Nomads think he is, and not just because of his Lhost body. But He's a human that works a lot for Aleph. He's only in vAleph, OSSS, and White Company (which he is the owner of). So, he might as well be Aleph. Even his personal symbol and the White company symbol look reminiscent of Aleph.
You just said that CB writes a background and then they don't follow it... regardless: make a proposal for the inclusion of Hawkwood in the roster. It will have the implication that White Company (that he owns) will effectively become Aleph ;). I wouldn't complain to an Aleph mercenary sectorial: helps making money ;) (plus with white company there is a good number of nice pieces as well)
And - which is more important - offers plausible deniability. Black ops is one thing, having a front that isn't your own front is a different kettle of fish. However, this requires said mercenary company to remain outside of the officially recognized structures of Aleph. Otherwise the whole plausible deniability goes to hell in a handbasket. So, I believe the White Company won't become an Aleph sectorial. Same way as StarCo won't become a Nomad one, despite everybody and their grandma knowing StarCo is basically a rebranded Corregidor with few cosmetic touch-ups...
Which makes me speculate that the next operations box will be a new Nomads sectorinal versus a new Aleph Sectorial. Both Sectorials were established to address the integration of EI into the human sphere and limit its influence, but in very different ways.
Both can be true! In other words, they follow it when it suits them. I don't think WC would become a part of Aleph seeing as how he and a Danavas are the only Aleph troops. If they made a new Aleph sectoral, I can see him being in it. I'm also relatively sure we are going to see Aleph vs. Nomads. Specifically OSSS vs. Tunguska.
And all of this shenanigan at saying that Aleph time will come just so they can touch up OSS? And all the triumphant trumpets to have a "mountain that gives birth to a mouse"... I'd be so disappointed I will sell my Infinity miniatures the day after and close the book on this experience! Nomads are ok with the 3 ships being populated. Corregidor needs a bit of love. On the other hand Aleph dearly needs not just one sectorial... a massive overhaul! So you CB out there: don't you ever think a box is enough to cover for years of negligence to Aleph!
Having played with and against Corregidor, I'd say they are still in a good place. Sure, they could use a few touchups, but then, every army could. Bakunin was relatively recently updated, and AFAIK is considered to be a very strong army. I don't know a thing about how Tunguzka is doing, but if we were discussing "updating the Nomads", I'd point that one as the oldest and needing updating the most of these. I'd be kinda disappointed seeing Nomads in a new starter box, but, well. They had two Operation box appearances so far (Icestorm & Crimson Stone), as had essentially everyone else save for O-12 (one), JSA (one - because they're a new thing), and PanO (three: Iscestorm, Kaldstrom & Sandtrap). Plus, Tohaa were never a starter pack thing, but they are kind of a special case... As to updating Aleph, I don't have a dog in this fight. If anything, it is the lack of attention given to Haqqislam in recent years that is irking me.
The fact is, Nomads sell. Nomads and Combined have had more new figures than others combined in the last 5 years. If it's not Nomads, it might be Onyx.
Tbh I'd say that armies like FRRM and QK are most likely to get a next box. Or at least mostly in need of one. For all its issues Aleph and its sectorials are in decent, modern shape. They could mostly use a refresh like the one MO got last year.
The metal one is fantastic but not readily available to new players. Would be fun to play two of them too! lol
You can make it work doesn't mean it is in decent shape, and neither does the fact that with the new tourney rules it works better. The game should work in total regardless of adjustments... or is SB starting to publish "balancement datasheets"? A balanced game is characterised by factions that, whatever the mission, whatever the pairing, whatever the starting conditions (tournement or beer&pretzel) results in a 50% chance to win for both the contenders. This isn't quite the case of Aleph and Tohaa. In my opinion I should also add that often the perception is to put "luck with dice" on the same level as "I can make the faction work" (might not be your case as a veteran of Infinity, but it is a bias one should consider and a difficult to discount at that). My statement is verifiable by tournament outcomes: factions should have a 50% ratio of win/lose in ideal condition (same level of player) which can vary from 45 to 55% considering an experience spanning from newby to veteran of 5 editions and the fact that the player-base is not homogenous in all factions. Also consider the number of miniatures in the full range per factions: a non homogeneous number produces naturally imbalance.
Well, by this metric... As I'm writing it, https://experience.corvusbelli.com/en/infinity/its/statistics says: Operations: 46% win ratio. I.e. within the "balanced" window of your definition, albeit in the lower registers of it. Steel Phalanx: 51,9% win ratio. Pretty much "perfectly balanced". vanilla Aleph: 72,7% win ratio. "Way too good and needs an immediate nerf" (albeit it has just 11 games listed, so I'd advise caution - it is a way too small of a sample). Sure, there are lies, damn lies and statistics, but if we have better source of data than official CB statistcs, I'd love to be pointed their way. In the meantime, that's what we have.
Also the usual issue with those statistics is that we don't have a measure for player skill. A faction popular with new players is likely to score lower, even if it's perfectly fine balance-wise. I stand by what I've said, Aleph could use a refresh, but is in no way in a bad shape. I can certainly imagine a few tools and quirks they could use to be more flavourful (another Posthuman with different options and separate AVA, more ECM and Firewalls, stronger EVO options, K2 getting AVA 2 to go with their release, more Repeaters, etc.), but bear in mind that every faction and unit are described as the best there is and specialist in their given craft, and they all can get beaten at their own game. PanO can be outgunned, Nomads can be outhacked, JSA can be outsliced. Aleph is no exception.
Don't forget pairing: if Aleph is generally played by veterans the statistics are higher... plus Season 17 in no statistics: it just started. In addition it falls into the "oh we got tourney rules to balance". An example: here where I play, a friend of mine went to a satellite... flat tables (heaven for snipers), lots of newbies... playing JSA 1st tournament he placed high up (tables are another variable, if you play with me you'll be lucky if your sniper can see 16" radius). I never said Aleph should not be beaten. My rule is "don't get attached to any of your minis: they will die... horribly!". However comparing profiles the disparity is visible: Fusiliers have 9 profiles, Dakini 6; closer to the Dakini price range there are the Bolts... 10 profiles; Morat Vanguard 8 profiles; Zanshi with 9 profiles cost much less; Thorakitai 9 profiles (much closer to the mark). As a matter of fact SP is the faction that probably needs less at the moment (still needs stuff), but OSS and vAleph are not in that ballpark
How are Fusiliers and Zhanshis comparable to Dakinis? Sure, they have 9 profiles, doesn't mean people actually take them.
