War College: Archetype Analysis - The Binary

Several weeks ago I was having a chat with Zeekhotep and I mentioned I was thinking about analyzing the Binary archetype.  He said that would be of interest to him, so here we go.  Here's the breakdown for those not familiar with it.

Binary: One Artillery attachment, one Defensive attachment, one Spotting attachment, and one Movement attachment. (2Ra/1B/1G/1Y/2W)
Loadout (4 systems): 1A1D1M1S2W
Role: The Artillery version of the Soldier.  This mech works best in pairs. Stage each mech (Direct Fire +1) units apart from each other. This allows each mech to spot for the other as they work their way through the battle field.

The way I see it the usage for this archetype will vary depending on where you start the Initiative stack.  If you field them as Defender they will operate on one track, and if you're an attacker it'll operate on another.  But then that's generally true no matter what archetype you're using.

Defender Implementation

As Defender, the best way to field this loadout is your starting pair of Frames that help to delineate your Perimeter.  That way they'll be at least one Ruler apart and can support each other offensively.  Unless you delay a bit the first attack from one of these Frames will probably have no Spot to aid it.  In that case you should use it to force an opponent's premature activation and disrupt their plans.

System removal should probably go Movement, Artillery, Spotting, Defense.  Generally you don't move too much when playing Defender -- and if you were planning on it you would have picked a different archetype -- so ditch this first.  The Artillery system is the second to go as that will give you the Sprint die and if you're halfway down the damage track you should think about moving.  Spotting is the third to go as it is useful in -- hopefully -- making targets of your opponent's Frames.  Defense is always last because as the Defender you need your Frames to survive as long as possible.

Attacker Implementation

As an Attacker, you're still fielding these in pairs to use their weapons and Spots in complementary/ overlapping fields of fire.  Once again the first attack from one of these Frames will probably have no Spot to aid it.  In that case you should use it to force an opponent's premature activation and disrupt their plans.

I can see this archetype being used in conjunction with Brawler, or Closer archetypes, or even both in the same squad.  Drop the Brawler as the Point Frame if you're Point attacker, place the Closer behind it to take advantage of the Brawler's double Defense.  Use those two as the point of the spear and support them with a pair of Binaries.  use the Binaries to damage Cover, damage opponents, and drop Spots to force enhance the attacks of the Brawler/Closer.

System removal as an Attacker should probably go Artillery, Movement, Spotting, Defense.  The Artillery system is first to go as that will give you the Sprint die.  This archetype needs to be pretty close to the front lines due to the limited Spotting envelope so dropping Artillery and changing to melee mode using White dice works as you'll be crashing the Defender's Perimeter anyway.  Movement is second as you'll already have the Sprint die.  Spotting is the third to go as it is useful in -- hopefully -- making targets of your opponent's Frames.  Defense is always last because you need your Frames to survive as long as possible.