Infinity Unit Review: Ariadna Support Units
Not everyone is a big shining star, but that doesn't mean they are not handy to have around. To support the Ariadna forces, there is a small selection of specialists which do the special jobs that may be needed. USAriadna may not have fancy doctors like the Asawira, or Engineers like Tomcats, but they at least have the bare necessities covered without spending points on all the frills.
Dozers, Field Engineers
The humble Dozer is the Engineer of the faction. One of the few Ariadna models with D-Charges, and the only one carrying them in USAriadna, there is often decent cause to take a Dozer. All profiles come with a rifle, with the main choice being between the D-Charges and an Akrylat-Kanone. Unless you have a particular reason to take the later option, I would stick with a Rifle and D-charges, most of the time, and the Traktor Mul device with a pair of Minesweeper Traktor Muls is never a bad investment, getting you 3 regular orders for 24 points.
112, Emergency Service
Lovingly referred to as "Axe-Doctor" or "Dr. Axe," the 112 is a decent doctor, that can pack a surprising wallop. Armed with a light shotgun, you can go from cover to cover healing your models, and also taking shots of opportunity when the positioning is right for a shotgun to cause some damage. Despite his axe and PH12, don't go around getting into fist fights, let the medikit and shotgun do all the talking.
USAriadna is special in that it has AVA2 and I love taking two of them, the added AVA is especially helpful since there is no palbot or equivalent for Ariadna. Grunts and Ohio are both shock immune, plus healing a Devil Dog is really easy to do, even with a medikit gun, even if they can be hard to get to. If you're taking Grunts, Ohio, or Blackjacks, be sure to take a 112 or two, to keep them in the fight.
Warcor
Oh, the venerable warcor. Nothing about this model is impressive, nor should it be, but if you have 3 extra points, a 360-visor (Aerocam) Flash Pulse is nothing to be ashamed of. To make things better, you can always use his irregular order as a back up plan if you need another regular order and have a spare command token.
Wardriver
What's this, Ariadna has a hacker?! It's true, the Wardriver brings a serviceable, no-nonsense hacker to the Ariadna army. Like any of these other support characters, nothing about the profile is all that impressive, though Sixth Sense L1 does help a ton, letting you delay your ARO against enemies in your hacking area. Sadly, neither of the hacking devices are terribly helpful in Ariadna, so I tend to lean towards the Defensive Hacking device, because it's cheaper. With a Defensive hacking device, you can protect your Muls and Blackjacks, while simultaneously protecting yourself. The standard hacking device has the advantage of having supportware, and can try to shut down enemy HI, but the supportware is only usable on Traktor Muls, that doesn't gain a whole lot from it, and standard hacking programs aren't amazing at offense. That said, if you feel inclined to run a hacker, or want one for the mission, there is nothing wrong with the Wardriver, it does what it does, and doesn't break the bank.
Conclusion
The support characters in Ariadna are often easy to overlook, they are average at doing their jobs, and don't really bring any fun frills, or crazy combos to help buff up your other units. The upside of this is that they're all very economical and effective for what you need them to do. I don't take them many games, but I never really regret taking them either. Spending an order on a 112 to bring back a Grunt sniper, or better yet, an Ohio AP HMG is very rewarding, and a low investment. All of them are good choices for a modest budget, and I wouldn't fault anyone for including any of these units in their list.