cheap AI/AT platform
-Variety of loadouts
-Special ammunition opens up lots of tactics
-Works well with 'Follow' orders
-Batter drones protect other units
Noteable weaknesses:
-Small team, easy to take out
-Very vulnerable to fast CC units like bikes
-Spotters mandatory on X-launchers and AT guns due to one-dice syndrome
-Need good LOF to be useful

T7 Transporter
A concord-supplied transport craft, this is the only transport available to the freeborn at present.
It can be kept unarmed and lightly armoured to provide cheap wheels to your forces or up-armoured and up-gunned to be a decent threat thanks to its plasma light support or mag(+/-twin mag)light support options. As a MOD2 unit, a twin mag light support can lay down a really decent ROF and with the extra armour, requires proper AT weaponry to reliably bring down. However, these options double the asking price (especially with the auto-take 10pt ACC upgrade) and put you into battle-tank points brackets with less hitting power (A MOD2 mag-cannon is nothing to be sniffed at though). Their ability to get a unit into the fight or relocate beleagured units out of harms way is nothing to be sniffed at though and they are competent gun platforms with the upgrades. Personally, I feel the un-upgraded variants are very squishy and can easily become a death-trap for embarked units unless taken in multiples as scramble munitions and decent SV weaponry will tear them apart with little difficulty.
An off-beat option is the sensor suite, effectively a laser designation system, it can "paint" an enemy unit to confer +1ACC for all other units targetting them, something that can really help an artillery park or your hordes of otherwise distinctly average infantry to hit well.
Main strengths:
-Cheap transport or good gunship option
-MOD2
-Can be resilient and dogged utility vehicle
-Great for "escape the board" style scenarios
-Can buff multiple units' ACC
-Doesn't use up a strategic slot anymore
Noteable weaknesses:
-Gets really expensive, really quickly
-Extremely squshy if kept cheap
-Embarked units take big hit if transport goes down

Striker attack skimmer
A light vehicle, this is essentially a faster, more limited, MOD2 support team with RES11.
It comes with a plasma light support but can take a plasma cannon instead for a mere 5pts, making it a good armour hunter given its inherent speed from being MOD2. RES11 is squishy though, plasma carbines can take it below "heavily armoured" territory and pin/down it reasonably well and dedicated AT guns will blow it apart. It can take a hyperlight booster and batter drone, but those options put it near the 200point mark and you can get an armed RES13 T7 for similar costs with more utility. Given you can get a plasma light support or mag-cannon with ACC6 for the same or less points on the T7(plus transport capacity), this is fairly redundant as an option in all honesty.
Main strengths:
-Cool model
-MOD2 gun platform
Noteable weaknesses:
-Out-competed by the T7
-Expensive
-Squishy

Strategic
The home of the true big guns, this slot doesn't open up until you're playing games above 1000points and you don't get multiples until 1250points.
Given the inherent cost on a lot of these and limited slots for them to go in, you'll need to be thinking about which units you're using early in the list building phase and factoring that in for the rest of your build.
Heavy support team
Much like the support-slot variant, this heavy team comes armed with field guns of varying roles for a 10point upgrade from the stock Mag heavy support. at 91points with 3 crew, a spotter and a mag heavy, its a distinctly "ok" platform that is frankly better served by taking two mag light teams and using the spare change on other things. Where the team gets really interesting though is the X-Howitzer or Mag-Mortar upgrade. Both of these bring serious upgrades in firepower and range over the x-launchers and double OH templates can make short work of backfield units or light infantry, especially those holed up on multiple levels of buildings. They can obviously fire indirectly and the double templates available mitigate some of the scatter by improving the chances of hitting at least something. Special ammunition is available too, vastly improving utility of the platform for a modest upgrade price. The heavy mag-cannon is less of an auto-take, but if you're seeing lots of heavy armour in your meta, it is pretty capable of putting a hole in main battle tanks and transports.
As with all heavy weapons, they are slow and these are classed as large so don't have to worry as much about LOS as the smaller teams do. The flipside being that they can be shot at over smaller teams. Batter drones, extra crew (+ a leader option) and impact cloaks are all available to improve survivability but rapidly inflate the cost (enough that a batter, extra crew, leader and cloaks have paid for a support slot mag-cannon team!) so be very mindful of only paying for what you actually need to make the unit work. As with all OH fire weapons, list-wide support of spotter drones/shards, targetting probes etc further enhance the damage output so make sure to build those in if you're going that way.
Main strengths:
-OH fire options bring huge utility and back-line threat
-Heavy mag cannon brings good AT punch
-Special ammunition brings huge versatility
-Works well with "Follow" orders
Noteable weaknesses:
-Need list-wide support to get most out of OH fire platforms
-Very vulnerable to CC hunters like bikers
-Batter shield can protect multiple units
-Gets pricey quickly
-Mag heavy outcompeted by taking x2 mag light squads
-Vulnerable to single-dice syndrome
-High threat unit, enemy will prioritise
-Large
-Slow

