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Speculation: Which sectorials will stay, which will go?

Discussion in 'News' started by brettdavis1991, Dec 29, 2018.

  1. kanluwen

    kanluwen Well-Known Member

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    Black Hand is dead and has been for years.
     
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  2. archon

    archon Well-Known Member

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    There is no 4th ship, so there is no further sectorial for nomads. But they can easily create one. One lost ship pop suddenly out of a wormhole or the livingspace is getting short on the ships and they build a new one. If they made something like black hand sectorial, then the other intelligence services want to have their own also.

    Thats the problem, it seems it is not the story that say its time for a last stand, its the decision to shut down a sectorial (temporaly), that leads to a story with something similar to a last stand.

    QK and some Nomads are defending a space elevator, that is captured on the planet side, but not in space.

    The scots are likly to charge head over into another alien thread ;-)
     
  3. Errhile

    Errhile A traveller on the Silk Road

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    QK is too big to make a "last stand". It is, after all, having troops placed on every Haqq installation in Human Sphere apart from the Bouraq itself.
    All the Haqq Caravansaries. Space stations (not all of them being technically Caravansaries). Orbital elevators on Paradiso. Likely the installations on Dawn (like the Duban Prospecting Site in Kurage Crisis). The warships of the QK Armada (not to be mistaken for Haqq Space Admirality, as these are two separate fleets). QK trade fleet's security personnel. Not to mention defense and security of the Sultanate of Funduq's own territory on Bouraq.

    Too many of them, and spread too widely to make a "last stand" that would impact The Men of the Gate as an organization.

    But dispersion and size that makes them invulnerable to a last stand situation like the one that spelt doom on MRRF means they have a lot of ground to cover. A lot of territory and installations to protect, which are vital to the interest of Haqqislam as a whole. They've been the main defense & security force of the Haqq territories on Paradiso, and, as we can read in 3rd Offensive, they've been losing ground, manpower and equipment to the Combined Army's onslaught. This may well mean they can't maintain current level of presence on Paradiso (where all the action seems to be going on right now), and are spread thinly elsewhere. Similar with Hassassin Bahram, I guess - they are "everywher in the Sphere", but they are spread way thinner than QK in terms of their actual tactical capability. And they've been playing "fire brigade" role on Paradiso's fronts where Haqqislam was concerned: no matter how brilliant Hassassin combat troops are, this has to wear and tear them, too.

    Which would, as far as I can see, make a perfectly reasonable thing for the Ministry of War (Diwan al-Jund, if memory serves me...) to pull QK back, for rest, reinforcement, resupply, reogranization, re-equipping (with lessons learned in the current conflict being put into practical application) and paying damn attention to Haqq installations elsewhere (keep in mind, the Shasvasti infiltrators are at large in the Sphere, the leaders of all the major factions just need to become aware of that and start implementing countermeasures).

    Fluff-wise, 3rd Offensive thus has - in my opinion - laid a perfect background rationale for pulling QK for a sabbatical, and letting the Ramah Task Force, freshly-arrived from Bouraq, ot deploy into the Haqq territories on Paradiso and take over.
    Fluff-wise, the QK will stil be in the background, still watching over all the installations in the sphere they have to keep an eye on, and there will be still QK Armada's raiders patrolling space over Paradiso.

    Heck, haven't we just seen PanOceania, the Hyperpower, pulling one of their own sectorial armies from frontline duty on Paradiso due to wear & tear? Shock Army of Acontaciemento is taking a sabbatical already!
     
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  4. Section9

    Section9 Well-Known Member

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    Starco.
     
  5. Solodice

    Solodice Freshly Squeezed Troll

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    Black Hand is like saying the Post-humans or the Hexahaedron are getting their own sectorials. Some groups are just going to get rolled up in other sectorials instead of getting their own.
     
  6. A Mão Esquerda

    A Mão Esquerda Deputy Hexahedron Officer

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    Although, if it were to happen, Black Hand could be the Nomad’s Snake Eaters.
     
  7. kanluwen

    kanluwen Well-Known Member

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    To be fair, yeeaaaaaaaaaaars ago we had talk of Black Hand.

    The issue is that the Black Hand would be more akin to a NA2 faction or a mix of Bakunin and CJC Lite: with Observancy(because black operations require crazy techwitches or somefin), Intruders, Bandits, and more!

    I'm glad they're gone as a concept. As excited as I was for it, I recognize that it just wouldn't work.
     
