What the title says, other factions got their wild speculations thread, so why not us too, I'll start: 1) wish is for Skiavoros to finally be good, maybe an Lt+1 order profile for more order efficiency or a hacker lt profile, as is it's close to being okay but Mentors are a lot cheaper and other EI aspects are a lot better for admittedly a good chunk of points over skiavoros. 2) is to consolidate charontid into 3 loadouts, it's already an HMG Lt like 90% of the time, ideally putting together MSV3 with a hacker profile and MSV3 with a sepsitor, maybe with firewall tinbot on this one. 3) I think there was already something said about an onyx revamp with a focus on morats, and I really wish we got an exrah sectorial instead, or at the very least a few more exrah units for onyx with an Lt option, the miniatures are absolutely gorgeous, but not many of those get to see the tabletop.
For me it's the Jayth and Sargosh who need a tiny bit of attention. I don't see (m)any reason(s) to deploy them, but this has already been thoroughly discussed
I’m one of the few that think Skiavoro is fine as it is. It’s the cheapest Mnemonica and has many other good abilities. It’s also the only EI Lt. with Stratego. It’s also un-hackable. I agree on Jayth. They are close assault troops that can’t get into CC. Forward Deployment or Infiltration would help. But I’m still more likely to take a Caliban for that. Maybe if they were like Myrmidons, they should get smoke grenades. Berserk would make sense for them as well.
Tbh I'm pretty happy with how CA sectorials worked (I don't play vanilla so not judging it). All I'd like are several tweaks, with only some substantial changes for Jayths and Onyx MAF: Raktoraks all being NCOs, losing Specialist Operative. They're the command and control glue of the faction CCWs getting fixed. In particular Shock CCWs are pointless when every MAF unit has a Heavy Pistol Suryats finally getting that +1 PH, or maybe +1 ARM Sogarats getting slightly tweaked to make them worth their cost (I do like them, but they can hardly compete against other MAF options) Bultrak and Raicho getting tweaked to differ more and fit different playstyles Some tweaks to Lt. options so that there's a reason to take anyone else than Kornak or maybe Suryat. SEF: Seed Soldiers buffed, possibly by changing Seed-Embryo rules to allow for some more misdirection shenanigans Tensho either removed or remade into something with an actual role in the army Caliban and Jayth tweaked so that the former doesn't overshadow the latter, and the latter has an actual use. My solution would be to slightly nerf Caliban CC, buff Jayth CC, give the latter Sixth Sense instead of MSV, and give them Forward Deployment. Sargosh should additionally get Strategic Deployment and Explode, representing leading a team and undermining the battlefield with explosives; think WW1-era anti-thrench tunnel digging. They could use some durability boost as well, but that's just based on the units bulk Give Octavia a reason to exist A bit better access to Regeneration here and there Onyx: Remaking it into proper EI sectorial, allowing for the use of Aspects and maybe expanding Exrah to replace Morat and Shasvastii units Sygmaa units removed (tbh I'd like to see a separate sectorial of those, but I'd like unit pruning better) Umbras getting rolled into a single unit
For SEF I'd add: Cadmus back to Decoy (2) and get rid of morpho scan and just make them good. They shouldn't need to spend an order to scan a Fusilier it got close enough to, to be competent. How about Metachemistry? Haiduk, change Sapper to Nanoscreen and Mim -3. Sapper is too low tech for them and too order intensive.
I would be sad if any of the CA races were removed from Onyx. I rather like thinking of them as the melting pot of all the exemplars of the Ur Hegemony members. I would like to see an EI Aspect, for completeness, apart from the HVT Pneumarch (who is usually standing in for a Nexus anyway).
I think the Skiavoros fits the Onyx theme well. But something lighter - no NWI, less armour, smaller gun, but retaining the high WIP and Mnemonica - could be a good "Pneumarch" profile. It would allow including an EI Aspect wanting a more hands-on negotiation.
Pneumarch is a non battlefield model of EI manifestation, will probably be able to defend itself and be a major threat on the battlefield, but too few, too valuable and too important for any frontline role. Now yes, I do hear you get Saladin and Sun Ju on the frontlines but this can be weaved as they are military personalities and can be involved in combat, Pneumarch is at least so far a non combat individual.
