Do you think my Ryuken profiles will come out in the future? I think the possibility of a multi sniper and some sort of close range hacker are pretty likely.
Not very likely. This is a sectorial, it is unlikely to get new profiles. It's possible, but this isn't going to get new stuff the way a main faction does.
Hacker is kind of missing thematically, but I think the removal of the sniper is very deliberate (as in, the sectorial isn't supposed to work like that)
Well the Radien sniper was seldom used anyway, så i think that's why it's gone.. but yes i also miss a specialist, hacker or FO. bother thematically and because in their fluff it says they gather intell. It might be a balancing issue though..
I am a bit shocked some people say JSA is a sectorial and thus they don't expect new profiles. JSA WAS a sectorial, it's a fully fledged stand alone army now, and I 100% expect CB to add new units and profiles to it later on, especially as the story progresses. There have been heavy hints at potential new unit designs in the JSA fluff of the Uprising, only non existent at the moment because development has been set back after the Uprising. Once everything settles down and development proceeds accordingly, I am sure we'll see some awesome new units appear, and maybe some more equipment/skill options for existing units, and I think Ryuken is a prime example of a unit that could have a crapton of profiles, being basically Ghost in the Shell Section 9 :-P I wouldn't even be surprised if they made a profile for every member of Section 9 at some point...
So do Qapu Khalqi players. Alas... it seldom happens. There is such thing as "closed sectorials", considered "done". Pros: no more buyings. Cons: little new profiles, if any. Because of their looks? I think you might have missed Ishikawa and Togusa among the Tokusetsu in the JSA box... Because of their profiles? I see more section 9 in Aleph than in the JSA. Please do develop new tech! Those debts need to be paid off, and it doesn't looks like the Japan nation has much in the line of natural resources or industry... :p
It's tough for Ryuken-9 to be expanded as Specialists or Snipers without overshadowing Ninja. The main thing that the Ninja AHD, Sniper, etc. have going for them is that they have no competition against their very high point cost. If there was a more streamlined or point efficient Ryuken-9 profile that competed with those Ninja profiles, I don't think you'd see those Ninja profiles taken at all.
The Ryuken tries to fill a role that no other unit does - a close range gunfighter/ board control piece or a distant ARO piece used to support/stifle an advance. While a specialist profile would be neat (I would want an FO instead of hacker), there is a lot of overlap with the ninja, as already stated. I think the lack of specialist options on them is very intentional, they are already so well rounded. I have a feeling those old raiden profiles got cut because they didn't have models for them (except in the case of the spitfire).
I think CB probably overextended a bit with the old Raiden. Because of cheaply the old HRL is priced, alongside the pretty limited ability of the Raiden (it's a good unit, but let's face it... It was good because it was cheap, not because it was exceptionally strong in any way.) For many players, it just didn't make sense spending extra points on the Spitfire or MULTI Sniper when you could get such a bargain from the Rocket Launcher (not to mention Minelayer too.) It was pretty easy to see why it was a favorite profile. Agreed with @MikeTheScrivener , the Ryuken-9's already so well-rounded. Adding Specialist to the SMG profile would upset internal balance quite a bit. If they did get a Specialist, they couldn't just remove SMG/breaker pistols and give it a Combi... A Combi in the hands of an ODD unit is great. So then you'd have to get rid of ODD. But then you have three different profiles that are basically all different units: one has limited Camo, one has ODD, one has something else (Mimetism?) and it breaks the theme of the unit. It's already an innovation that CB was able to basically create two different units united by one profile, and I think it's elegant and really playable in its simplicity. Specialist aside though, it would be cool to see Ryuken-9 get new profiles down the road. Deployable Repeater, Sniffer or E/Mauler would be particularly interesting, to give Minelayer something to deploy besides an antipersonnel mine.
JSA was a Yu Jing Sectorial and is now a NA2 sectorial. It was a main faction's sectorial and is now one of the unaligned factions' sectorial. The tell tale signs is that JSA has sectorial rules and is sorted under the header of NA2 rather than JSA. The one thing JSA has that most other sectorials (and Tohaa, hurhurhur) does not is that it's a pet-sectorial and on that fact alone there might be more coming, but I think if you're selling to a new player that there's going to be a year(s)-of-JSA, you'd better make sure to also explain what year-of-Tohaa meant. Whether O-12 steals the limelight from JSA in NA2 remains to be seen, but right now it's the dominant NA2 sectorial.