Specialist heavy support team
A riff on the above team, they bring options of more esoteric weaponry suited to heavy-armour hunting and building destruction. The plasma and compression bombards are excellently suited to punching holes in buildings and super-heavy tanks but are largely overkill against any other target and as such, this utility of this team is likely to be very meta-dependent. Fractal is pretty solid at destroying buildings and other largely immobile targets but often takes more time than is sensible, so the heavy mag-cannon above or the compression bombard is more reliable in many circumstances. Otherwise, they have much of the same pro's and con's as above
Main strengths:
-Plasma/compression bombards bring superb AT punch
-Cover meta-specific needs excellently
-Works well with "Follow" orders
Noteable weaknesses:
-Very vulnerable to CC hunters like bikers
-Batter shield can protect multiple units
-Gets pricey quickly
-Vulnerable to single-dice syndrome
-High threat unit, enemy will prioritise
-Large
-Slow
-Meta-dependent

M4 combat drone
A concord-manufactured main battle tank equivalent, this MOD2 bruiser comes armed with a plasma cannon and a plasma light support giving it decent threat vs anything the enemy can throw at you. For a modest increase in cost, the main cannon can be swapped out for a compression cannon or a fractal cannon. It starts with the fully upgraded T7 chassis of ARM13, ACC6 which makes it a very reliable gun platform, especially considering it comes with a spotter included.
The MOD2 is the shining aspect of the tank alongside its mobility. It can rapidly haul up to a good spot and punish exposed units with potent weaponry. The compression cannon is lethal against armour and the tank is mobile enough to get into its good bands. The fractal cannon is actually useful on this platform as it can rapidly wrap two order dice at the end of the turn into the early dice of the next turn to make best use of the fractal lock rule, rapidly punishing anything static or caught on the hop after its activation.
To further its durability, shield drones and batter drones can be taken, and it has an optional self-repair rule to get around weapon destroyed and immobilised results, though again, it gets pricey quickly considering its 249point base cost! As a vehicle, it can be one-shotted however, so be exceedingly mindful of opposing armour and AT guns, kill them early!!! It is also very vulnerable in CC vs grenade armed units or CC specialists with good SV, so screen it and engage at range.
Main strengths:
-MOD2 Gun platform
-Durable
-Huge ROF
-Generates a lot of pins
-Specialised anti-infantry platform in infantry based game
Noteable weaknesses:
-Pillow-fisted vs enemy armour
-Can be one-shotted
-Very expensive when upgraded

Solar command skimmer
Yet another m4 variant, this command tank occupies an odd command-and-fire-support role, being both durable and armed with a MLS/PLS and optional mag launcher racks (functionally an OH2 x-launcher). It also packs the command/follow and leader rules into a MOD2 package and is a really useful backfield unit that synergises well with an artillery-heavy force. The mag racks can take special ammunition as normal for OH fire weapons and are excellent on a MOD2 unit. It also has the usual drone and repair rules common to the M4/T7 chassis should you need them (a batter helps nearby artillery units)
Main Strengths:
-Excellent back-field support unit
-Mag racks quality OH fire option
-Command auras buff multiple units
-Durable with leader2
Noteable weaknesses
-Pillow fisted against enemy armour
-Very vulnerable in CC
-Pricey combination of artillery and command tank

