In Unmasking, you and your opponent place three HVTs: two are decoys while the last one is your secret Designated Target. Before you can shoot it down, you have to find it by activating a console and guessing which one is which.
Skills, weapons and equipment
🗳️ Jammers: despite the nerf that brought them to disposable (2), those are still very effective weapons against hackers and I can assure you there will be lots of them in this mission since they have +3 and B2 for console activation. In case your army doesn't have Jammers, E/M grenades can be an attractive alternative.
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| With forward deployment and a robust set of defensive skills, Hecklers have several interesting profiles for Unmasking, starting from the 22 points killer hacker to the 23 points with jammer and FastPanda. |
💡 Neurocinetics/Total Reaction: sometimes protecting your Designated Target with mines and hidden deployed troops can be ineffective or just drain your order pool. Masters of disguise taught us it may be wise to hide things in plain sight: nothing both deters and taunts your opponent like a trooper in suppressive fire with no range limits.
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| Sin-Eater by Cristian Il Corinzio. Untamed and armed to the teeth, Bakunin's Sin-Eaters can make every point count if deployed effectively. The 0 SWC, 29 points profile with Mk12 will unleash a storm of bullets over enemies too close to your HVTs at a reasonable price. |
🔄 Counterintelligence: this skill is always useful but it really becomes essential in missions like Unmasking where your agenda is full but you still have to navigate in a volatile and uncertain environment.
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| Táowù by Cristian Il Corinzio. The Aristeia! Mastermind not only provides you the benefits of Counterintelligence but can also lure your opponent in a deadly trap thanks to holomask and his proficiency in cc. |
Behaviours and tactics
🔓 Open information: deploying and acting like your opponent already knows who is your Designated Target is very straightforward and order effective plus it can ultimately mess with your opponent's strategy. They have to activate a console and guess the HVT anyway, so there's already plenty of stuff to do before guessing it right.
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| Not every army has access to cheap hidden deployers and impetuous orders so sometimes you may just follow the simple strategy of superior force. |
⚖️The trade: consider leaving completely out of the picture one of the consoles, conceding it to your opponent without too much stress. This tactic works better when you go and deploy first. You opponent may be tempted to lean toward the unguarded console to save orders on his/her first turn, thus lowering the watch on the other two.
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| There is no need to introduce the Swiss Guard and its hidden deployment profiles with heavy weapons, which fueled and keeps fueling memes edition after edition. |
🤫 The unbalanced trade: act like explained above BUT also add hidden deployed troopers watching for the "unguarded" console. Using an Hac Tao or a Swiss Guard for this task might be an overkill, so look for units like MULTI Sniper Rifle Malignos or Shock Marksman Rifle Lynx.
Final thoughts
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| Picture by @InglebyJim: Armand Le Muet is quite pricey but gives you access to a wide set of tools, making you capable of reacting to ambiguous scenarios. |
Unmasking can be frustrating. Your opponent defines the two most important variables, namely where are the HVTs and who's the Designated Target. This is a major difference with, for example, missions like Mindwipe where the position is set by the rules and the rogue AI location is defined by chance. These factors, added to map variability, tend to demotivate players. Remember that your opponent is in the same situation so leverage on your advantages to get the higher ground. Got a better hacking game? Stay out of LoF. Got better cc? Take your time to smoke/dodge your way to victory. Got better dice rolls? Keep doing whatever you like!
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