The overall design is great, kudos to the new sculptor. The only thing that, if changed, would make more Morat like is the chest armor. It's too boat like, too pointy. If the chest piece resembled Sogorat's armor it would be perfect, well without the gaky pelt of course.
No, please no. This would make them too similar to sogarats that they'd become even less common in the game. I do love the idea of changing the raicho a bit, and I have explained what I would do with it if I had the chance, but lowering the armor value is a bad idea, if only because sogarats already have stupidly high armor. As for the design, I really like it. It somehow matches what I had in mind for a Raicho for a while, so I feel like CB has read my mind on it. Pelt on the shoulder: Matches the lore, as Raichos are used to hunt megafauna first, war machines second; Huge ammo packs on the back: Another nod to the lore, with the whole 'ammo is more than half the weight of the machine' bit. Dewclaws: I like it. It's an element of morat design that I'm a huge fan of and it seems to only be emphasized on females for some reason, and given that the Raicho pilot is a lady, it makes sense. Face looks like a monster: Again, going with the hunter aesthetics, I really dig it. The only thing I don't like is the gun, because it looks like the Szalamandra and Avatar guns (which lends credit to my Theory Tunguska has dealings with CA), and not like a Hemat HMG like the others in the range. Fun fact, it's possible to do a dual Raicho list at 300 points and still have: 10 orders; 3 specialists; a Q-drone and a Hacker; I really want that new Raicho as a partner for my Storm Dancer now.
Morat-tron was my first CA model and I have a big place in my heart for it, but when I was sent that sculpt my wallet cried out in fear and pain of the brutal thrashing to come. I love the new sculpt and undoubtedly it'll look insane when AG has painted the finished physical article (the physical model always looks better even as pewter) As it stands however unless it gets that FA L1 update (and probably a few more points on top) it's going to stay sat on the shelf, MAF lack the points to realistically bring a tag consistently (I am aware it's doable) and lack the infowar infrastructure or nasty tricks to keep it safe (admittedly I've not run one with Bit yet) and the morat rule on it is actually more of a hinderance than a help at WIP 12 "OK Moratron, you just keep letting that Swiss Guard ML keep shooting you, you do you buddy.", it's currently another factions line battle TAG but more expensive due to a resistance to isolation, and the only CA TAG that really doesn't get any table time from me.
Tried one: Not sure how viable it is, but I might test it on the weekend just for fun: Combined Army ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 10 SKIÁVORO Lieutenant Sepsitor Plus, Plasma Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, CCW. (1 | 64) Bit Hacker (UPGRADE: Expel) Submachine Gun + Pitcher, Deployable Repeater + KISS! / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 19) KISS! Adhesive Launcher / Electric Pulse. (- | 4) MORAT Hacker (EI Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 22) MED-TECH OBSIDON MEDCHANOID Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 23) SLAVE DRONE Electric Pulse. (0 | 3) RAICHO MULTI HMG, Heavy Flamethrower / . (2 | 91) RAICHO PILOT 2 Heavy Pistols, D-Charges, Knife. () Q-DRONE HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 26) ASWANG Spitfire / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 31) R-DRONE Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8) IKADRON (Baggage, Repeater) 2 Light Flamethrowers, Flash Pulse / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 9) ÍMETRON . (0 | 4) 6 SWC | 300 Points Open in Infinity Army
I love the new sculpt and agree that it does have an aspect/dron feel to it. I see it as this: either through battlefield attrition or the need to update an ancient design, the Ur design a new TAG for their Morats with better communications and parts interchangeability with the rest of the Combined Army. Like any military, it's all about logistics. Logistics wins wars and having designs share parts increases ease of maintenance.
The only similarity in the legs to Ikadrons is the backwards joint. They aren't the same kind of style past that that all the Dron models have (the biomech kind of feel, these are very mechanical).
Just means it's time to run two! (I know the feeling, I also have a Raicho, due to a severe TAG fetish. I still plan on re-sculpting the legs of the old one to make it look like a Morat could actually fit inside.)
That's the thing, though: this new Raicho has exactly zero consistency with the rest of the Morat range. Granted, the still current sculpt had some weird design choices (the Morat face, for one...), but it also introduced many of the design features that carrried over the entire Morat range: rounded, oversized insteps, wavy pattern on armor plates, large rivets on shoulder pads,... Edit: weird, the board ended up posting a previous, shorter iteration of my post. Oh well.
Actually it's consistent with the new Rasyat. Looks like it's going forward in this pattern. It's a big departure, but it looks great.
I mean, sort of? They both have this chest piece ready to plow through stuff, but that's about where the "consistency" ends, is it not? Sure, the Rasyat is a bit different from the rest of the range, but it still have very distinctly Morat design elements. More like the designers wanted small variations in the general look of the armor to reflect the different type of troop, than a complete overhaul. Oh, and to clarify since it got eaten in my previous post: I don't mind this new sculpt. Not at all, just pointing out how un-Morat it looks.
I'd love to see the profile tweaked at least a little bit. It is just too generic/vanilla. Without an update to the profile, I'll probably get one at some point for completion of the range... But I'd be in no rush - 12-18 months.
