...but you're not terrible. You exist within a faction with great heavy infantry, you carry a weapon that others carry, you have stats that are not far from what much cheaper models have, and your one big asset is your speed which is offset by your size. You cost so many points that a list has to be built around you, yet your primary faction is built from 30+ models predominantly. In short, if you were to be removed from the faction you wouldn't be missed. We'd still have the best thing about you; your miniature. Please consider my suggestion. Let's make you everything that Invincible Army is about. Add all of the new stuff and make you the true poster child of the sectorial. Your performance will not be boosted so much as your existing performance would be useable so much more. Truly, is there a more appropriate model to stack both Tactical Awareness and NCO/LT2 on? Edit: NCO profile should be 93 points.
You ninjad me to this thread. Couldn't agree more. Beautiful but utterly pointless model at the moment
It is pretty sad that Guijia and Zhan Shi missed another chance at improvements, especially since this might well be their final chance until N4 and the polar icecaps will probably melt before that happens. Hell at least Zhanshi has a role as cheap link fodders for wild cards in IA, Guijia has literally nothing.
Guija is there for dam 16 multi hmgs and missions with bonuses to tags. I think our only two options for looting and sabotage for killing the ac/2 is the hac tao and guija so if you're playing that mission that's a decent reason to bring one. It's not that they're bad it's just they're bare bones. Of course you have to build around them, they're tags...
As is constantly proven everytime the TAG missions are played, getting max points is an option that you don't have to take. Some factions don't even have TAGs. Hulang are more than capable of destroying the AC2 (hitting with AP+EXP ammo at CC +2) Zhencha and Liu Xing are both theoretically capable of doing it, though they hit on 1-12, which isn't great Haidao Engineer/CoC is likely to be in a Fireteam and it is fully possible they will be hitting with B3 at 1-11 because of it. Those are probably the best odds at taking the AC2 out in one order, but not great odds if the dice hates you. Additionally, you should have had a chance to pick up extra D-Charges. Guijia probably qualifies as the worst option of those capable of destroying AC2s and Antennas.
The models I listed have D-Charges which are anti-materiel and has a melee mode. In addition, TAGs can unarmed attack AC2s for PH-2 DAM as an exception. You'll have to elaborate. That motto is used against net-listing, against hunting for the optimal list or the hunt for the "best" list. It has always been true that it's fully possible to make bad lists, and for the most part a Guijia won't make a list that allows a player to play to their full potential. I'm considering making the same for Shang-ji, but I just can't figure out a simple way of making Shang-ji work without extreme make over.
It can both equally be your list or you yourself nowadays I feel. It could be a good list, but you just can't make it work for who knows what reason. Or you might be a person who has some godlike ability to make the best tactical decision with what you have every single time... but your list is made in such a way that the ''best tactical decision'' ends up being marching a LI HMG in front of a buffed TR HMG. I will admit, it's harder to botch a list in infinity than most other tabletop games... but you can still very much so botch a list. Granted, depending on your play style, there's also the point of ''A godlike list in your hands is a botched list, and your botched lists are way better for you yourself as you somehow know how to actually use them.'' Heavy Flamethrowers. And more Tac-Sense on some other profiles, preferably HRL and Hacker. Is what I would suggest.
So in the sectorial thats all about HI, you want to make a TAG the poster boy. Who do you think you are? Pano? :P
Let's put it like this: you as a player have a maximum potential, the list you play has a maximum potential. Either is capable of capping your performance, but having a great list won't make you as a player git gud in the same way as it might in other gaming systems. I was thinking just striking everything that's not in someway special, and move Tactical Awareness up as a unit skill. Basically, only keep three versions of Shang-Ji: Assault Hacker, HRL, Spitfire, Killer Hacker and then distribute the stuff like Tinbot etc on those profiles... but that doesn't really change that Shang-Ji are kind of too expensive for use other than as Captain of the Zhanshi because everything in this sectorial starts at 30 points. What I think the sectorial could really use (which isn't the same as "need"!) is a non-leadership unit reminiscent of the Daoying that focuses more on DZ security. Truth be told, if Corvus Belli gave me free unlimited access to their unit creation code and told me "make something appropriate" I'd make a Hac Tao character that amounts to roughly the Guijia's cost instead. That's not gonna happen, though, and the Guijia is sort of a massive oversized heavy infantry more than a TAG if we use Pan-O TAGs as benchmark.
Also, if I may just extrapolate on that post further. On the topic of HFT. I've always been of the opinion, that the most basic-yet-functional change for the Shang Ji would be... to expand upon the one unique thing about them that I could see in YJ, which was the prevalence of Combi/MULTI-Rifle + an underslung LFT they had. Even if these profiles would lack Tactical Awareness, I'd think adding any combination of a few rogue Combi/MULTI + HFT / Pulzar / E/Marat / Chain Rifle / LGL / LRL / LSG / HSG / Nimbus LGL / ( No Smoke LGL tho, especially after we got that MSV2 Hai Dao in a Zhanshi Core. That just sounds excessive now. ) / Pitcher / E/M LGL profiles would have added enough basic variety to the Shang Ji that it'd have a niche wider than being our cheapest Hacker HI ( Although, I will admit it now has two niches to make use of, a Tac Awareness Spitfire and our cheapest HI Hacker... but still. ). It's nothing too drastic I'd say, just adding some occasional weapon variety to a mid-cost HI.
Haidao KHD is our cheapest HI Hacker, not the awful Shang Ji AHD. Shang Ji needs a full rework, not a band aid fix.
I mean, that is perfectly forgiveable. before IA, we only had the Mech-Engineers and Zhanyings D-Charges.
I mean it's a bit bland, but I'll take anything buffwise at this point I just want this model not to suck.