I just got hit by a thougth - what if Jayth got a rework into HI, something akin to Corregidor Diablos? Models are massive and armored enough to justify it. Slightly faster, either NWI+Immunity or Transmutation and Battle Ravaged state, ARM 1/2, bonus to damage in CC, Impetous...
Something like this would be so cool. SEF could use another sturdy unit. And Jayths are one of the best looking Shas units. It’s been unfortunate that their profile was in such a weird spot. If they’re gonna keep the high point cost then for sure, giving them more survivability would be most welcome.
They definitely deserve NWI or something to represent their toughness. But the shotgun change fixes one of their major weaknesses (Templates). They are really a weird unit with a mash of expensive capabilities (Minimism -6, MSV 1, excellent CC, good selection of unique weapons) but very little synergy (slow, fragile, no smoke, mostly short ranged weapons, very expensive). I think they are supposed to be super Myrmidons, but they lack the cool things those have (smoke and the frenzy discount). If they add smoke and NWI in N5, I think they could be of use. Note, it always seemed weird that the sneaky faction never got smoke.
I'm more hoping that the game itself shifts to give close-range gunfighters more of a niche without leaning on NWI. A unit really shouldn't need a second Wound to be alright at the job. Jayths seem like they're built to hunt Skirmishers with that setup, so hopefully the Shotgun change, price adjustments and some good profile design should be enough- I think in N3 only ALEPH's Skirmishers and the Chasseurs had DTWs, should be easy prey for a gunfighter with such high modifiers. Shas seems to aim for zero evidence they were ever there. A big plume of smoke would gather a fair bit of attention to their intrusion.
Full agree, though I'd like to see something a bit more durable in SEF to slightly expand the range of available strategy choices, while keeping in line with Shas flavour
IMHO for me the biggest question about N5 is, what will happen to some of our units that don't have models right now. Skiavoro is probably gone unless he is in Onyx or reworked to something else. What will happen with Soggy? He does't have new model, so I hope CB did't delete him with N5, but they will give him new purpose in MAF. Also Krakots are gone from vanilla CA and vanilla PanO. And they also doesn't have new models. Gone or reworked? I also hope that Sygma are still part of Onyx, but both of them have old model in the old starter. So they can be easily deleted from Onyx. For me it would be bad from fluff POV and Fraacta is great paratrooper and cheaper option to Ko Dali. I wouldn't be surprised that reason why Fraacta is gone from vCA is Void Operator, because he looks like paratrooper. IMHO greatest thing is that all sectorial only units can be buffed without making vCA too strong. So there is hope for playable Jayths, Tensho, buffed HI Sheskiin, Rodoks and any other underused unit. So we will see. I hope for small buff to Tyroks to make them more interesting choice. Also Why we have access to 4 basic units? Vanguards, Unidrons, Nox and Seed Soldiers? They are not really that different to be considered as choice. I am looking forward to see what team Achilles can do. I doubt they have same profiles as they had in Aleph. And what is hidden under the box in vCA unit list. Some of our drones or vehicles?
On the contrary, they're pretty different. Vanguards are cheap (for CA) source of Veteran, Nox have some unique options with DTWs, ditto Unidrons with their Plasma weaponry, and Seeds are completely different type of unit. One that I really hope will get fixed in N5. I agree with vanilla pruning allowing for a much better space for balancing now sectorial-exlusive units. Some speculation on my part would be Rodoks indeed seeing some changes, due to Super Jump getting tweaked in N5 - PanO Banshee had a subtype (Jet Propulsion) listed in the Sandtrap profile list we've seen, so maybe there will be different versions and ways of using the skill? Regarding units I think that Sogarat is safe, but Sygmaa and Skiavoro might be indeed gone for good. Sectorial-wise I expect Onyx to see the most changes, mostly in what's available and in linking options. SEF needs changes too - Seeds, Tensho, Cadmus, Jayths - these need to be really looked at, as do Shas characters. MAF could maybe use a few tweaks and QoL changes, nothing major.
The profiles shown in the released Sandtrap lists makes me think there will be some decent price changes for medium and mid-priced infantry. Banshees and Scarecrows are wild. In addition, I feel that MAF will be affected strongly by the N5 fireteam changes as Bostria specifically mentioned Yaogat in the interview. That plus the MSR changes probably will make them no longer must take units in MAF.
