Yeah, Krit is a very, very timid step forward for IA, but at least it's one in the right direction: multi purpose profile, with a DTW for "sacrificial" trade against 1w attack pieces, and minelayer to help keeping your expensive dudes alive. With less bloat and without the weird ass FTO restrictions it would be a very valuable addition to a zuyong team.
Yeah... I don't think there's much point in the FD profile, and at this point I'm not even convinced the bloat is to blame as much as a lack of return on investment. Play with the thought of the Feuerbach profile having MadTraps for a grand total of 50 points and the Minelayer Profile having a FTO and Light Grenade Launcher instead of E/Mitter and Forward Deployement for 43 points. This way Krit, regardless of which profile you took, would strongly complement the sectorial while remaining fairly expensive. Still wouldn't change that IA has too many 40+ profiles that are considered "core to the design" or whatever you'd call it
I do like the EMitter, but having an LGL would be an auto-include for me. Yeah. Not even scraping 2-3pts per profile off the Zuyong would fix that.
The TA Zuyongs profiles are fine where they are. But the regular guys, sure. Just cut that brace of breaker pistols and you're good. Or, if you want to do it the easy way, just remove the wildcard restrictions from the Haidao and call it a day. Not only do you fix a lot of price point issues for IA, you also provide some much needed utility and versatility to the HI pain train. It's a small change, but it offers for some much more varied list building, which means a lot considering how limited the sectorial's list building options are at the moment. Imagine something like this: Invincible Army ────────────────────────────────────────────────── GROUP 1 6 TAI SHENG (Chain of Command) Breaker Combi Rifle, Chain-colt + 1 TinBot B (Deflector L2) / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (0 | 49) HǍIDÀO Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Boarding Shotgun / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 26) HǍIDÀO (Multispectral Visor L2) MULTI Sniper / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 37) HǍIDÀO Red Fury / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (1 | 29) PANGGULING FTO (Repeater) Light Shotgun / Electric Pulse. (0 | 13) DĀOYĪNG Lieutenant L2 Hacker (Hacking Device) Boarding Shotgun / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 29) GROUP 2 6 ZÚYŎNG (Fireteam: Duo, Tactical Awareness) HMG / 2 Breaker Pistols, Knife. (1.5 | 38) ZÚYŎNG (Fireteam: Haris, Tactical Awareness) Combi Rifle + 1 TinBot B (Deflector L2) / 2 Breaker Pistols, Knife. (0.5 | 34) PANGGULING FTO (Repeater) Light Shotgun / Electric Pulse. (0 | 13) MECH-ENGINEER Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 15) CHAĪYÌ Yaókòng Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8) CHAĪYÌ Yaókòng Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8) 5 SWC | 299 Points Open in Infinity Army Two 8/8 pool groups with very respectable hitting power, capable of complimenting one another in ways that most active core/haris combos can't. Ultimately though, Dashat already does the Zuyong better than us. If we want IA to build around strong HI links, focusing on the options that the Haidao can give us works to build a stronger identity for IA as a whole in addition to making it more uniquely viable.
Dunno, Fragile, Haidao can be included maximum 1 per link; advancing core link is a very risky one, and if there's something I wouldn't do on table, its including S4 remote into mobile fireteam. It pays dearly.
That's the point of that hypothetical list, the Haidao restriction of one per link should be removed. The point of the FTO bots would be to spread Sixth Sense tinbot KHD coverage to places the Haidao KHD either can't or won't want to go. Red Fury is either a backup weapon for the sniper (because this guy's great even on his own), or if the core would actually need to push. Yes, the link is a touch more fragile than a set of Zuyongs, but that's the price you pay for versatility. The Zuyong belongs to Dashat now, the Invincible Army needs to develop its own identity. I'm just floating examples of things that could be done if the Haidao was made into a true wildcard.
I'm going to strongly disagree here. Such affirmation is a big NO and I'm sure Gutier would be horrified to read that. The Zuyong is the identity of IA, there's no other way. Zuyongs in Dashat might have access to all flavours of ABH as well as Rui Shi, Valerya, Miranda and Sforza; but can't compare with the flexibility of the IA Zuyong fireteam. I can agree that Dashat options help to build a cheaper link but I wouldn't go as far to claim Zuyong belongs to Dashat. Also don't get fooled by the Rui Shi link option. Many Dashat players are starting to agree that Rui Shi in a core just serves the annoying purpose to push another 4 miniatures with the Rui Shi; and as a result of that many have started favoring the Haris option or simply go solo. Regarding the ABH, in the end just the SMG option is used, as a cheap filler. But don't forget the resilience of a fireteam is that of the weakest member in the link.
I really wish Dashat hadn't gotten the TA Zuyongs. They were originally released without them, then got them a month or two later. I feel that it really dilutes the identity of the Invincible Army.
Then he shouldn't have given tac aware to Dashat. They'd be fine without it. Let him be horrified. Really, the only true leg up on versatility that IA has over Dashat in its Zuyong fireteams is the Haidao... which is heavily restricted in its ability to augment the Zuyong fireteam in the first place. The Shang Ji is a disaster and the Son-Bae is filler (and if people aren't clamouring over Dashat's linkable Rui Shi, this is nothing). The Pangguling FTO is an interesting filler that provides repeater coverage for IA, but it too relies on the Haidao KHD to enhance its viability. Haidao is a budget HI that stops itself from being too cheap by paying for useful toolbox features. That's exactly the sort of thing IA needs more of in order to capitalize on its supposed vision. I don't really see what leaps and bounds of flexibility the IA Zuyong links have over Dashat's, especially since the Dashat options you listed provide so much variability in ways that IA really cannot replicate specifically because so much of it is cheap and expendable. In either army, you probably won't want to be running more than two Zuyongs in any build (unless you drop in Tai Sheng to fill gaps). They start to become liabilities past that. The difference is that Dashat can fill in the gaps in ways that aren't so costly and can squeeze more orders out of that HMG regardless of whether you rock it in a haris or a core. And unlike IA, where the Zuyong core is often a trap and a point sink, no one is going to miss a 12-point ABH that dies to a stray bullet. The Haidao gives options and dimension to the blunt instrument that is the Zuyong link. And it's not like giving them more options is going to break IA.
I'm even starting to second guess the Haidao. My opponents seem to always find ways to exploit that BTS 0. Even if I could put 2 in my core to get both the engineer and the killer hacker, I don't know if I would at this point.
Haidai is a budget HI that stops itself from being too expensive by magically not having any real discount for any of the budget stuff it gets. So a Zuyong BSG is 26 Haidao BSG with KHD is 26 KHD is 3 points and Free Agent for 1 point and loses a point of CC, a point of PH and a Breaker Pistol for it. Haidao has NWI and Shock Immunity instead of 2w. As reductive as it might sound, the light HI are simply nerfed HI.
