Nice to know you think I'm a douchebag for wanting to have a boarding party table for my Corregidor, when the entire damn collection is limited by models that have Zero-G (or multiterrain).
I would advise against wide open terrain. It may be tempting to aggressively put forth your own ARO presence, but remember it swings both ways. IA's complete lack of smoke makes the army wide open to ARO. Most non Pan O forces don't share that weakness. The troops may be tough, but they don't want to face off against MM2 Q drones, Noctifer, HI linked ML/HRL, or Tohaa defensive formations (ex triad w/ Sukeul ML& Gao Rael + Nikoul). Places for cautious move will be super important as well as angles for slicing the pie. That said, density shouldn't be so high it lets warbands walk up and trade for your valuable wounds.
I would love to play against a faction in its "Home" board, with flavourful terrain, especially if that gave them an advantage. It'd be like in a computer game, the boss is always in terrain that suits it and not you. IAs terrain related strengths seem to be: - high order count for Links with Tac Awareness and NCO - multiple good drop troops with Explode LvX - Climbing Plus Camo markers with Submachine Guns - Great long range ARO (3 TR bots, Yan Hao, MSV2 MSR, 5-man and Haris Links) Hacking is not a threat to IA, we have the KHDs, Tinbots and repeater coverage to survive and thrive. So I'm thinking a mix of winding corridors of low walls breaking into an open parade ground where the Emperor's Finest can demonstrate their superiority. IA links have the orders to get through the labyrinth quickly, and the Zhencha can climb the low walls, and the ML can blow through them. The opponent will also always have to worry about Liu Xing dropping in behind them.
>good drop troops >Explode L:X pick one. All seriousness, I can certainly dig someone making a table for their army, if it means I get to stop building all the tables for my group.
I don't know what you mean. My understanding is Explode LX is just a bonus template hit against everyone next to the drop troop, which doesn't affect the Liu Xing, and cancels if it hits a friendly troop. How does that make the Liu Xing worse? It sounds perfect to force opponents to choose to dodge and survive, or deal one wound to a two wound drop troop and die. Am I missing something?
Because without supportware he only has a 60% chance to drop on someone's head, and then they have to fail to dodge, and then they have to fail their armor, which doesn't seem like good odds. Now I haven't used him yet, so if he works out for me in my next game I'll happily change my tune, but he pays for a skill I personally don't see much use for.
Liu Xing really needs Supportware, EVO or a Landing Area to have good landing odds, but the main use of Explode LX isn't mass murder; it's denying consequence-free AROs to troops next to it. If they're dodging they aren't shooting or Hacking, so it opens up a few more opportunities to safely Combat Jump.
I have never seen AD drop without supportware (except Yuan Yuan of course), so that's was an assumption on my part. Obviously I haven't had many games yet with it, but I think Explode is to force poor ARO choices. Eg, if you drop him next to their Hacker, they have to choose a likely to fail Hacking ARO and cop a hit, or Dodge which will increase the likelihood that you land in the first place. Or if can't land behind them, they can choose to shoot and not kill your 2W trooper with their B1 ARO, or Dodge. Even if the Explode fails to wound it saves your AD trooper an ARO.
Nah, just for that answer, considering a space station was literally an example of a perfectly fine themed table I gave two lines above.
The discussion here got out of hand a while back, and sidetracked into who is or is not a "douchebag". To put this to rest, the group of people I actually play with are completely fine with me building a board to play to my army's strengths. I have asked. It's okay. I'm officially not evil. Consider this a free pass to suggest any devious ideas that you might consider too impolite for your local area, I have good friends who don't care too much as long as the game is fun and the dice behave. On topic, I've looked through the scenery rules a bit more. As a faction full of hearty S2 models and a wide variety of anti-materiel firepower, it looks like assembling proper Scenery Building Profiles for terrain elements will be both beneficial and fun. In particular, the Hulang gets a massive bonus, as he carries D-Charges and has Stealth. Destroying a wall to create a Narrow Access point anywhere it needs one is a game-changer for a unit so dependent on flanking. The Yan Huo can easily bring down buildings from range, trapping any enemies inside in a Very Difficult Terrain and Saturation Zone. Hackable terrain can be activated by Engineers, so the Haidao picks up another use as a door opener.
For the narrow access point, I've seen some historical games model them using an L-shaped marker with a small pile of rubble and a 'hole in the wall' shown by black paint with bricks or stonework around the 'hole' with a model running into the 'hole'. I'd skip the model running into the breach for Infinity.
