StarCo in N5

It is hard to recall how it looked like a year ago, but:

• Brawler in StarCo Fireteam is your way to get a specialist there. Primarily an Engineer.
• in RiotGrrl Fireteam, I'm pretty sure Fiddler didn't count-as Riot Grrl back in the day.
• Emily counts-as PMC and Brawler, back in the day IIRC she was only counting as Outrage. also, Emily lost all her specials snowflake command skills (she had CoC in the previous iteration).
• Cateran got a Forward Deployment +4 provile. TBH, I never found a reason to field a Ceteran in StarCo...

 

I see it as a noteworthy difference. Maybe not a significant one, but noteworthy.

Apparently she kept it in a different NA2.

I guess it was meant to bring StarCo to the Corregidor level of command & control problems - we have the same amount of Lt options (Except StarCo has Brawler Lt where Corregirod has Wildcat Lt), N2 only on Emily, lack of NCO (which CJC has in 3 profiels, including gorram TAG), and similar level of Tactical Awareness (TAGs plus Stempler Zond).

 

A matter of a point-of-view, I'd say.

Yes, we have lost some abilities we had back in N4.
We have got some tweaks, compared to N4, and I agree - these aren't major ones.
We got some bits and pieces that result of the troop profiles being altered along the way, even if it was done in other armies as well (eg. N5-era Lunokhods are much more interesting than N4-era ones, with that 8-2 movement and B2 E-Mitters).

But a nerf?
I'd strongly disagree. In my eyes, the sectorial is unmeasurably stronger than it was for the least year or so (i.e. when it was, effectively, nonexistent).
It is something while since the start of N5 it was totally nothing.

 

When did the Anaconda get Immunity (AP) and Warhorse? I think a Haris of two Anacondas and Irmandinho (for +1SD smoke and specialists) would be kinda hilarious.

Edit: I love how you can throw Emily + Brawler to any link and get a special die.

 

It's a little upgrade across all of her sectorials. I'm not sure if It makes more playable or not. When CB teases her pic, they didn't show the pilot. Does It mean when they sell the new mini anaconda Will lost scape sistem?

Cheers

 

I can't help but feel NA2 got minimal effort. My Ikari gained nothing except a few new skills with the new JSA. It would have been nice to gain one of the new troops. My Dashat lost the Zuyong Lt. Druze are fairly meh too. I think WC came out ok but I can't say they are fantastic over the others.

 

I think Starco has no Unit/Loadout changes because all the units came from already existing sectorials. Special loadouts in N2 are rare. But it look like the FT options are pretty flexible.

But Diggers count as Brawler and PMC.

Because they are now already part of the FTs.

I am pretty sure they already count as Riots back in N4.

 

I'd point out: there's no such thing as a Brawlers FT, it's just PMC.

Brawler Sniper/HRL + CSU makes for a dirt-cheap Duo fireteam

 

IMO, Dahshat and Ikari benefited quite well due to the N5 unit and rule changes. White Company relies on single wound models, but Hawkwood is one of the best ARO units in the game with 1 + 2 SD in ARO. Druze is also mostly a single wound faction and are tricky.

 

We'll see.
The Escape System mechanics (and Ejection System on Iguana back in N2) was always kinda weird in how it worked on the table.

Somehow CB seemingly considered it to be a sidegrade, but - at least in my eyes - it was a clear downgrade in survivability of a TAG. I mean:

• in typical TAGs you have the progression of 3 STR -> 2 STR -> 1 STR -> Unconscious, with (in recent editions) extra -> Unconscious 2 for Remote Presence TAGs. All with the same ARM and all with the possibility of recovering via Engineer (or, in N4 and N5, GizmoKit).
• in Escape System TAGs, the progression used to (up to N4) be 3 STR -> 2 STR -> blam! escape system activated, you are out of your TAG, lost its ARM value and mobility, and no Engineer can fix it, you're now S2 infantry (2 W if Iguana, 1 W if Anaconda). This was recently revised for Iguana to be 3 STR -> 2 STR -> 1 STR -> blam! escape system activated (and the resulting HI being effectively 1 W NWI). Anaconda is still the old way.

 

I certainly will - have just moved the minis out of the "retirement" box to the "mercs" box, and I have a game scheduled for Monday.
We'll see how they'll fare.

As for blog post - there is another seemingly planned for Monday, too. Covering all the changes in a single blogpost for all the sectorials was, apparently, too much.

 

My bad - I thought of Diggers :-)

 

My two cents on N5 Starco:

• The biggest buff imo is the new Anaconda. Immunity (AP) and Warhorse make her finally playable, if not actually pretty strong.
• While it's true that Starco didn't get any specific buffs, it's noticeably better than before just because so many units got better with N5. Sixth Sense Brawler hackers, crazy good Bandits, Knauf with Surprise Attack, and super cheap HI all help out StarCo a lot.
• To answer that one question: Fiddler counted as a Riot Grrl in N4, but Avicenna didn't. That's basically just bringing her in line with how she's always played in Bakunin, but I'm happy it's finally fixed.
• I wish Emily hadn't lost CoC, or that she had finally gotten a Lt loadout. Always felt that would have been on theme for StarCo.
• I also wish we had gotten better linkable smoke than an Irmandinho in a Haris with two TAGs. Why can't Jaguars link in StarCo like they do in Corregidor? Bot are Corregidorian outfits fluff-wise. Makes no sense to me.
• Love the new keywords on Emily and Diggers and the (slightly) better link flexibility in general.
• Uhahu in a link with a Riot Grrl with Tinbot (-6) is also nice.
• Overall, while I echo the sentiments that more specific StarCo love would have been nice, I'm still extremely hyped I'm able to play them again. Especially (finally) the Anaconda :)