M25 heavy support drone
True super-heavy armour, the big boys clock in at RES15 and ACC6, making them resilient to all but the most dedicated AT platforms and it comes armed with potent AT weapons of its own to hunt those threats. At MOD3, they are utterly lethal, especially against heavily armoured enemies such as Ghar (and presumably Virai too!) but aside from heavily armoured opponents, the compression bombard/plasma bombard will be largely overkill making this quite a meta-dependent pick. At 418 points base-cost, it is a huge sink of points (even more so with batters/gun upgrades) and is still vulnerable to being one-shotted if you get unlucky. It is "slow" as well, so that needs to be factored into your mobility planning and has a huge base size, making navigating terrain pieces somewhat awkward.
Main Strengths:
-Excellent armour hunter
-Extremely durable to all but dedicated AT platforms
-MOD3 gets the best out of its weaponry
Noteable weaknesses
-Main guns massive overkill against most targets
-Hugely expensive
-Can be one-shotted
-Hopeless in CC, needs screening

M50 Heavy support drone
The artillery variant of the above tank, this variant ditches the heavy AT guns for an X-Howitzer and can be upgraded to a Mag mortar or Fractal bombard. It also sports a plasma light support and at MOD3 is an utterly fearsome anti-infantry platform that could be the nearest thing to "broken/OP" if the dice are remotely helpful to you given it can stay well out of retaliation range and needs dedicated heavy AT weaponry to bring it down. Thankfull its power is counterbalanced by very high cost, pushing well into the 400's when batters, list-wide spotter support and special ammunition are paid for. It also leaves a sizeable hole in your points which can leave you sprad thin against enemy infantry and this vehicle is pretty pillow fisted against opposing armour.
Main Strengths:
-Excellent back-field support unit
-Special ammunition opens lots of strategic options
-Can decimate opposing infantry
-High quality MOD3 OH fire option
-Extremely durable and long-ranged
-Can fire from out of LOS with correct support
Noteable weaknesses
-Pillow fisted against enemy armour
-Fairly vulnerable in CC
-Extremely expensive
-Still needs support from elsewhere in the list

Auxiliary
The final section rounds out the army list with a smattering of "the usual" with some freaks and weirdos! These support choices are characterised by being cheap order dice at worst and highly useful at best and will be useful to nearly any force.

Targeter probe shard
Boosts ACC by one for friendlies targetting their target and reduces OH scatter. Useful and cheap! can take two more probes at 5points a head and are extremely fast and are unhindered by intervening terrain. They are vulnerable to scramble effects however but if the enemy is shooting these instead of your boys, great!

Iso Drone
Largely there for shielding troops from weather effects present in the campaign book missions, they're moderately useful in protecting scramble-vulnerable units like nuhu from those munitions but can largely be skipped over outside of these specific needs.

Hound probe shard
These provide a re-roll on Co checks for ferals and misgenics, making them much less likely to flee. If you're taking a force heavy in these troops, this is worth a shout, but largely forgettable otherwise.

Light general purpose drone
A concord import, this drone comes unarmed and lightly armoured and at most, contributes a support platform for nearby troops when upgraded with synchronisers and batters to spread protection and Co buffs. The more aggressive variant takes a subverter matrix which can sometimes really screw with an opponent by shutting down shards and potentially stealing order dice, but it lacks a good delivery mechanism in freeborn and is situational in this list.

Misgenic rejects
Saving the best till last, these guys are unlocked by taking a Nuhu renegade and are a super-cheap infantry unit that are unarmed as stock-standard but get to choose one ability off a chart of powers pre-game. They can also purchase up to three rolls on the table for 10points a pop and they can go from being total cannon-fodder to meat-shield the rest of your army to being a legitimate CC threat your opponent needs to deal with. With the extra attack power chosen and a bit of luck on the chart, a 10man squad can reliably clear objectives in CC and provide cheap order dice to counteract the high-cost of the nuhu that unlock them. Don't be afraid to callously use them as a meat-shield either. they're cheap enough to be able to be thrown away if it saves better troops :-)
Main Strengths:
-Cheap order dice
-Can be legitmate CC threat
-Cheap enough to be meat shield
Noteable weaknesses
-Squishy
-Requires a bit of a gamble on D10 chart to get best out of unit