So this clearly is an issue at the moment. Having to spend outside Regular Orders to move the Link just to break the link to spend their Irregular Orders while still forfeiting their Impetuous Order. Not ideal. Giving them a +4 Regular FTO Option isn't ideal either. That would make Gakis 8 Points Regular Orders without a specific incentive to link. But how about making them all Tac Aware instead (with a slight price hike)? 4 extra Orders only their Link can use with a Preta/Gaki Spearhead. On top of that makes solo Gaki/Pretas do something to compete with better Warbands. Fits into the Morat schtick of "Í don't care if my Lt dies". For reference, Ariadna brings Tak Aware on Antipode Assault Packs. So Tac Aware isn't really exclusive to any sort of "tactical doctrine display".
While i agree with everything you said from a logical standpoint i'm also glad the hungries are shit so i don't have to see those butt-ugly models on the table anymore.
I think a +2, MAF ONLY (this is important) option is the best solution. Sure, it would increase the price of Gakis to 6 points a pop and pretas to 9 points, a lot more expensive than their original versions, but it would still be cheap orders, and if we kept them MAF only they wouldn't be used as spammy stuff in Vanilla, which I guess is the biggest issue here. The tac aware idea I think is good, but doesn't really solve the problem of having a fireteam eating up slots and generating only irregular orders. That's their current problem right now.
I think its much better to just change the problematic rule personally. As is, the link is pretty useless. With "regular" versions we get the snarling, flesh eating monsters sitting docile at the back of the table making orders again, which has always felt extremely dumb to me. Lose - lose situation. Another change could be to remove the link and have a Oznat + Synch or Peripheral (Control) unit with higher numbers than the current hunter pack. So you can run them lose, or run them as a big blob of angry beasties. And make it MAF specific or let the MAF one go to a higher number of hungries in the unit.
+1 to this. I think this is the ideal, and maybe beef the bugs up with a pherobooster or pheroware-style shenanigans. I don’t want to rob tohaa, but it’d give them a reason to exist.
I think making hungries peripherals would be fun. I would enjoy it. Although I'd like to see their costs rebalanced or perhaps changed. As is, the Oznat Stalker unit is a bit too expensive.
Ooooh running the Oznat + Hungries as something similar to a Uberfallkommando, i like that idea a lot. As it is now, it's like the pupniks were eating slots on the army list though.
I really need to get a game in with the current hungry link. I haven't actually used them yet, just theorised.
There isn’t really anything to play, the entire link option is untenable, no one will run it. But on the plus side, you no longer have to run an Oznat to run hungries, they are amazing by themselves. So either the link option should be out right removed, turned into something like puppet bots / uberfolk or made a peripheral. I agree that order battery hungries doesn’t make much sense lore wise.
Seconded, love the simpler rules situation that comes with. Also, I've been reading through the Modiphus Combined Army Infinity RPG book and I think the Uberfalkommando style would fit the flavor better.
Their orders should be usable on their link but I don't think you can properly wrap that in existing rules without introducing a special control device. I think just having a profile with more than 1 hungries on oznat is fine like antipodes do.
They should still work well with Raktoraks and maybe Kornak joining in; using Regular orders to move them up the field, break the link and run forward with Hungries to disrupt opponent's defense, follow up with the rest of the link. Also, this is simply another small issue regarding fireteams, and I think that the solution isn't to ask for a myriad of small fixes here and there, but for the reworking and refreshing the fireteam rules - which will most likely happen next year. And I strongly suspect that Irregular models in a fireteam will work similarly to TacAware or NCO, to keep things simple.
Control and peripherals seems like the simplest answer. Fits within present rules, gives you an order-efficiency mechanism that doesn’t eat up your other Fireteam slots. Win-win.
I tried them with Kornak and a Raktorak. And it doesn't quite work because the irregular orders are still eating up your space, and MAF in special has seen a lot of its mid range models go slightly up in price. With only 15 slots, limited command tokens to transform regular into irregular and small prince increases here and there, fitting the hungries into a list often feels like a handicap. I think axing the link and turning them into peripherals would work if the Oznat got Sensor baked in instead of only in one profile. Either that or making it so at least the link can spend its irregular orders without breaking.
I'm a bit late to this thread, but from solely a rules, fluff, and mechanics perspective, and NOT a balance one, are there any reasons to not make Hungries, Kuang Shi, and Antipodes all work the same?
If i remember correctly, for Antipodes, the Handler can sit in a corner and the pack can go off anywhere on the table, i could see that make sense for the Kuang Shi, though for the Hungries, i think the Oznat would be running with her pack instead of controling it from cover somewhere, so she'd be more like a Uberfallkommando than a Antipode pack Handler
This here. The oznat is supposed to be a pack leader for the hungries. She would work well in an ubberfallkommando style unit.
You know what would make a good compromise? A special rule on the Hungry Control Device which allowed the use of the Hungry Irregular Order to be used by the Fireteam they were in.