  8. Ben Kenobi

    Ben Kenobi Well-Known Member

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    It would work, it would be Vanilla Nomads with linkteams :grin:
    Similar to Onyx

    But I don't think, that it would be balanced and therfore I don't think we will get it in the near future.
     
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  9. kanluwen

    kanluwen Well-Known Member

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    Vanilla Nomads implies everything is represented.

    It wouldn't be.

    For whatever dumb reason as it initially was setup the fluff for Black Hand is that the Observancy, via the Reverend Moiras, provides the "muscle" for the covert ops branch.
    The Intruders provide training to the Observancy's recruits.

    It's only recently that we've now seen the Bandits which are part of it.

    The TLDR version is that the fluff for the Black Hand is a mess and would require someone to invest a long period of time to clean up the garbage that is there currently and make a cognizant intelligence agency/deniable asset group.

    As it stands? It's like the Hexahedron using the Military Orders as their mainline agents/operators. Rather than the Locusts and Hexas we see.
     
  10. DukeofEarl

    DukeofEarl Well-Known Member

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    I would like to note that the two factions that had factions shelved this year also gained a sectorial that would have put their total to 4. There was a strategic decision for discontinuing their production in that situation.

    Given that, the current sectorial counts, and recent productions; the only other faction that would be in a spot for that would be CA. Nomads is pretty unlikely given their fluff. When you add in the Day of the Holy Innocents angle to the mix, dropping more right now feels a little unlikely.
     
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  11. Ramas

    Ramas Member

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    I think that QK and MAF are the main target. QK are fighting at the front against CA. It is possible that QK fights hard as ever and MAF too. And they have many casualties on both sides. May be Bakunin is infiltrated by Shasvastii Forces too. That is not unlikely if we think about their abilities. I am very interested in the new fluff however ^O^
     
  12. kanluwen

    kanluwen Well-Known Member

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    Difference is that Onyx isn't really going to be a huge issue going forward.

    Worth mentioning as well that MRRF had been on indefinite hold for quite some time, as had SAA, when it came to sculpts for the overall faction. There had been a few bits and bobs here and there but it really feels like NCA is next on the chopping block. Look at how poorly they've invested time into trying to bring that range up to date.
     
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  13. meikyoushisui

    meikyoushisui Competitor for Most Ignored User

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    Bakunin and QK are gone.

    Lowest player counts and weakest factional identity.

    The only other army I think it's possible for is Morats -- but CB keeps trying to make them work.

    There's no way NCA or anything in Ariadna will go, they already lost sectorials, and don't have any new sectorials on the horizon -- it wouldn't make sense to retire two from the same faction.
     
  14. AdmiralJCJF

    AdmiralJCJF Heart of the Hyperpower

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    Keep in mind that the actual in-universe reason for the reduced numbers of Acontecimento units available is because they are too heavily committed on Paradiso, not because they were reduced to below viability (like the Merovingians).

    Something similar could easily happen with QK, being too tied up with their duties on the front lines against the Combined Army to be easily pulled away for covert ops.
     
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  15. Smiler

    Smiler Well-Known Member

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    Or they're so busy hunting down Shasvastii infiltrators on Haqq ships and stations they can't be involved in covert ops
     
  16. Zewrath

    Zewrath Elitist Jerk

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    It’s been rebranded to StarCo.

    An off branch from Corregidor with a sprinkle of Bakunin.
    Having agents directly from the Black Hand, such as Bandits and StarCo being something that operates for Nomads with no official ties.
     
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  17. Section9

    Section9 Well-Known Member

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    StarCo has a better rep than a black-ops unit, though.
     
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  18. AdmiralJCJF

    AdmiralJCJF Heart of the Hyperpower

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    Sure, same thing really.
     
  19. Zewrath

    Zewrath Elitist Jerk

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    Shouldn't black-ops have NO reputation, though? ;)
     
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  20. psychoticstorm

    psychoticstorm Aleph's rogue child
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    StarCo has no (visible) connections to black hand they are the most straightforward and reputable mercenary outfit in the sphere (and a really good pro Nomads propaganda on top of making the entire sphere and especially O-12 pay to keep stationary Nomad forces throughout the Human Sphere).

    The thing with Black Hand always was they have too few actual operative units tied to them Observance pays a big role in Black hand, but their non combatant cyber security branch takes the lions share, other units mentioned may take solo works for Black Hand but black hand does not seem to have an actual organised strike force composition like Hassassin Bahram and works more like PanOceania Hexadron, inserting their agents on add hoc formations as required.
     
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