I'm hoping for Hecklers to be forward deployed 'solo' MI like Prowlers or Locusts. Holo 3 and Duo as a huge FU to Aleph would be awesome (but unlikely to happen). Particularly if they get Repeaters. Holo 2 + Repeaters is a lot of fun. It allows you to claim a lot of controlled real estate but is self limiting because as soon as you declare that you're using the Repeater it drops the marker state.
Has anyone else noticed that the Hollow Men look a lot like covered up nexus? First the Taskmaster and Kriza look like aliens. Then the Szlamandra looks like aliens... Now these guys... Guys... Guys... I think the aliens have infiltrated the Nomad Nations. I for one welcome our new CA Overlords :D
hahahaahah. I'm so glad I built this meme: Spoiler Personally, I'm onboard with jumping ship. I mean, any tool that allows us to defeat Aleph. At least the EI doesn't pretend to be a god... Spoiler But in all seriousness, the schism in the Nomad nation when the Observance goes all HERESY! would probably see - at least - Bakunin in pieces. Edit: on topic. I hope the Spitfire Kriza means that the HMG Kriza is dead and gone. Yes, I'm half-way through converting one, but it seriously was just stupidly good: it made way too many other options redundant in comparison. Although, I still want the Pulsar back on my HMG TM. :')
For what I've heard of the Hollow Men, the next ideas come to mind: Brain-in-a-jar remote controls a puppet remote body, like the Su Jian system but instead of having an operator you have... well... Possible sources: Mi-Go (Call of Cthulhu) Brain in jar, or Psycho-Pass "hue control system" and the "leaders"... No brain in a jar, but copied Cubes used to run the body, like a digital copy of crack operatives. While the troop would be 100% a remote, it would be locally controled and not by a programmed system, but a "human" consciousness. Possible sources: Takeshi Kovacs book #3 (he starts sleeved into a synth); Eclipse Phase (very standard, since the synthetic bodies are easier and fastest to make than biological ones, thus the "clanking masses" of poor people unable to afford a better body, thus tons of people running as emulated inside cyberbrains); Ghost in the Shell SAC2 episode whatever (the legendary freedom fighter goes to NeoTokyo and it was being cloned+copied endlessly...) The EP source could point to a some sort of system: recruits are used as Hollow Men, or they are used as cannon fodder, etc..., so disposable assets or ones eager to prove themselves to the family. For that, Bakunin would need to be unified in more things than "screw Aleph", "party hard" and "what would happen if...?" :p That being said, one would think that Bakunin is more succesful when it comes to keep a herd of crazy nasties together than the whole of the Human Sphere... Maybe Aleph should copy and export Bakunin to all factions so they focus in the important stuff xD Aleph does not pretend to be a god (and cannot claim to be one even in the 'net, since the Nomads are better at it than her...). As for the EI... I'm afraid you forget the part where the EI does not claim to be a god because it wants to become one ;)
OT discussion of CA infiltration of the Nomad nation: Spoiler My comments weren't designed to be exactly accurate, more indicative: I think 'the devil masked as a false god' is probably a meme that features strongly in Observance sermons. Equally, I think if the Observance ever found out what the EI really was after (I'm not certain how much of the EI's motivation is clear at this point) they'd see that as heresy of the highest order. And I literally meant in physical pieces. Unless you get the Observance onside with backing the EI then the schism within Nomads will be bloody and I would expect to result in Bakunin destroyed. Religious fanatics play for keeps. So, unless Nomads jump ship before it becomes apparent what the EI really is, I think we see a civil war where the Observance is destroyed (but probably takes something with them). The alternative is that the Observance makes a literal deal with devil B to defeat devil A. Which is plausible. At which point you'd actually see the Observance act as the vanguard for conversion to the EI (whereas in the previous example we'd expect to see the corruption of Praxis first*). So keep an eye out for Observance sermons that emphasise Aleph is the real threat (not the CA) and that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. * Which is what we are seeing. It's clear that Praxis is experimenting with CA tech. Whether this is just bleeding edge reverse engineering or infiltration is not clear yet. And it's always possible the first opens the way for the second.
@inane.imp. . . Check My latest "Joke-Not-Joke" answer to the "Alliance with C.A." Thread in the Yujing Section. . . Maybe it could as well a cool Background History for Your R.P.G. Character, Tony the Gecko-Specialist Mechanic / Pilot. . .!! Now I wonder what Tony will do when He will discover (or have YET discovered) that, hidden in the deepest, most secure Vaults of New Knossos Island, the Local Moirae Observancers keep VERY controlled, on a tight leash, "Dark Queen Callysto", a Mad Morlock Gang Leader that transplanted on HERSELF enough Battle-Salvaged Shaasvastii Body Parts to be the Roleplaying Game equivalent of Naish Sheiiskiin, but working FOR the Nomads. . .!! (Aaaand this is "Shameless Plug For R.P.G. Campaign" N°2 of the Day; I really SHOULD Stop !!). . . . .!!!
Now completely OT (RPG related): Spoiler Kill it with fire copious amounts of HE. He's a pragmatist: everything dies if you apply enough HE ;) I'm writing up his backstory now (somehow I ended up writing in a tragically deceased love interest), but keep getting distracted :)
I am wondering what the Hecklers do. Like, the one in the box is a hacker it seems, but what kind? A regular HD seems a bit pointless with Interventors around, but you never know. On the other hand, their gear is all aggressive CQB weaponry (Red Fury and Assault Pistol say these guys are active, move towards the enemy killers) so potentially an Assault Hacker? Also important note; Securitate only have Combi-Rifles, not Combi+LSG. I think they were the only Combi+LSGs in Nomads, so now we're a purely Combis and Combi+LFT faction (mostly in Corregidor, but not all!). Plus a new Boarding Shotgun loadout! So I am curious as to how they will change. Also expecting there to be a third Securitate female whose dossier we haven't seen yet, as one of them is just the same guy turned around in the line-up. The Hollow Men I expect to be HI. That's a HI chestpiece at the very least. Strength based, but HI, reminiscent of the Karakuri perhaps?
