I unfortunately didn't get to do YJ on the weekend. But I still feel they gained a lot in some of the new troops. Mainly with the Zuyong TA&HMG, Daoying, and Haidao. My favorite thing is not IA, but the Liberto. I've really liked it both in my YJ and Ikari. I've tried the Liu Xing but only once. I was't that impressed but again it was only one time. I haven't tried the Mowang yet. I will at least try him out at some point. I only did Hulang once and that was in IA. I did like him but need to see more. The Same with Zhencha. The think I like on paper is the synergy it can have with Guilang and Daofei. Having 4 tiers of good camo troops can be pretty good if leveraged well. The below 4 I'm especially looking forward to trying out all together. The cheap expendable guy to get rid of mines. The low-middle guy laying down mines and repeaters, the middle guy getting work done, and the big guy surprise shot killing. 3 1 LIBERTO (Minelayer) Light Shotgun, Chain-colt, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 10) GŬILÁNG (Forward Observer, Deployable Repeater) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 27) ZHĒNCHÁ (Forward Observer) Submachine Gun, D.E.P., Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 34) DÀOFĚI Spitfire / Pistol, Shock CCW. (2 | 55)
Well, here's my opinion about YJ vanilla post IA, I played some matches and the most unit I used were : Mowang NCO : amazing, I think that red fury profile is the best, 2W + NWI and mimetism are really good and give to the unit excellent durability and with a Lt L2 in list two extra orders for it. Daoying : this is probably the best addiction, camo Lt L2 and other useful profile, but for now the first one I mentioned is my favourite, and I believe the same goes for every YJ player xD. Liberto : well, this is an addiction that arrived with the new book but is good, cheap and the minelayer profile is useful, of course, the 1 swc cost could be a problem in some lists. For now only these 3 units, I also played a match with IA but I'll post my first impressions about it in a dedicated topic, in the meantime enjoy my short but, I hope, useful analysis.
@Manfred_VR I've only used the Mowang once, and he got killed by a BSG while in SF, so unfortunately I didn't really get to try him out. How do you squeeze that RF profile in though? It's quite expensive for a DAM 13 weapon, so what do you use as longe range can openers in a Mowang list? Not that much of a difference compared to the Su Jian's spitfire of course, but with the SJ it's easier to get a panzerfaust shot into the back of heavy stuff...
My experience with the Mowang has been sad, mostly thanks to really bad luck with the dice rolls. But addressing your points: the RF is better than the Spit IMO, mostly because it trades better range mods (they are actually different!), Shock ammo and reduced SWC cost for 1 DMG. Even though the Mowang itself can't shoot that far, the Mimetism, 4-4 movement and high ARM values + wounds make him quite apt at closing the gap. In my eyes, it's a matter of choosing either the Mowang or the Su-Jian depending on the mission. Mowang is more resilient, which is great in missions where you are supposed to put army points on areas of the map or have your data tracker survive assassination attempts. Su-Jian is an amazing hunter that can close the gap faster or retrieve stuff if you need to.
I strongly question what the hell is going on in a game when you're looking at firing either of those guns over 32". The reason to pick the Red Fury is the SWC reduction and Shock ammo. The inconsequential rangeband difference is not.
NCO orders immediately make up for the mobility difference between the Mowang and Su Jian. He's a better gunfighter since he has Mimetism, and he's paying 1 SWC for what is essentially a 2 SWC weapon. Also he has an Akrylat Kanon on that profile, which is a huge risk for any other HI shooting at him.
You never have engagements over 32 inches? The Red Fury is a surprisingly decent weapon for it, especially in Vanilla where Snipers or Missiles can't be linked.
I wouldn't take those fights if I could help it; between Lunah and the new Haidao MSR, Yu Jing has some very nasty snipers at their disposal. I wish I could say I feel bad for Bao Troops losing their only niche in Yu Jing, but... I don't. I'll pay the 8 point NWI/Shock Immune tax.
I'm sorry for your bad luck with the Mowang, for now I suffered the same fate only against a ML Noctifer, was just a fatality 'cause a critic at 6 ruined my beautiful plans, but in every other matches worked really well, the Red fury profile is excellent 'cause I believe its main role is to be an anti-infantry unit, shock ammo are excellent and I'm quieter when I meet NWI models. I played just yesterday vs ALEPH and despite I forgot that it has mimetism ( playing in the evening is a shit) did a great job.
