Well, they are the HI link that Nomad players are going to be most familiar with. If you look at other factions, pretty much all HI links are far more imposing than Brigadas at a similar price or significantly cheaper(or both). We can compare them to Santiago/Hospitaller & Magisters or Sogarats, but they are still going to be lacking.
MB's peers are Janissaries, Suryats, Orcs and Shang Ji. They're actually on par with those links/HI. A touch more expensive than most but probably the best supported. In a 'bring your non-Fury Pain Train to work day' I rate most MB lists over its peers. The problem is a universal one, not MB specific. Comparing them with Fury links kind of misses the point. MB are like Guija or Raicho. Mechanically they're boring but that's fine because they're not supposed to be gameplay poster children of the faction. Whereas CB OTOH obviously wants Grrls to be gameplay poster children of Bakunin. Where I think CB made a mistake was in the CJC 300pt box. It'd make more sense as a StarCo box. Also, MB in particular get cruelled by linked KHDs with access to Pitchers, Deflectors and Maestro.
Janissaries are cheaper by a couple of points each and have a higher WIP, which matters for HI more than most due to Reset. Suryats (which is who I meant instead of Sogarats, that's my bad) are immune to isolation and can operate as a full link in LoL. They also have a higher BTS. They are a very resilient link. Orcs are one of PanO's most bemoaned profiles and I don't think I've ever seen one "in the wild." Also, they don't have a full link (neither does Shang Ji). Why are we discounting Fury links? Fury has no effect on links other than making them cheaper than they should be. That's part of the problem. By disregarding Frenzy links you toss out 1/2 of the competition. Even if we leave that alone though, MB are still over priced by at least 2-3 points per model. I don't understand what CJC has that justifies that. I don't really understand your argument. It seems you are happy with Brigadas being boring HI because you feel Grrls are too good. That doesn't really make sense to me. Being mechanically dull isn't worth 2-3 points a model imo.
Because we all know and agree the Frenzy links are better so it's a useless point. Brigada shouldn't move up to Grrl level Grrls should be changed. Although actually meet somewhere in between, probably. Brigada have a unique niche in that they come with supportware and get a TinbotB to make up for the weakness of a standard HD. HI link lists make really good use of that. Throw in REM to make more use of supportware and it gets to be a pretty solid build. Also a Dog Warrior compliments HI links very well. Maybe it's not enough to compete but it is a very good, powerful, and unique archtype that could become competitive with minimal tweaking. And is playable now.
It's not just Grrls though, that was my original point. Regardless, MB are good against AHDs that aren't common in my area so I guess I might be underrating them in that respect. KHDs are what I see 95% of the time and Fairy Dust means nothing to them and having a hacker they can go after becomes a liability. I didn't use them in CJC and I sure as hell aren't ever going to take them in vanilla, where I can get far more out of their 35-40 pts. If I want to run Brigadas I'll play StarCo.
Honestly, I am probably just being cranky. The Brigada models were pretty much what sold me on Nomads to begin with, but I never got them to work on the table. I've always been disappointed by that. I think that it's partially because my playstyle doesn't work well with them and partially the meta. Still love the models though.
It is pretty clear to me that StarCo is the place to go for interesting Corregidor LI and HI links. That is honestly fine with me because they occupy different design spaces in that Nomads are supposed to have the premier MI in the game. Unfortunately, Wildcats are just so underwhelming at first blush and even more so when compared to Druze Shock Teams or even Bolts. I understand they're a good value despite all the chafe rules (like multiterrain, courage, demo charges, and high BTS), but for being the flagship unit of CJC they really are lacking anything to make them standout.
But I don't know how much that is Wildcats or the rest of the faction. I mean if CJC had Bolts instead of Wildcats I suspect we'd be saying 'Bolts are way better than Wildcats'. I mean BSG + EM Grenade + BTS6 + Bioimmunity Hacker is kinda baller in a faction with Tomcats. Also lol at a ML+Hacker Veteran link when you can poor their orders into your Intruder despite the fact that you're in LOL. And that's before you consider that if Bolts were a Nomad troop type they'd lose their LSGs for LFTs and get +1 WIP while costing 1pt less. Nomad Bolts would be sooo good.
I was about write how Druze and Bolts have a unifying theme tying their rules together and creating a clear role within their army and Wildcats have a seemingly random assortment of rules and gear. But that isn't true. Wildcats are designed to breach walls, rush through the smoke and rubble, and lay waste to targets with accurate gunfire or an all-consuming wall of flame. (Insert obligatory Altered Carbon imagery) Despite being a freaking AWESOME concept, it just isn't supported by the current rules. It's not us. It's them, guys!
Wildcats are good they just don't act like their fluff suggests. Hopefully that is rectified some day, I've already suggested a few ways that could help but ultimately I think this is a product of how N3 works and that's just how it will be for a while.
i like wildcats as they are right now. But, if they are meant to be a CQ nightmare, they should have a SMG+D-charge profile. Btw D-charge should automatically destroy any inanimate object (walls etc) without rolling dices.
Wildcats are already really good. Especially given how cheap they are. They are great in CQB, have great specialists, good equipment options...
I agree. the AHD profile for Wildcats I believe is underrated. Its unfortunate a miniature doesn't exist for it and I had to convert mine.
For what it's worth, Deflector L2 in the Fireteam means that most KHDs are nearly as likely to go down as they are to take out the MB Hacker.
