Anyone got a list of what minor powers might be out there, or groups that at least could get some kind of list (even if just CBLs and use of a profile to represent something, EG it's listed as a Deva for simplicity, but its actually the Svengali equivelant?) IMO, having a few more NA2s for narrative campaigns rather than having them be ITS-viable could be interesting, and a very nice tie-in to an RPG campaign. And with Defiance coming along, some more ways to connect them all together wouldn't be unwelcome :)
Svengali seems to be more of a criminal enterprise than a separate power, though. Not denying that Sven could be played as an entire Infinity army, just that vis* power seems to be relatively limited. After all, ve* took out a contract for "Shock and Awe" to chase someone down (Magno? Cervantes?), rather than doing it with vis* own forces. Since I can't find that specific quote in Uprising, it must be in 3rd Offensive (which a friend of mine has but I don't). * using ve and vis as neuter pronouns for 'species' that don't have a male or female gender, like AI. I'd use hse and hsis as neuter pronouns for a species that has a neuter gender, possibly like Shas.
To be perfectly honest, at this point the amount of actual armies in "non-aligned armies" is fairly low. Another faction branch called "Mercenary Outfits" wouldn't be amiss - could also open up for opportunities whereby, for example, the Mercenary Extra for ITS would allow you to use a Mercenary Outfit as one of your lists. (This would also make an argument to keep these Outfits intentionally Bayram-slim and to the point)
Seems like a good idea. You could even limit which factions have access to each Outfit to suit the narrative.
I was thinking about something similar, and I also agree with actually using them as mercs. The Kurage shenanigans had all NA2 as one faction, which didn't make total sense, but next time it'll possibly be even more baffling because either the JSA will hire everyone again, or all the mercs will suddenly be working against their parent factions. However, if some system for the major factions and JSA to "hire" merc units was to be figured out that to me would be a lot more interesting rather than the potential for NA2 being pretty lop-sided since practically every NA2 has a potential playerbase formed from another faction.
I think Bostria (or maybe someone else at CB) has already said that O12, were it to exist, would be a new vanilla of its own.
Indeed, O-12 is a major power with its own military and planet, it would be done as a full faction and not NA2.
O-12 definitely has enough clout and manpower to require true Sectorials if they were ever in Infinity. It's tricky to have them be involved in the sort of stuff Infinity's scale and lore can depict though. Not impossible, but right now they're not really the kind of folks to be drawn into covert black ops raids on rivals or getting involved in small wars. Few would be crazy enough to attack them, and if O-12 are gunning for you for whatever reason, they wouldn't necessarily need to keep it secret.
I could see Bureaus Toth and Aegis getting drawn into small scale Infinity style ops, Toth would be an excellent candidate for an O-12/Aleph mix Sectorial too.
I am not sure how integrated bureau Toth is with Aleph units, given they are theoretically the ones to pull the kill-witch if things get out of control...
Aren't they also the Rogue AI Hunters? Seems like Aleph would be a good buddy to have along on those outings.
Not sure if "good guy with gun stops bad guy with gun" or "send a maniac to catch a maniac"... Still, your idea here has me thinking a bit. If and when O12 is introduced (I'm guessing N4, even if N4 is just a new rulebook collating and updating all the N3 stuff to streamline things after all these expansions) I think maybe some kind of allied forces rule should be possible to allow wider combinations beyond just "lets mix two sectorials into an NA2 faction" if only to allow for that. It could work similar to Soldier of Fortune, but maybe have some different restrictions - like, maybe all the mercs/allies need to be in a seperate combat group, have limited fireteam options, reduced AVAs (maybe seeing some heavy hitter units drop to being unavailable), designate a "junior LT" for their group, effectively working as a second army under your control. Mercenary units from the actual Merc tab, or mercs directly available to a sectorial like Massacre could possibly be treated as able to join that second combat group/army. There's a million better ways to do it probably but I think it'd be fun to do joint ops/allied ops
I'd like to see another Submondo force, absolutely, though not a generic one. Introduce a cool new criminal entity with a specific area, goal etc and a few existing troops plus a few unique ones. And I would like to see new minor nation forces too, again, something new and inventive that feels different and unique. In terms of mercenary forces, I think we're doing pretty good with four! If there was to be another I believe that it'd probably be Ariadnan based, the Varangians. That could be cool and also include some more high tech options to represent how these are the Ariadnans who have left Ariadna and are making it big in the wider sphere. I would definitely say that to split out NA2 will certainly make sense at some point. Mercenary (Free, Dahshat, Foreign and Ikari Companies), Submondo (Druze and whatever) and Minor Nations (JSA and whatever). But tbh that's really just more how they organise it on Army and either way, not a big deal.