Darn it! I used the HB Ghulam Spec-Ops all the time to finish the link! I do like the new options though....
Not as far as I can see. But I’m having a hard time finding where that rule was stuck in the old rules.
It was in the Cubevac/Casevac rules, in which Aleph would roll always at difficulty 20 in cubevac (never fails) but against CA, in which it was specified it always fails.
Ah, there it is in the old book. CubeVac for Aleph changes to 20 if Doctor, Baggage or AI beacon survives, 15 otherwise, and no asterisk concerning Combined Army.
I wish they had made new troops specifically for the Spec-Ops. It still seems to me that some troops have a better starting advantage over others. Deva and Muyibs in particular. They could have made them balanced yet characterful to the faction. Like 14 Wip Haq, BS12 PanO, etc.
You pay for those things in points, although the resulting package is still a bargain. Not having an option to get an elite trooper for ~12 points is a disadvantage in itself in my mind. Especially when it comes to Muyib specifically as Ghulam SpecOps meant much more for HB's listbuilding than a free upgrade for your order battery, and it wasn't just a 5th/spare member or ability to plug Leila elsewhere, but also an ability to plug certain holes in roles that are present in sectorial.
Either way, the SpecOps don't plug AVA holes anymore. They share AVA with the base troop now if I remember correctly. Plus, the Muyib is good for something you can't do on the Ghulam. CC 27 with MA3 is hilarious even if rarely effective.
Stat increase chart is exactly the same as before, except it’s listed as “+3” in the BTS column instead of “-3” that N2C:P had. 2, the 3 then 5 XP for each 3pt BTS improvement.
Ah, hell. Correction to previous post: If your spec ops doesn’t have a cube, you can lose the XP spent on the spec ops. As far as I can tell, everyone in that situation has a 1XP cube option, except NA2 (JSA). Odds of that being an accident? Not as far as I can tell. There’s a maximum of three additional weapons and three additional pieces of equipment (which is funny when the equipment lists are 4 to 5 items long).
So I can buy +6 BTS and Total Immunity for 12pts and be effectively an ARM 6 Muyib against all attacks? Sweet
I'm not sure that a BS 12 guy which is only good at surviving his own failures for 24 points is what you really want in your list. "Good at surviving" by standards of Infinity, of course, which are pretty damn low. Reducing odds of getting punked by typical attack piece from 60% to 50% (assuming you SF in return, even) is what you get for that ARM 2 -> ARM 6 upgrade, and it is not stellar. I guess that can still be a situational ARO piece, but it's not like HB has any problems in that department.
Played a tournament last weekend with spec ops and I think, CB messed up the next ITS format. A Deva is the wrong platform for a SpecOps. A three wound model who can docter herself up isn't funny in compare to all other factions.
Holy fudge sponge! Devas as Spec-Ops?! Where's my Zuyong spec ops!? Rabblerabblerabble. (MacHaon and a few others can already do this, but I suppose you can freebuild a Deva to be more abusive than MacHaon is, even if that's hard to imagine)
Could be worse. You cannot give HD+ to Deva unfortunetaly (otherwise you coild make a 24pts Asura ;P). In general its funny how lackluster SpecOp equipment is when compared what Deva can take. (but NWi with ODD can be mean).
ARM 6 in cover with Total Immunity and Dogged in a link (so B2, SSL2 etc) is a pretty solid roadblock. Tanking DAM 16 shots from TAGs on a 7? That's strong. Nasty Panzerfaust ARO too.
