Fa Shih may translate as the "master of methods", but in my group it's more like the "master of dirty tricks". If a friendly spots even one Fa Shih, you can bet your ass that the ground under your feet isn't safe. It's booby traps and mines galore. And you can also bank on there being more Fa Shihs skulking about.
In our campaigns, Fa Shihs are not used as "generalist" suits or fire support units. Those jobs are left to suits better able to serve in those roles. But that doesn't mean it doesn't see action.
We play these suits in combat engineer units, including sturmpionier battalions. In our gaming, as opposed to the real world, there is a slight difference between the two. Combat engineers do operate under fire more often than not, and trade fire with the enemy. But sturmpioniers are one part combat engineer and one part assault troopers. Using battlearmor, 'Mechs, and assault vehicles, their job is to assault and breach enemy fortifications. At the same time, like at any good combat engineers, they set up "nice things" to show the Bad Guys some love (like minefields and traps), for when the sturmpioniers fall back under covering fire after doing their job. The other side will know the score. They will know that they have been compromised, and that the main assault force will exploit it. If possible, a counter-attack may be launched against the attackers to buy time (the best defense is a strong offense, after all). It's then that they will find the little "presents" left behind by the assault engineers. The Fa Shih, and it's mines, are a critical component to these tactics.
The sturmpionier battalions are considered the elite among combat engineering brigades. But that doesn't mean that your rank and file combat engineers are any less capable or equipped with "lesser" gear. They are prolific users of the Fa Shih as well.
And they know how to make mayhem in a city fight. Losing a quarter of you light infantry to booby traps and hidden mines is bad for team morale. Vehicle crews and 'Mech pilots (Proto and Battle) are not exactly fans either. In fact, Fa Shih engineer squads are on the list of high priority targets. And that is just for their ability to shit out land mines. That doesn't count the TAGgers amongst them bringing down Arrow IV homing missiles, or Copperhead munitions, on Team Bad Guy's head.
The LRR equipment package is nice. Used en mass, they are good for bringing down light barricades hastily thrown up by the grunts. It's also a good support weapon for the shorter armed team mates.
The Support version isn't exactly on my list of favorite variants. But this Fa Shih package has some utility as a covering sniper when equipped with the King David gauss rifle, particularly in an urban smack down. And the plasma rifle can be a nasty bitch under the right circumstances, great for pissing off the tankers and grunts.
The Fa Shih 2 I like even less than the support variant. But some in my playgroup like it when deploying engineer teams during raids/disruption ops, where speed and shock are all important. Have a Battlemech IFV go in fast with the rest of the unit, drop off the tin suits, let's them do their thing, pick 'em up, bug out. And don't forget to leave some "gifts" behind for the opposition when hauling ass. The most prestigious kill so far by the Fa Shih 2 was a brand spanking new Hobgoblin protomech, but that was just dumb luck. With the reduced armor, a protracted firefight is not a wise choice.
Another useful feature of the "classic" Fa Shih that makes it a neat suit for combat engineers is that of mine clearing. EOD teams are among the unsung heroes in our campaigns. We just don't let the fact that some of them are using modern battlearmor make us cocky. A conventional minefield can put some hurt on BA units if it goes "BOOM!".
I have considered the magnetic clamps to be a gift from the heavens since day one. You might not have a convenient Omnimech strolling around to get your behind out of dodge when time to "motivate" (run like hell when things go south). Sure, you can improvise under our house rules, and hitch a ride on top of an AFV. But the clamps make riding easier, keeping your highly trained robo-grunt (and his expensive BA suit) from busting his ass, slowing you down to pick him up, and thus reducing your chances of capture/death. Just because one turns tail doesn't mean the other player team will stop shooting. Chivalry has no place on the modern tabletop battlefield.
To summarize, the classic Fa Shih has the most utility based on it's equipment, and taking into account it's limitations. As I pointed out, my group uses them exclusively as a suit for the combat engineer MOS (including the elite sturmpioniers). Other folks have probably found more creative uses for them. As for the variants, they have less utility. But they are still useful within narrowly defined parameters. Overall, the Fa Shih is a clever design. And effective, as long as one remembers that they are not in the same class as the Elemental or IS Standard (general use line combat suit). Play it as a specialist design, in specialist roles, and it will work for you as it has for us.
Just my two pennies worth.
