ALEPH player: "My force has NWI and great hacking." TAK player: "I got marksmen and nothing important is hackable" ALEPH player: " damn, that counters me hard. Oh well, at least you can't hack my robots." TAK player: "Actually..." Sent from my SM-J320P using Tapatalk
I very much expect the Wardriver to be the preorder model for the Operation: box rather than the GenCon Exclusive.
I agree with that. Though simmilar to the Yuan Yuan released as an exclusive before, only one side is going to use that Sent from my SM-J320P using Tapatalk
I mean, they've done the artwork so it must be coming down the pipes, but I also don't buy that the recent sniper shot was a wardriver like some have claimed. It definitely had an Aleph pistol, there's a few key giveaways, most prominently the open ring on the bottom of Aleph pistol grips (wrist straps for beginners I guess). Wardriver as a pre-order for a box which includes an ariadnan faction makes a lot of sense though, I just don't think we've seen any part of her yet.
Yes it does? It has the ribbing and the black diagonal straps above the belt, like the dossier does. It's not quite as fine, being a model compared to the drawing, but all the details are there.
I mean, the Ariadnan player will certainly play the Wardriver once into Vedic, because that seems like a useful idea. They the will realize that a WIP 13 Hacking Device for 19 points/1SWC is a massive waste of points and never do it again, because the Vedic KHDs or HD+s can trivially remove the Wardriver if it moves upfield. I'm presuming the Ariadnan player isn't foolish enough to take the Defensive Hacking device, as they don't have anything to use its programs on. Though if they did, at least the Wardriver has sixth sense L1 so its SHIELD-3 programs can actually function. I'm excited for a TAK-including Operations 2-player box, but I really do hope that they don't give a preorder "bonus" of a model which only exists in the box for the Aleph player to use their toys on.
I have always thought Wardrivers seemed really wank. If they had an Assault HD with SSL1 they'd be good, is a shame.
The only benefit i see about the DHD wardriver would be to be able to do some hacking classified while being a bit harder to kill than a standard hacker. Not exactly a great feat outside highly classified.
Both two player boxes didn't use the hacking rules in the past (if I recall that correctly) because they are meant for new players.
Welllll you need a hacker for the REMs. But they might just not include hacking rules, like how Icestorm had everyone with a combi rifle even if the model had a multi-rifle for example. Or simplify it for the booklet (1 hacking program, a support one?)
now having quite some games that included hacking behind me, with retrospect I think everyone makes hacking much more impressive and a hassle that it really is. Sure it is complex, but not so much more complex than camo for instance. The idea of simplifying and giving players 1 or 2 programms at first to have them learn the ropes step by step is pretty good imo. a simple support at first, then an IMM one.
I think having simplified hacking in a starter would be a good move also, to ease people into it a bit more.
If we need even more hints that Vedict is coming there is this text from the Kurage crisis campaign. While the unofficial data about a hypothetical Aplekton base on Novyy Cimmeria is far from confirmed, the involvement of ALEPH forces on planet Dawn are a fact. In quite a symmetrical deployment, the new Dakini Tacbots 2.0 have been recorded by our cameras with a special focus on the Johnny-5 Node Base.
Danavas has about 15% chance of using Maestro on a Wardriver DHD in ARO or 22% if the DHD chooses to get a 20% chance of slamming the attack right back at the Danavas. Against an AROing Dasyu, the Wardriver only runs a 24% risk that increases to 33% when the Dasyu is in active turn (Wardriver shouldn't use Counterstrike against a KHD due to KHD ignoring the built-in Firewall). These fairly good odds of avoiding attacks persist even against multiple ARO due to the non-target nature of DHD programs (see discussion on Rules forum) The problem with the Wardriver DHD in Ariadna isn't that it gets taken down, 'cause it can fairly reliably avoid significantly more expensive hackers. The problem is "what then?" What's a DHD going to do other than flip switches that a cheaper FO with better combat stats could also flip without having to stop every other inch to Breakwater? Only reason to bring one in my eyes is to give Blackjack a Firewall and I don't see much reason at all to take the normal HD except for the odd troll-match where you get some Traktor Muls, but even then the Total Reaction Urugan already has Shock ammo. DHD is like 1 utility hacking program away from being almost useful and worth the points. That might be Spotlight if Spotlight was allowed to have B2.
In order for there to be some equality in a Aleph vs. Ariadna box, Aleph will probably not have Hacker specific models. I've tried making forces in Builider and Aleph (using old set as a base) even without hackers, it out-prices Ariadna by a good margin. They will need to create some new stuff for TAK I'm guessing. Or cheaper stuff for Aleph.
Hmmm... maybe the new Dakini 2.0 are no longer REM's, but IL's with Remote Presence and STR. Better Dodge, no Hacker required (but no Supportware for them).
