Yeah, the actual Shang Ji mini, the design, and the pose is fantastic. I just think the background and profile are just kind of not needed anymore in light of all the new specialist regiments. I'd love to see its general design crop up elsewhere though (other than the Crane).
I think they will be a complete redo, same only in name. With IA apparently only getting 5 new units some other shit is gonna need to be fiddled with to help vanilla yu jing get back to where it should be.
What if they moved them to more of a command role? Use the name 'superior' to mean of higher operation control, rather than pure combat abilities? Give them more command/leadership roles and abilities, but maybe limit the special weapons a bit more to make them more of officers. Combi and multi-rifles would be by far the norm across profiles, but in return it would get stuff like Duo (linkable with a multitude of other units), Advanced Command, CoC, and maybe EO (hard to use on a non-camo/AD model). An Lt profile with Inspiring Leadership or Strategos L1 would be nice, but don't know if that'd be too much.
What if they keep them almost where they are but give them more Hacker options? Regular, Killer, even Defensive or HD+? I'd take any of those over the AHD!
Not a bad concept. If you shift them more towards hackers; +1 WIP, -1 PH, full suite of devices, innate Haris and the Tinbot Profile gets the White Hacking Device, then just drop all them special weapon profiles. Guesstimate the KHD profile would be 39 points. Sixth Sense, Pitcher or Stealth (or even just Stop! upgrade on the WHD) would be extremely good to get in there, but since the two ultra powers can't have too many nice things... well... More likely that weapons gets geared in other ways such as Combi+LFL on KHD, HRL on AHD and 2xSMG on WHD.
I don't even think they need many changes other than the addition of more hackers. Maybe on the weapons though. Like Boarding Shotgun Hacker would be good I think they need that anyway. Wip 13 is still good. I don't see a need to change the PH but if it will save a pt. I guess it's okay.
"Immunity: Electronic Countermeasures" Models with this skill are immune to the effects of Comms Attacks and any hacking program causing Immobilization or Isolation. (Specifically avoiding "Unhackable" since I think Shang-Ji hackers should be targetable by wound-causing programs and that their Comms Equipment shouldn't be protected from Blackout, but this skill would protect them from Jammers and most threats hacking nets would cause.)
That would work, but if I were given free reins I would avoid it personally since it also gives them too great immunity to Hunting Party and a few other effects. Ideally I'd like them to also be able to move through E/M effects or at least save against E/M as if it was plain Nanotech. Idea would be that this is a new generation of hardened power armour that aims at solving the most glaring weakness of such armour which is their tendency to just... stop.. during battle. Also, f* Exile.
We were talking about fixing Immunities, earlier. Or at least getting them to all work the same way. Even came up with a usable 'Resistant' rule that lets you take a hit of a weapon you're resistant to on defender's choice of ARM or BTS. But *checks rules* No, wait, Glue is IMM-2. I guess Immunity: IMM-1 would be OK from that point. But I would really like something to make the Shang Ji better. I might even be OK with bumping them up to Crane levels/equipment, since a Crane is already wearing Shang Ji armor.
Vet 2 would be delicious. NBW would be nice. Vet 2 could be fluffy too. Better HUD gives SSL2, training and onboard stimulant injectors give NWI, hardened communications gear gives vet 1. Would Vet 2 bridge the points discrepancy people mentioned earlier or is it too powerful? Edit: give the regular HD back and a KHD profile too a la Hac Tao.
Think Vet2 would push them up to maybe 50 base cost. Since it doesn't come with Mimetism, I don't think it's too powerful, less sure if it's meant to be part of the repertoire, though.
So, the things we know from the video today: Shang Ji do still exist Invincible Army allows up to 5 They can Core, Haris and "Special" They are a "Wildcard" unit which can join ANY Fireteam So, barring any other changes (and there could be many) it looks like there will be at least some potential for the unit even if it hasn't totally transformed.
Wildcard is very useful. Letting you mix and match up for a custom team with just the variety of options you like can be a real benefit.
Guess I was wrong. So at least we know for sure there is a way to get a Zhanshi Core up to 5 people. Without the profiles changing at all I can see these guys being useful, as specialists ins a duo with a Mowang, or as the hacker in a Tinbot Zuyong team. What do people think the best combo of ShangJi and Zhanshis for an offensive fireteam would be like?
Well, at this point then (especially after the damp squib reveals of the Xiu Ling and Zencha) it better be getting a ground-up rework. I'm not holding out hope at this point, but it definitely needs to pick up some slack now.
Ah, good call, it should be 1W and V:Courage instead! Think of the savings! That would be some real cheap HI! And while we're at it, let's make Zuyong BS11, CC14, ARM1, and 1W! Man, that would bring them down to like 10-11 points! Such cheap heavy infantry! And how I long for the Daofei to be more like the Guilang! Why do we need two units? Just give the Daofei Guilang stats (but make sure you keep it HI, it would be OP if you couldn't hack it!) and remove the Guilang! Problem solved!
