Same here, but I'm not super keen on the O-Yoroi either. I'm debating to convert a Guijia with a Daiyokai head instead. For Karakuri, Hollow Men with the round Shikami head could also work, even if they don't look like Geisha then.
Like others said up-thread, JSA has a gaping hole in it where decent long-range fire should be. The O-Yoroi clears a path for your other units to storm up the board. Also one of the functions of a TAG is specifically to -be- a bullet-magnet. Baiting an opponent into shooting at the TAG in cover (and Supp Fire if possible) instead of your advance troops is a good tradeoff. It's easier/less order-intensive to fix a damaged TAG than troops that are upfield.
Also, who says you can't build an awesome O-Yoroi AND Karakuri list? It's definitely not an either-or. Now that we have Domaru and an Engineer to join that Haris, you can get all the awesome Mk12 pointman goodness, repair right in the unit, a Berserking Samurai for close-in defense... AND an awesome robot-suit with an AP HMG. KHD ninja and order monkeys to taste, EVO for FairyDust, Yojimbo to sweep skirmishers away or as a guided missile, etc. If you want 2x Karakuri and the Engineer it can still work, you just drop Yojimbo. https://infinitytheuniverse.com/arm...AAgUAgIcBBwAAgJ4BAgAAgI4BAQAAgKIBAgAAgOABguUA
I don't want to buy either, I'm really hoping CB redoes them both within the next year. I'm sure Karakuri are coming within the next year but I hope for the Oyoroi as well cause I am just not a fan of that aesthetic and theres no way the pilot could fit in that thing after it closes up.
I think the o-yoroi and the geckos might be the only remaining hand sculpted tags left in the range. Actually, Anacondas and. iguanas might also be that old. I realize I could have edited this as I’ve been researching, but stream of consciousness is more dramatic and holy crap they technically have not come up with a new sculpt for the Lizard yet that I could find, so that’s easily the oldest TAG sculpt in the range. Also I guess the Marut is still hand sculpted as well. what have we learned today? There are more hand sculpted TAGs left than I thought and I probably missed some.
O-Yoroi was the first CAD miniature Corvus Belli produced, it was the first sculpt for them by Fausto Gutierrez. The Geckos and Iguana are also CAD, and you can actually see the CAD renders for Annie and her pilot on Fausto's Yedharo productions Facebook page if you go far enough back in the photo albums. Marut and Lizard are hand sculpts, can't think of any others that are still in production once the new Cutter and Sphinx come out.
The thing about the Oyoroi being the first CAD sculpt makes me think it won't ever get a result cause it was CAD. I get that governments mostlynaesthetic but also his skill back then wasnt all that great. You guys remember hownthenIguanna was done, the renders released showing how they built the TAG around the pilot, that was the coolest thing ever and definitely the kind of dedication I like to see in these kinds of things.
Really, did not know that, and the original Raicho was not a bad design IMO. Fitting the pilot in it still looks awkward, as opposed to the new Raicho, looks like she's she's just bundled up like an egg inside the chassis... I hope if they do resculpt for the Oyoroi we get the design built around the pilot like the Iguana or even the Anaconda is acceptable. I've been looking at the Anaconda trying to figure out how I can mod it to look more like a Samurai. It's even got the same pose as the Oyoroi pilot.
Which just goes to prove that if the look for your faction or sectorial gets redone, it won't matter whether you were a CAD sculpt or not. That's not the situation with the JSA.
to the original topic - I would almost always prefer to take two karakuri in lieu of the O-Yoroi. That being said, I almost always find room in my lists for Yuriko because she's just such a good toolbox. Fitting her in with the Karakuri Haris makes them certainly seem almost invulnerable as it is (I'm pretty sure) impossible to lose a fully healed karakuri to a single bad ARO, Yuriko just gizmo kits them back up, bringing multiple panzerfaust, twice the total wounds and increasing the threat range of a haris over just the Tag. Obviously taking the Mk12 plus shotgun plus Yuriko is quite a bit more than just the O-Yoroi, but again I'd be taking Yuriko with the tag, so the price gap shrinks to about 10 points - but saves 1.5 SWC.... If the O-Yoroi had kept Duo so a Wildcard trooper could follow behind it.... but the edition is still new, who knows how the balance will actually shake out in three months?
You can still take 2 Karakuri AND the O-Yoroi and have a nice strong force, as I mentioned: just drop Yojimbo and the Keisotsu ML from what I posted, change to Domaru to a Karakuri shotgun and add a normal Keistosu and a Warcor. Yuriko's very, very useful as a frontline trooper going up to the mid-table, not hanging back. If the O-Yoroi were a Spitfire TAG, she'd be great to keep it company. But instead, she's perfect in a Karakuri link. Her talents for shooting, dodging, laying mines, and ARO would be largely wasted hiding in the back trying to avoid an HMG burst or sniper shot while staying near the TAG. The O-Yoroi has a unique defense system, so I don't really think it needs Duo.
I'd probably drop the Tokustesu down to a regular Keisotsu and upgrade one of the members of the link to have a missile launcher to make that fireteam more than an order battery. But I get the function of your list here and if you're luckier than me with your tag it may work....
Keisotsu MLs are purely sacrificial for me.... everyone I know sees them as nice easy points for an HMG/mimetism guy. It's mainly there to suck up an extra order that's not spent approaching the Keisotsus and wiping them out. Fortunately SWC is rarely tight in JSA lists, but I find close defense from a couple combis more effective than one ML guy for actually protecting the Cheerleader Squad.
Agree completely on the value of the pieces. I'd personally not leave the missile launcher out on turn one unless there was a really really really juicy target. She's there to stand up late game to defend against the frantic rush towards the zone/button with line troopers once the A-team has been ground down by the Karakuri and O-Yoroi. If you're just doing close range ARO duty spend that last point upgrading one keisotsu to a FO as the WIP15 flash pulse from 16" to 24" is arguably better than the combi shots even with only burst one.
+1B because of fireteam! Sadly the +3 BS no longer applies to Flash Pulse, but it's still almost strictly better than Combi in any ARO situation for Keisotsus.