I think the main reason I'm going 'nah, not HI' is because for some reason I'm thinking we 'know' that Hollowmen are TO. But if they're not, and they the linkable S2 HI for Tunguska that'd work. I'd be a little bit disappointed with that though: I want CB to make the MI focus of Nomads work. I think Hecklers are forward deployed MI without a markerstate. And yeah, I assume AHD (maybe with Icebreaker) not HD (between Securitae, EVO and Interventor HD is covered). A lot of this is wish fulfilment. But it makes sense with their skillset, and with only Spektrs it's part of the 'Nomad' structure that Tunguska otherwise lacks. This would also make a great vanilla unit (particularly in an age of datatrackers). It fits a gap in DSADs fluff as well: an aggressor element that goes out and disrupts threats before they materialise.
Bostria said they have holoprojectors at GenCon last year, in essence, which means they could be anything really.
I'm one of those that would also love for the hollow men to be HI, but I honestly doubt they are. I'm thinking a support piece for the hollow men, and the heckler is some kind of lower cost but still elite skirmisher. The Shrouded to the Spektr' malignos, basically.
I don't think the Heckler will be a Skirmisher myself. It looks too heavily armed and armoured. Could be wrong, mind, the Spektr has the same legs and such as the Grenzer, but that armoured coat is a tough, heavy affair. Hollow Men... well if they aren't HI I expect a relatively high ARM for them, because that's a Mobile Brigada chestplate they're rocking in that dossier at the very least.
I'd love to see Hollo men as MI with G:Jumper or HI with Rem:Pres. Either way they should be 4-4 with 1 Structure and NWI (similar to Aleph's Proxies but Cyborgs instead of Androids) Models look amazing, let's hope they end up being awesome.
We will not surrender Nomads agency to protect Nomads agency. Anyone who wants to work with the EI to fight ALEPH or ALEPH to fight the EI gets to test that faulty airlock. Multiple hacking devices on the Kanren is awesome because the Holo hides which one it has until it is revealed. One of the few cases of very useful misinformation.
The Guilang also has a pretty heavy coat, though Nomads already have a good number of camo Infiltrators. I'd like to see Hecklers be a Fireteam filler, kinda like Brawlers and Valerya in DBS, Domaru in JSA, or Greys in CHA.
Hmmmmm, I'd like to see the Hollows come with 6-2 or 6-4 movement, 2 Structure, Mimitism, and G:RemPres. Beefed up Dakinis, in other words. 3 ARM, 9 BTS. Hackable. Toss on Forward Deployment for funsies. Haris 1 Hollow + 2 Krizas? That'd be a sweet unit. The Heckler's armor is very similar to the Grenzer's (on the arms, it's identical). Based on that, 4-2 MI makes sense. Given the range bands on his weapon options and his name, my money says he's a skirmisher with Infiltration or FD Lvl 2, ODD, and an AHD. Maybe a KHD option (though Interventors have got that covered)? And Deployable Repeaters with Minelayer would be a nice touch. It's worth noting that Nomads (Bakunin) already have an infiltrating 4-2 MI in the Prowler (not classified as a skirmisher, though that's the role he plays), so there is precedent for such a unit.
so my wishlist Heckler 3 profiles KHD HD Jammer visor maybe Securitate -drop light shotgun -drop either repeater (for deployable) or 6th sense -KHD option -sensor option haris-3 securitate, 2 securitate+interventor/heckler/grenzer core (basically drop them to about 17-19 points) Hollow men -holo projector -infiltration lvl 1 + 6-2 move -Rem type troops Combat Puppets -jumper -kinda weak options compared to aleph posthumans -maybe have 1 puppetmaster profile who is just a normal hacker and the weak link in the chain Grenzer -maybe 1 MSV 2 option? core-haris with interventor Nautical Zond -Larger artillery Rem (maybe designed for naval combat based on the name, sort of a mini hover tank/low flying meteor zond) -Heavy grenade launcher (smoke or stun ammo) Borac -spiftire but give him something like an X visor to make the profile interesting. -duo mysterious named character -john wick style super assasin -Svengali operating a remote -A laughing man style super hacker If we dont see price drop on securitate and most Tunguska units end up around 20-50 points I think its more likely combat puppets will be Jumper or kuang shi style unit. Or they could be similar to hollow men but serve similar to brawlers to fit into every link team as a cheap member. Edit- on the fluff side of nomads allying with Combined. I dont think they would ever formally ally but you would probably get a "just leave us alone and we will leave you alone" type of arrangement and any cross tech would just be trade between the groups.
If the Kriza gets to haris, I quit Infinity. Seriously, that would be breaking all kinds of design convention and rules. We'd have B6 spitfires that always force a -3 to shoot back at them. That's borderline insanity. Unless they pull that Kurgat bullcrap and only Kriza with B3 weapons get to haris, which would still be quite broken because then we have B5 multi-rifles or B3 multi-rifles with DA ammo. The most likely scenario is the Kriza gets to duo with a lot of guys, basically acting as the bodyguards they're supposed to be.
Where is this idea of Nautical Zonds coming from? It appears here and there, but was it mentioned in any seminars?