There is another route to expand from JSA: the Ikari Company. Lots of different profiles, different playstile... and from there, you can get into Haqq or PanO.
Honestly I kinda struggle to justify ryuken in my lists, when I can just spam more FO ninjas. Objectives are more important, Midfield mine spam + warbands will chew them out. I really do like them and put them in lists but I feel im doing it for style points rather than being an effective choice over just spamming 3 KHD ninjas. Though this might be more that I think KHD ninjas are under costed. Id take 30 point specialist version if only to give the Ninja KHD some competition.
They play differently than a ninja. A ninja is a scalpel used to remove things like TR bots and anyone stupid enough to stand around in the midfield. I like putting the Ryuken prone on a building and the mine on the ground, if i'm going second, as this protects him from most warband. If i'm going first I use it to hunt said war band. they're board control monsters just begging to be put into suppressive fire. the ninja KHD is more or less dead if he's not put back into the marker state, with very little reactive turn use.
Ryuken discourages your opponent from rushing a bunch of 8 and 16 point bots mid fields to drop Sniffers to ferret your Ninjas out.
After trying to make Locusts work, Ryuken-9 are hugely optimized by comparison. The mine they start with is great for keeping the cheap garbage at range.
Way I see it, ninja are your attack dogs - Ryuken are guard dogs. By replacing Raidens, they've been designed for a little more mobility, with the cost of a little armour and a little firepower, but the minelayer skill across the board ensures they can cover a wider area as well as make certain AD approaches less viable. And I'm not really sure what else they can be given to allow for the area defence role they've been given. Raidens were more intended as a covering fire unit and as MI probably better off stationary, but to make specialists or snipers/spitfires in Ryuken will, IMO, dilute their current optimisations. Maybe a boarding shotgun hacker at most, but I think they're pretty much as good as we'll get.
Damn there's some negativity going on here. I think people underestimate what JSA can become in the setting, and what I think CB intends for them in the future. As I said, I expect much more support than some here seem to, why? Because it's a cool faction with lots of room to grow and lots of people that join infinity that love it. I think if people say "It'll just be another unloved sectorial like QP" they expect too little, and maybe got a little too frustrated in the last few years. But who knows, maybe I'm just too optimistic, it doesn't really matter to me. Also I have not missed the other "Gits" look alike figures, but that doesn't mean Ryuken doesn't still have a lot of potential for new profiles. Why? Because it's a "ragtag unit" with VERY different equipment, which means it's very easy for them to justify throwing in yet another completely different profile. How about an air deployment trooper? Or something with a bot attached to it? There's lots of areas to go into while still fitting the units fluff. I also see no problems with specialists really, some people say "But if there's another specialist nobody will take ninjas"....like really? With arguments like that no faction should have more than 1 specialist of any type cause it might make others in their list "less viable"....what nonsense. I can see plenty of reasons why people would still take ninjas, even if some Ryuken Profile came with a specialist option, the biggest one being marker status, and Ryuken AVA. Seriously guys, get some bloody positivity in this section, we are a new faction with an interesting future ahead, and already there's people talking like they're in deep depression over an abandoned faction :-P But I guess it can't be helped, I'm sure there's a lot of bandwagon jumpers who joined JSA and didn't quite find what they where looking for and are already on their way to the next bandwagon...I hope whomever you are at least had fun in JSA while you were here :-)
So the other factions and sectorials are uncool? If CB gives more toys, good for JSA or whoever faction receives them, but you are trying to justify that JSA will get more stuff based only in that "it is cool!". More relevant is the "pet product" (for this year!) that has been mentioned. Yet it's the problem you see in Vanilla lists time and again: several units never get picked, because there are more interesting ones, while on the sectorials they are picked because they have no competition at all. I refer you to the Crusader (AD troop for MO), which was, in the words of Gutier, hard to make because there was already the Akhalis in PanO generic, and he did not want a unit that would render the other obsolete. JSA is not "abandoned", and neither is QK. They are "Closed" products, in the meaning that they are finished. Granted, JSA might get new toys if it looks like its gaming style is not realistically workable, but from that to say "I want all the toys in all the models", there is quite the stretch. Do not make the same mistake I made of "selling" the game to new players, only to find them disappointed because things suddenly changed without warning.
