So lets do this again, I know some will still dislike Bolts, but I really think this time we're getting somewhere with them. With the changes to MI in Season:X I think its now safe to say Bolts absolutely have had their niche reinforced and have a raison d'être in the new environment. IIts no secret Ive always been a fan of the belt hugger Bolt build with Spitfire and Drop bears to leverage the High BS Shotguns of the link. But now that they have Forward Deployment lvl1 for free (which is tantamount to a 2 pt drop based on the cost of FD1) I think that role is further reinforced. The Problems withe the Spitfire as the active gun are alleviated by the extra 4 inches of deployment, and in Zone control missions sticking a Bolt link into the midfield wihtout having to spend an order on them is great. The FD also helps get the Drop bears and specialists bolts drag around into the midfield a lot faster.
As a bolt fan that can't get them to work (because I need to gitgud yes yes), my question is does this finally justify running a full bolt link or does this further emphasise the need for a Harris profile?
I think it justifies the full core Certainly in my opinion the +3 bonus is more relevant when your spitfire can start in good engagement range, your shotguns start midfield and you can throw 2 mines an order up to the centreline on 17s Edit ill be honest im very very excited to use bolts under these rules. Not the least as I feel it solves the issues ive personally experienced with then on the table.
It might justify it for the length of this event, but once the event runs down? Unless the November changes bring something significantly earthshaking for Bolts, I just can't see a whole lot changing.
while theres a chance this wont stick around after the season theres every chance it will. Taking it for the year using it and enjoying is perfectly fine. If bolts get any more buffs I would be happy, but at the same time Im very pleased with this and feel that it opens them up as a viable option (mission considering). Its certainly something I'll be exploring
I suppose I always treated a bolt core in the same way which was a mental hanidcap. A tool box with particular care to be sure I have a weapon for every range so I can shoot my way up the board as necessary. But if I think without including the ML Bolt in that link have a group focussed on taking and holding the middle then this looks much better. That extra 4" is a bit tricky though because I've played on some truly bad boards where 4" past deployment is a shooting gallery... Well I'm not too concerned about that right now. Ironclad and the 10-man list order denial rule who's name I don't remember is still in effect. As is the 75pt merc groups from memory. Admittedly its harder to imagine a blanket ruling on all MI remaining but who knows? As much as I wish-listed I never imagined CB woudl actually take away the template requirement for jumps - or that a blanket buff to all TAGs would stay in effect!
You cant do anything about a bad board unfortunately, except tweak it before game wiht your opponent. Boards should facilitate play not punish is and its sad to see a lack of thought with regards to that ruin games
I agree things are better. My dismay at the cost of Bolts overall remains. But this does make a Fireteam with a couple of BSGs, Hacker, Spitfire and Sniper into an even better tool... and that's good. To be honest even with more utility from Veteran triggered Classified Objectives AND Forward Deployment I STILL have my doubts about the unit overall. But it is, at least, fair to say:
Well.. I was going to start Acon or USARF this year. Now Acon USARF AND NCA are all looking even better. I guess i'm playing all three! I've always done pretty decently with bolts, and the Forward Deployment is going to be amazing. I frequently went ML instead of Spitfire due to SWC, and the paired Shotgun on the ML, but that Spitfire is looking pretty fine now. USARF is getting a huge bonus for this; but the Minutemen are looking extra-bad now by comparison to Grunts and Marauders lol Meanwhile, Bagh-Mari full Core link looks more enticing. I was planning on running solos since they're amazingly cheap and good shooters on their own, but with FD1, moving that whole link around for shotgun range is pretty nice sounding. This season's new rules add a lot of fun to MI. I saw some talk that this was another way to help the Bolts along. I think it's a way to help Medium Infantry in General, as the 4-2 movement is really unappealing on 20-30 point troops. Don't forget the Black Friar and his MRifle being that much closer to hunting his usual targets of midfield skirmishers with that MultiRifle..
The nisse starts looking like more than an SWC gun boat as well. the good thing for Baghs is the Sniper can still deploy in your DZ but you can start pushing those Mines out from your DZ a lot further to get access to camo shell games.
I would argue that the big winner here is the Black Friar Multi Rifle, but I do agree that both the Nisse and the Bagh Mari also do well. Too well, to be fair, neither of them needed this boost but both will take it happily.
Wasn't he before? I could swear there were only two Nisse profiles, HMG and MSR :P Bolts are better at taking the midfield now. I'm kinda wary of playing my Wildcats in this season; they are one of my favourite units, but now I would be accused of cheesing. USARF is the big winner, Marauders are better than ever. Yu Jing is the biggest loser, with their MI options being limited to sniper Sun Tze and Tiger Soldier. Haqq takes a weird hit, as a few of their MI-like units were actually LI, like Muyibs, Govads or Kaplans. I can see them losing ground to Lasiqs and Sekbans. On PanO side it's clearly NCA and ASA that benefits the most. MO only gets a better Friar, which is still ok, but not as game changing as for the other sectorials. I have to say that overall I don't like this rule that much.
Nisse looks like more than an SWC gunboat. With FD1 Id certainly look at the paramedic a second time. A SWF list themed around nisse MSR, Knauf and Nisse paramedic is something id certainly run
I don't see it really. Maybe in Svalarheima, but Nisse is so optimized for shooting that making it anything different from a gunner looks like a waste. Similarly I don't expect this change to bring a spike in hacker Intruder population. (now I want a Heroes 3 screen "Corvus Belli proclaims season of Bravery! All Medium Infantry increase population.")
Yeah, I also think this plays right up the Bolts' alley. Doesn't solve the overall problem, but will make them more playable in NCA.
A 32 point camo-hunting specialist that starts 4" up the field, yeah I can see that being a lot more attractive now. CR+LSG isn't as good as a MR, but against ARM 0-1 troops that's basically irrelevant, and any order spent trying to revive skirmishers is an order you've made your opponent waste. Drop bears (or better yet, mines!) would be nice, but mimetism is strictly better.
the friar ticks all those boxes outside the scoring one interestingly. Wonder what a friat+nisse list would look like
