I must agree with you there! But I wish they would not make profiles for things they have no intention of making a figure of without telling us. Or even telling us the profile is temporary. It sucks when you go to convert or paint something for this and then it's gone or they come out with a cooler figure than what you have.
I'd expand on that: I wish they wouldn't introduce half-baked ideas and then drop them instead of refining them, when the initial reception isn't enthusiastic. TAG support troopers aren't a bad idea; on the opposite, it's an interesting one. But 1) it could've been implemented better (different bonuses for different factions highlighting differences in their tactics and thinking, more choices within faction, allowing to tailor TAG operations to the mission, opponent, and battle plan) and 2) 15 troopers limit means that there's rarely a place in the list for this kind of trooper. I really hope that in time CB will remove this limit and make 2 full combat groups the standard. As it is now, TAGCom is the new RemRacers and I fully expect them to get abandoned in time, unless there will be a pleasant surprise and the idea will get a second look.
They usually are basic trooper cost with a gizmokit as a plus, so cheap cheerleader with options for recovery at least... Not that I disagree with you. They could use the "online campaign" in a more limited way (using the OTM/Corvusphere for the report results) giving mission updates, with direct control centralized by Corvus instead of the usual old style, with unofficial leaders and separate forums. They can both test mission popularity, ease of scoring and some new units all at once, and get feedback. If only they just listen to such feedback, that si...
TAG "pilots" or support troops make sense game wise but how they did it felt halfbaked. Fluffwise I would say a EVO 2.0 would be good for the job. When they just degrade the pilots to HVT it would not be so bad as it was to erase entire sectorials (even if they brought them back after causing negativ feelings to the gamers).
I think we are halfway to an "enchantment" style rules exclusive for each faction/sectorial but extraneous to the presence of troops in the table. I agree they feel halfbacked, but because I also think they are there for the people that bought the pilots back then and found themselves forbidden from dismounting (in N5 you can't even get down from the bike... which is crazy since Yojimbo is still in the store with the dismounted model, now bereft of profile). I disagree with the idea of an EVO 2-0 or an HVT, it is already needed for some factions to bring an EVO depending on the list, and when a troop option is a checklist you get punished for not filling, it stops being fun. A compromise could be a TAG bonus that only works if you have the EVO OR the Pilot, by moving the bonus to the TAG instead of having it in the pilot troop (and the rule specifying you need to have the EVO/Pilot in a non-null state); the EVO offers its presence and supportware options (unless this is taken as a supportware program, "TAG Enhanced" or something) while the pilot offers a cheap Gizmokit. I believe giving more options to everyone in equal measure is a better option, after all.
Models like Yojimbo and Knight of Montessa, which came with both mounted and dismounted minis, now have two distinct profiles you select at list creation. You can take Yojimbo on foot; I am not sure if you would.
I agree with the checklist sentiment, and what I'd like to see is support units balanced so that they're beneficial, but not necessary, so that you'd take them if you'd want to lean more into a particular battle plan, but could not take them and still have a perfectly functioning list. EVO is a good example, in that it's actually not a necessary list component, but a useful one - and you've said yourself, that how much it's needed is list-dependent. But I might be biased, because I actually like to field EVO. Bottom line is that I'd like TAG support troops to stay and get expanded upon, just as I'd like to see RemRacers back and expanded upon. I don't want to discuss real-world politics here, but I expect drone operators units to become a much more prominent in various militaries over the next decade, and it's a viable source of inspiration for units in the game. But again, make them more varied between factions.
I think that Cyberplug is a great step in that direction. Puzzlers and Ranters are some interesting and powerful units. I also like they have slowly started adding more options to Drummers.
I already asked back in the day (I think it was previous to the release of OSS, but I might be wrong there) for a drone-centric theme, with Posthuman "fireteams" (much more viable nowadays a Duo gets some bonuses!). Then again, when Zondnautica was first mentioned for release (without any look at the model or profile) I was asking for what is now the Flyers anyways xD (I'm not claiming original rights, just mention how "obvious" those ideas were, specially the Zondnautica one since the lore said they routinely used EVA to go around the motherships, the OSS was me trying to get something into OSS that wasn't just "vanilla minus greeks, plus some units to more or less fill some gaps"). Nevertheless, "Drone warfare" has been around in ci-fi settings for a long time, the old-school Total Annihilation videogame is a superb example (one main unit builds ancillary units and buildings, and slaved combat drones of various sizes and specifications). BTW, the Cyberplug units (dr Worm, and NW Gearheads) are Drone Operators at their max, all Peripherals were already kinda drones but the sartroids make it impressive (only, being in an elite & expensive faction like NW runs counter, I think they are overloaded with options... like so many profiles in the last few years). I thought the same thing and wrote my previous paragraph even without reading yours XD Historic reference: drones (as "unmanned systems") have been around since before WW1, the most commongly known example for people into wargaming that are familiar with GW's old Steel Legion and other ww1+ww2 mishmash products may remember small(ish) demolition minitanks, the real world example being the german Goliath Tracked Mine, but the first recorded one seems to come from 1904's Spain (unlike the wired-control Goliath this one was radio-controlled, but with less than 30m range at best), and the first used for battle being a french "land torpedo". So while drones may start to become prevalent in warfare nowadays, it's just a logistics evolution: easier to use and produce in massed numbers, with a more than noticeable impact, than it was back in the day (the Goliath was the most produced, I think, with less than 7600 units ever made!)
