Sounds like it should work. I was too focused on increasing firepower of my underwater team that I completely missed using AHG for anything else. My weapon of choice against Mercs was plain ol' Laser (Adv. Lasgun & Heavy) and then Heavy Particle Accelerator (capable of one-shooting Commandos), with couple of heavy penetrators for occasional Hovertank (you'll need something for 250 blue shielding first). After your insight I'd still go with Lasers just because they seem to perform similarly while avoiding shuffling soldier's equipment every time as Laser is universally usable.
When I was all done with Mercs (for research & synth mesh) I conveniently discovered a 60 BIO grenade. I suppose it's insta-merc-kill but in my case arrived far too late. Now I just down Merc ships only to completely ignore them, having access to synth mesh manufacture, unless a secret base mission appears where I do one ground battle just to offset negative infamy score from their shipping.
Bows? Lol, who uses bows anyway.