Not with a Spitfire or Red Fury, that's for sure. Seek alternatives like a bigger gun or closing in from behind smoke.
Yes, and given how badly you've screwed up your game at this point I reiterate my point, it's not a reason why you're choosing the Red Fury profile in the first place. You don't go into the list building it for "hmmm... I really expect I'll shit the bed on this so I'd better plan and spend 50+pts for firing this guy's gun at 40" for some reason"
Versatility's a very valuable tool. 4 dice on 7s on a massively durable platform when the enemy is -9 or worse in return is quite decent. It's a similar design principal to the Ryuken-9; you accept that you're not getting +3 in most engagements, in exchange for putting really heavy penalties on your opponent. Outside of 32 inches, the only weapon that really do better are missiles and MULTI Snipers, neither of which are particularly great in Vanilla. Even a Hsien HMG is -3.
You're better off in most of those situations looking for the 24" engagement. Yu Jing has the extra orders to make it happen.
Don't stress yourself. The Red Fury's long -3 range is a nice perk, not a focal point of the profile.
Yeah, the main advantage IMO of the Red Fury is it's low cost in points and SWC, the shock and longer -3 range are nice perks when they happen.
I've got a bunch of things I want to try out for Vanilla tonight. Vs. Bakunin with Riot Grrls link as far as I know. The mission: Firefight. Get to panoplies, kill specialists, kill Lt., kill Data Tracker. Liberto is there to "guard" the Lt. by using it's mine near it. He gets FD2 and Lt. FD1. I can have the mine somewhere around it. The Daoying will do things like do Fairy Dust and then go back into Camo. Major Lunah is always good for picking of straglers. Ninja is going to be for panoplies and then going into suppression. Hulang for panoplies and then move on to kill some specialists. I really want to get him into CC. Kanren KHD is going to disguise himself as another Hulang and I'll try to put him as a target for his hacker. Daofei for killing Guilang for panoplies I really want to try the Liu Xing again. I've only tried it once so far. He's going to be trying to land on straglers and anything else fun. Zhanshi mainly for points but also to look like a possible Lt. Yu Jing ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 9 1 LIBERTO (Minelayer) Light Shotgun, Chain-colt, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 10) DĀOYĪNG Lieutenant L2 Hacker (Hacking Device) Boarding Shotgun / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 29) MAJOR LUNAH Viral Sniper / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 29) NINJA Combi Rifle / Pistol, DA CCW, Knife. (0 | 35) HÚLÁNG (Fireteam: Duo) Combi Rifle + Light Flamethrower, E/M Grenades, D-Charges / Pistol, Monofilament CC Weapon, Knife. (0 | 44) KǍNRÈN Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Chain-colt / Pistol, Monofilament CC Weapon, Knife. (0 | 29) DÀOFĚI Spitfire / Pistol, Shock CCW. (2 | 55) GŬILÁNG (Minelayer) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 26) LIÚ XĪNG Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 32) ZHANSHI Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 11) 5.5 SWC | 300 Points Open in Infinity Army
Well nothing went like I had hoped. I went first and I think going second might have been best. The Kanren got killed by a Hack modified Pi-Well before he could get close to the Custodier. The Hulang was taken out by a modified Tsyclone spitfire. I forgot about Riot Grrls MSV1 so all of my camo hardly helped. I at least took out the missile launcher with a combo of the Daofei and Lunah but both were later taken out. The star of the show may have been the Liu Xing. Not saying much since everyone else bombed, but his in a good way! I had him land right between a Riot Grrl and Zoe. The Custodier tried to hack the landing, Zoe dodged and the Riot Grrl shot him with BSG. I won the jump, Zoe was killed by the blast, RG wounded. I got a wound back and went into NWI. Later I killed the RG with my his BSG. I thought of landing next to the Custodier but I felt it was more dangerous. Because Zoe at least only had the options, of dodge or eat the blast with hacking or shooting. The Custodier was near the Tsyclone so the Custodier could dodge and Zoe could hack.
For your next battle, remember that Zoe can't dodge Liu Xing, she can only Hack Transport or do nothing ;)
