Since we're getting a dope new Ninja, with alternative weapon loadout Tacbow/SMG it's time for some speculation. Take a look at that cutie and take a second to get over the tactical rock equivalent, which is actually rather nice. Possible options 1. Ninjas and Oniwabans get merged in N4. Think Oniwaban stats and Ninja Profiles +SMG and BSG option. Somewhat unlikely since the Oniwaban has a new, shiny sculpt I quite like. 2. The Ninja gets an SMG Profile or two, more options are always welcome. 3. Not a hecking clue What's your take?
I hope for an SMG profile. But anyways, damn is that an awesome intimidating pose. I have to get like 3 of these guys. Well maybe just two for both loadouts. A split in ninjas in the meeleemonsters we know and love and long range assassins would be welcome. But that has nothing to do with this awesome sculpt.
The ninja sniper profile is being replaced by the Kunai mercenary ninja in N4, so that's what's happening.
I hope they´ll make the FO the SMG profile or the AHD if they want to keep it. A Ninja is made for killing, so only KHD is needed ;-)
But isn't it the plan that the kunai ninja, is a merc for yu jing, combined, PanO and O12. He still is a beast in cc but is cheaper than our ninja. So I would take him.
The Kunai will be available for PanO, Yu Jing, O-12, and CombArmy in Code One We don't know for sure about N4 yet, but Bostria said that the intention was for the Kunai to replace the ninja sniper in N4 on Mayacast
I think JSA should keep their sniper ninja, because we are not going the Kunia. I don't know what all factions are getting the Kunai in N4, but I am pretty sure we won't get him because he betrayed us to stay with YJ.
I wonder if they'll remove the Long-range Ninjas from JSA, and only leave the short range ones to distinguish between the two types (Mercs and Loyalists).
The impression I got was that Ninjas for Yu Jing and JSA will have the sniper removed and that Kunai will be available to vanilla factions, WinterFor and White Banner (i.e. not JSA)
That would be unfortunate - I do like the idea of the Ninja Sniper, it was just too expensive for it's use. Kunai Ninja is 37 to our 42 points, gains C+ but loses Infiltration. I rarely infiltrated the Ninja Sniper, or only slightly to take advantage of a good place a little further up on the table. We'll see. My dream Ninja comes with an Assault Pistol. That's what I'm hoping for. Ditto on the new sculpt though, it's epic. I haven't seen a tactical "rock" that amazing. Although Liang Kai's base was the best one, until now.
Happy that it has the SMG, since having a tac bow in hand at the same time as the sword makes little sense to me... while SMG and sword makes perfect sense :D
I mean, best case scenario and all Combis are reduced to SMGs which would probably make non-TacBow Ninjas become a lot more viable simply by virtue of being affordable. I think that alone is a pretty hefty buff to any faction that relies on Ninjas
I love the new ninja sculpt and the tactical roof looks awesome...as a display piece. I'm not so fond of it as a gaming piece however and will probably keep using my old tacbow ninja while playing. (I will still buy two to paint though as they are indeed gorgeous, maybe even three to use the roof as a base for my old sniper ninja) Speaking of said sniper ninja, I'm afraid we will loose the option completely as the kunai will most likely not be available to us. That would eliminate the sniper rifle from our weapon list wouldn't it? Is there any other faction that lacks access to a sniper rifle profile today? As for improving on our ninjas in general I have the same wish as I think everyone else, smoke. It simply makes sense
I just did a double check and that would make JSA the only army without a Sniper or MULTI Sniper. I don't think the Sniper Ninja will get dropped though. It's already in a two-pack with the DA CCW Ninja. I'm mostly curious as to the foot placement. It would be really nice if the rooftop and feet are separate pieces, the way the Coldfront Naga is.
If the SMG profile can get us an SMG + Close Combat threat in the low 30s, I think that's quite viable. I already liked the SMG Oniwaban for general combat purposes, but Monofilament + Superior Infiltration + Better CC stats aren't really necessary. If there's a new Nina profile that ditches the point cost for all of those, and we end up with a Ninja profile that has SMG + DA CCW in the high 20s/low 30s cost, I'll be very pleased. If it comes with a cheap Specialist option (Forward Observer) then I would take a serious look at heavily playing JSA again. 2 Ninja along those lines of what I described, plus 2 Ryuken-9, would do a lot to give JSA an optimized, competitive midfield. Ever since Saito lost Specialist, something has felt very off about JSA's midfield game, and this would go a long way towards redressing that.
Dang, that would be a real dream come true. I've found that JSA really need that midfield presence, both in terms of roadblocks and button pushers, to get anything really going - partially because buttons, partially because of our limited long-range firepower, but also because I feel we need a legit threat there to draw enemies into our favorable range bands. I do like the Ninja KHD a lot and she's done work for me, but she always felt very, very limited in what she could do; and since Saito lost Specialist, it always felt like I had a hole in the midfield that I could only fill with the range-hampered Ninja KHD. I should probably try running a Oniwaban as a midfield skirmisher. I do like the Ninja AHD, but it's always felt just a little too fragile and expensive for me to consistently rely on, especially when the midfield was full of mines and/or cheap units that were great at trading up.