No change in the background, still piloted on the inside and yes, the Juggernauts rider is its Guard, I find it cute. And yes, from my understanding the support pilots and dismounted bike profiles were introduced because of how weird the mount/ dismount interaction is. Yes, it is not as developed as one might want, but I do have to point out that happened not in isolation but in the introduction of a new edition. I agree on piloted TAGs lack of arms consensus, of course it could imply neural feedback control instead of master slave control that would not need the extra arms, but ahs its own set of theoretical issues to deal with, alternatively it could be a call on the rare "no small arms" landmates from Appleseed, but these had an extended "waist" so cover the fact the master slave system existed just inside the TAGs hull. I agree on Araidna S5 HI hot having small arms given the big arms are designed to be robotic arms unlike the Haqq HI arms were the actual human arm is designed to be inside, it is more obvious on the prospector model an even smaller model. I am assuming it is a joystick type of control inside the Hull, or possibly a really limited movement enclosed master slave system but for the prospector its almost impossible to fit.
Drummers are a nice example, and I agree that it's nice that they're being fleshed out a bit. Auxilia could get a similar treatment, with Drummers being more frontline and direct combat type of unit, while Auxilia could be a lighter unit, focused on surveilance and policing. I think it'd work well with their fluff.
Yeah, this kind of thing can happen when there is no simple answer, and no time to dwell unto it, a release needs to be made... and hope a better implementation comes forth in the future. I think a good way would have been to use the Transmutation (Auto) rules, but that would not cover leaving the TAG/Bike on the table "abandoned", so it's not a perfect solution (and adding a "transmutation (pilot)" new entry runs counter to my principles of trying to simplify the amount of rules and interactions). The ancillary being a free peripheral specialist, however, seems a little out of the power scale to me, but at least proper melee "TAG" like Maximus didn't get it for extra Burst in melee. I don't think any landmate in AppleSeed was designed for this, the only shown exception being those piloted by Briareos (who is a cyborg of a model that can expand external control systems independently... so it's more him than the landmate, and he pops his own arms out anyways). There is indeed some wihtout the operator's arms being shown, but those were, I think, non-military ones (at least in origin) where the arms were controlled from the cockpit using controls, there was no neural feedback (or Direct Neural Interface, as the Prometheus Unchained old Mechwarrior adventure would call it).
What do you mean you are not playing Reinforcements? TAG pilots should be just a paid upgrade to slightly customize TAGs, not "pilots" that never get in a TAG to justify the handful of pilot miniatures people can no longer use. It's not creativity, it's an excuse.
Oh, that is my subjective attitude. It is better that siocast, which was a mistake, but still not GW or at least North Star miniatures (Stargrafe, Frostgrave) plastic. Absolutely subjective.
Agreed ... and since we're establishing the miniature materials hierarchy, I need to point out that metal sits atop all of the plastics.
I found unicool is great for the big pieces but it's a lot more brittle than siocast. I drooped my Wrecker and it made a clean break at the elbow of the gun arm. and metal can suck when something gets bent and is never the same again. I just recently got into a car accident (not my fault) with my figures in the car. I felt worse for my figures than my car! Swords bent all over. Arms snapped off etc. Siocast I've dropped and it just bends back. All materials have their positives and negatives. I just try to work with all of them.
It's fair to point out that each material has its pros and cons. However, I have a difficult time getting past the (admittedly very subjective) difference in sense of value I feel when I lift a chunky metal model compared to picking up a similarly sized plastic model. Obviously, there are practical limits to how large a metal model can get. Something the size of the Megalodron wouldn't make sense in metal. Even the Maghariba is pushing the limit, but I much prefer TAGs in metal to plastic—I know I'm in the minority here.
