6-2 is out for baseline humans? Does that mean Jeanne d'Arc isn't human? Since she gets 6-2 on her mobility armor profile.
L-host. Looks human, but is a biosynthetic body. With some flat-out cybernetic parts, too. Have you watched Westworld? Joan is a Host. It's what you get if you get resurrected. Joan happens to have a really high-grade one, which is what lets her move so fast in the Mobility Armor. Other known L-Hosts are the rest of the ReCreations (Saladin, Wallace, Sun, Avicenna, Musashi, etc), and pretty much everything else in the Aleph army list that isn't a REM.
It comes down to whether or not you think CB classifies a human in Iron Man's armour baseline. Personally, I don't think they do.
Because they're not using the same armour as the Shang Ji. From the Shang Ji fluff "These unique new Shang Jí (“Superior”) armours are faster, lighter and definitively better." CB could even go as far as declaring the expected resculpt with new rules generation 5 armour, developed to beat up Japanese children or whatever the hottest trending war crime Yu Jing is up to next year.
That line was used to justify why Shang-Ji were 4-4 and not 4-2 like the Terracotta and Pan-O Knights. I mean, having them be 6-4 would be interesting, but I just don't think that'll happen.
Given that Terracotta and Knights are now 4-4, Shang Ji getting a bump in speed would be in line with things and would put them back to as advertised, fast HI in top of the line armour rather than a Terracotta Soldier with +1 Armour.
You could circumvent the multi terrain problem, by giving them all the terrain types. Apparently, it is so often used that having a higher second move would unbalance the game.
No, it'd make the interaction stupid, not unbalanced. Unhinged, if you will. More to the point, what's the point of having a higher second value? What's the benefit? Even at 6-4 or 6-2 I'm worried that all that'd accomplish is to make Shang-Ji more expensive without actually addressing the problems, and that's having the useful movement value available together with useful skills such as Interact or BS Attack. @Triumph I'm not necessarily certain that what we should take away from this is that the Shang-Ji needs to be faster in raw stats so much as that the Shang-Ji has old fluff that is no longer reflected by the unit and that there are other options to explore such as Hyper-Dynamics, Super-Jump or updating the unit description.
Speaking of updating the units description/using the Shang Ji as a base for a newer unit... Would having a bunch of Combi Rifle+<Insert weapon here> profiles be a valid, if at least interesting, option? Like having the Shang Ji get CR+ADHL or LSGL or LEGL or a simple LGL?
They also didn't give the Guarda De Assaulto or Suryats a movement boost, who also had the defining characteristic of being 4-4 HI in N2. I think hyper-dynamics is a nice skill for a trooper in a link as it helps against templates, which Fireteams tend to attract a lot of. It also allows them to more safely navigate minefields and perimeter weapons. Speaking of Perimeter, a Shangers with Madtraps or Koalas would be a really nice addition to an HI link
If Shangers got Koalas, they would become our only source of them, so that is an interesting idea from that standpoint. But given how MadTraps are something that is decidedly our thing so far... perhaps they'd be a better route.
Well, Yu Jing did have a TAG with Koalas until recently, I believe it was a YJ corporation that originally designed them too (though judging by the name that Corp might have seceded).
I think the trickiest thing about all of this is deciding if their role in Vanilla is more important than their role in IA and how to balance that. Assuming all the ISS HI are not gong to be a part of IA (and that could be a stupid assumption on my part) There is definitely room in the 40-60 point HI category for IA, because they won't have Cranes or Hsien. Maybe they have a Hac Tao, maybe they don't. Maybe they have the Dao Fei, maybe they don't. The point is, IA could benefit from an expensive toolbox HI because it wouldn't be competing with the Terracotta and it wouldn't be competing with the Yan Huo. However, Vanilla certainly doesn't need another expensive toolbox HI because you are absolutely spoiled for choice over there. I'd be very curious to know where the design priorities are when CB considers new profiles/sectorials.
Well, MadTraps are still decidedly ours, and having a solid mid-field HI with access to such potent perimeter defense augmentations to itself does sound rather... enticing. Though, they would mesh poorly with Super Jump, so if we got one, the other would most likely not happen. Granted, better immediate area influence or improved offensive mobility are good for us either way, since both are beneficial unit types to have access to, if anybody ever asks me. Speaking of the idea of adding perimeter weapons to the Shangers... Adding a 360 Visor to the Shangers as well would push towards making it into a rather potent area denial HI ( Which might be stepping on the Neurocinetics Yan Hou profiles turf, come to think of it. ), and since I would hope for Yu Jing to end up being the premier HI faction ( We kinda are already, but there is room for improvement IMO. ) the extra variety among our HI would not go amiss for that purpose.
