I have no clear answer to the shotgun template rule, as Haqqislam player I remember shotguns just being +3 for short range, then becoming +6 and the impact template with the teardrop being placed at the end of the shot (which was weird and sometimes fun but overall weird) and now I like the options in N4, I might be biased as Haqq benefits. I feel it gives some good counterplay to units with Mimetism as before it was frustrating how difficult they were to deal with unless you had some impetous warband that managed to survive to get there with the chain rifle. I will leave that decision to Corvus Belli for now, what I would like to see modified myself is for one the weird holoecho+ holomask interaction, I understand it allows for 3 decoys of a unit set but because the army app does not print the 3 decoys I dont feel it can ever be truly used, and the holomask state itself apparently does not allow for surprise attack as its not a marker state?. I would like that clarified a bit more or for troops to have one or the other of the rules to perhaps cheapen their profiles as we seem to be paying and not using it (unsure what others think) Also bioinmmunity to be removed or changed, its a weird rule and I am not sure it helps a lot for units, I thought it at least made troops cheaper when using it to buff their BTS or ARM but apparently its not providing that extra ARM or BTS at a discount, and before when you could use it to avoid AP ammo it had some benefity but now AP will work regardless... I dont know, feels odd.
I'm ok for the shotgun templates go down 2 in strengh, BUT also burst one for template mode and can apply ammo. I always found strange that templates and focused mode used different ammos. I loved N3 shotguns, but i admit it was a little OP and confusing to some players (still happen with circular templates, how in the world i was affected by your template if i won the F2F roll)
That's realistic, though. Multiple projectiles (shot, flechettes, whatever) give you scatter, but suck at armor penetration, solid slugs penetrate better and fly farther. Physics. Of course, one can always invoke "it's the future, we are firing self-propelled nanomissiles instead of shot", but eh, I like a drop of realism in my sci-fi)
yeah, i know, but since we are making the game easier to newcomers, i think having the same ammo for the two shoot modes in shotguns goes in line with that, like rocket launchers. Missiles will need a tweak
And you can even go for an APFSDS slug for a shotgun. Defintiely fills the AP bill of the shotgun's "hit mode"...
Indeed! This is a issue they also have to adjust. Its just not intuitiv. Normal FtF - I won nothing else happens. DIT FtF I won, my buddy behind the corner has to do -3 dodge vs a FtF he not even faced. Its a bit akward.
The thing that's annoying about dtw is that I spent points on mimetism and my opponents just had to bring some cheap filler to counter it. Maybe add some more incidental MSV 1? Also, dtw are functionally a risk free attack in many cases, since if I want to counter it I have to dodge and my best case scenario becomes simply eating an order rather than every other combat ftf roll where I can still get lucky and kill your unit while saving mine. Maybe DTW count as an automatic 5 to hit or something but are still ftf?
An easy QoL upgrade would be to get rid of the ridiculous CC numbers and all the skills they have to come up with the juice the numbers and just make it like shooting... "I'm CC 24 with Martials Arts level 3, but you're Martial Arts level 2, and have Natural Born Warrior and Berserk" "So what does that mean?" "I have NO FREAKING CLUE!" vs. "I'm CC15, B3, you're CC12, B1" "So what does that mean?" "I roll three dice and try to get 15 or under, you roll one die and try to get 12 or under." "Oh, so just like every other roll, cool."
I'd be curious to know why they chose to make CC so different from BS attacks. I assume it has to do with how hard it is to get into CC and the current system makes it more dramatic when it happens?
I've said for years they should make it like BS attacks but must be in base to base. Bring all Close Combat down in number and give some troops more burst. For example Troop X with CC15 and burst 3 and DA Ammo, vs. Troops Y CC11 and burst 1. It's probably a bad example since I made it up on the fly. But I think you can understand.
I don't mind the current system, and since we already know it won't change into your (sensible) suggestion, it's unfortunately somewhat of a moot point. But I do agree that I hope CB realizes burst is actually the biggest factor in what makes a CC unit powerful, not their CC stats in themselves. Self-appointed CC gods like Achilles are routinely outclassed by cheap units simply by the fact that they can roll two, three, or four dice against one, at which point your CC28 or whatever won't do shit.
Because Infinity is a shooting game and a lethal game at that, melee is strongly disincentivized, That been said if one spends the resources to bring in a close combat specialist in close combat, they should have all the advantages they can in the gamble that is a single dice face to face roll.
well, read the rules and you'll know how that skills work, just like every other skill. And you have easy to read martial arts charts
Active turn DTWs do not meaningfully counter expensive mimetism pieces. Active turn DTWs are extremely inefficient when it comes to killing stuff. Yes they force forks which can be powerful, but that's the reward for actually getting a DTW wielding unit into their short range. In the reactive turn, the prevalence of DTWs do shut out a lot of 1W attackers from being especially viable, especially those of the more expensive and shorter range variety. I don't disagree that this shuts out some otherwise interesting list building options, but reactive DTWs in their current form are critical imo in maintaining the already precarious offense-defense balance in the game - the prevalence of DTWs gives you a consistent defensive option that stops a statstick from just running you over - either draining orders via forcing dodges, or forcing a trade. It's not a coincidence that the most powerful offensive pieces in the game are for the most part, big blocks of wounds that diminish the impact of reactive DTWs (to give some examples, bears with their pseudo three wounds, TI and arm, Nourk and Sheskiin with protheion). I also think it's more interesting if there are more ways to deal with mimetism in the game than just having MSV. Infinity is at it's best where you are leaning on asymmetric options rather than direct counters, imo. I've said this before, but it's worth stating again - if you want to nerf DTWs either mechanically or through reducing their prevalence, that needs to be paired with a wider rebalance of the offensive-defense dynamic to either tone down the power of the former or give other tools to the later.
It doesn't need to be a shooting game. They are the writers/creator of it. They can make CC as good as shooting. Personally I'd like CC be more interesting than it is now.
Sci Fi games where you can reliable and carefree take your favorite beating stick, charge through the hail of fire and smack your opponent in the face with it are a dime a dozen, Infinity is not one of them.
