My group been play testers would be false, but why on earth you go out of your way to insult my game group or the developer team? There are many gaming groups, many metas and many players of various levels of skill level, because you arbitrary decided your preferred way of playing is the only way of playing, it does not mean it is true.
Definitely not better in all instances. Slightly less bad if the Sin-Eaters are already in a disadvantage would be more correct though (here both Sin-Eaters are compared whilst being in their respective +3 ranges). I mean, yes the MSR's +3 Range is longer than the HMG's but tables are rarely that open.
It's not about a "prefered way of playing", it's about numbers. You don't pick your LT just to have a few % more chances of succeeding at ONE (very random anyway) roll in the game. You pick your LT based on your list. I would even say its WIP is like the very last criteria.
You say it is not true @psychoticstorm knows many people who do so? That's one interesting point of view... Now, I can speak only for myself: true, I don't mind Lt's WIP much when building a list. And I have a signifcant spectrum of these in my armies - from Saladin's WIP 16 in vanilla Haqq, down to WIP 12 Brawler (I don't think there's a Lt with lower WIP in the game) in DBS and StarCo. Both ends of the spectrum I have, at times, used. Sadly, the effect of the Lt's WIP on the game is - up to N4 - minimal. Indeed, having a few percent better chance of winning an initiative roll doesn't seem - in my eyes - worth investing points into. No real incentive in that. Saladin is kinda exemption confirming the rule - and then, more for his Strategos L2 than his high WIP. Do I feel it would be more interesting, if there was more incenitve to invest in an expensive Lt? Yes, at least in some armies. After all, some armies can field TAG Lts. A lot of eggs in one basket, but a TAG is a very resilient piece, and you get the Lt. Order to spend on it. Similar with hacker Lt's - not as good as it was under N3, but still, they can spend their Lt order doing somethign useful, yet stay pretty well hidden from enemy fire. But maybe, out there, are people who think otherwise.
Nope, the Marksmanship is included. A Sin-Eater with MSR but without Marksmanship is significantly worse than the other two options as you can see in this example against a final BS 13 attack.
I don't disagree with the first statement, but, based on my lists - I avoid picking obvious Lts, and in that regard you could say WIP is an important criterion. On the other hand, I could see a hypothetical case where high WIP would be a factor - having an Lt with WIP high enough to skew the chances of winning the roll (or having a bonus to the Initiative roll) would definitely benefit a list focused on getting that early table control by getting first turn, for example. Of course, there are no such Lts in the game currently... unless we count the Avatar. But it is possible they could show up in the future.
Sure, Lt WIP can play a role in hiding your LT but it's then not a matter of being good or bad WIP. Still, it remains a very secondary (or tertiary) consideration compared to other aspects (and in most games, you can quite easily guess who the LT is), Yes, it could be relevant if some LTs helped to win the FtF by a lot by having very high WIP (or a bonus, for example "+6 to the Initiative roll) but as you say it is not the case. The crushing majority of LTs are WIP 13-14, and the extreme value is 17, resulting in very little impact of the roll.
Here is the new Nomads faction for N5. What do we think about it? Perhaps the fireteam options available may make the Faction usable. I think CB has kept the troops that made Nomads memorable in. It looks nice to trim down the fat. With what miniature I own, I can use this list without too much proxying. I thought CB would keep Tomcats & Riot Grrls in. No big deal that they are not. Edit: looks like Hecklers are now a SK unit and not LI. The Go-Pods are the new flying unit. Not sure what the FMN TAG pilots is about.
This goes along with what was said about N5 changes. Riot girls will now be specific to Bakunin, like Hollowmen will be specific to Tunguska, and the tomcats to corregidor. Thus giving a specific identity to each faction and sectorial. Here's hoping that Kriza finally got his buffs and that corregidor and Tunguska are brought up to the new standard
Every leaked unit list for factions that has manned TAGs has a TAG pilot entry. I guess pilot profiles are now separate from TAG profiles? I hope pilots have more than one profile and I'll get to customize my mechas...
I like it overall. Don't love the sin eater is the only observance unit, just feels a bit weird. The more important thing for me is what the profiles end up being. With Moran's, Jazz, Mary and Zoe all still there is something going to change to mean some combo of them isn't the first choice in every nomad list
Yes, it would be nice to have pilots with different weapon & equipment loadouts. Possibly even affect how the TAGs they pilot may perform. That would spice things up I think.
randomly wonder if an official corps of tag pilots will end up being vaguely along the lines of rem drivers
The other reason could just be for miniature purposes. This way players can have the actual pilot figure, and it's only one thing to have in production
I have to admit you lost me there. A pilot figure (Szalamandra Pilot) has existed since N2 or maybe even late N1. There were more "pilot" models released afterwards.And at least since N2, there were rules for dismounting (albeit it wasn't until N3, IIRC, when it really started making any sense, with pilots becoming specilasits who can achieve mission objectives). All that did not require decoupling pilot profiles from the TAGs themselves: a pilot for any given TAG had the same predictable abilities. Eg. Szalamandra Pilot was a Killer Hacker, while Gecko Pilot was a Specilaist Operative (with Assault Pistol). Given the above, I see only one reason to decouple them - to allow the player to choose different pilots for their TAGs. Otherwise, you could as well have just a generic "Nomad TAG Pilot" etc figure in production, and call it a day. No point in adding an extra layer of complexity in the Army.
