Hey people, enjoy smashing people with our Zhencha? After several fielding, my only drawback for this unit is that Zhencha got 1 AVA in vanilla. We all know SMG DEP is a godly option. Perfect for assassination, close quarter combat, and for a farewell gift a MINE! Its the all-in-one murder kit for everybody. Still there are two more options. Boarding shotgun (37) and AHD (41/0.5). CB costed the profiles much expensive than Gold Standard SMGDEP, but Zhencha chassis is awesome as itself; Why don't we try to figure out how to use those. For me, BSG Zhencha could be a link-breaker. C+ can easily prey upon targets, better when the target link crawl into our position. Since BSG can mow off lanes, horde control seems plausible. Perfect man for the job when you got Haidao/Yan Huo made opponents hide behind the walls! About AHD, lets just say we got tougher dumber Guilang AHD. In IA we might synergy him with big guns swaying, on Vanilla, well! Ninja KHD could form a dynamic duo. Any thoughts on two profiles, YJ bro?
The AHD doesn't look very impressive to me. I haven't used it yet, but it just feels like the bastard child of the AHD variants of the Guilang and Daofei that fails to hit the high notes of either one. BSG is probably going to end up being our best user of them for the missions that require it. It's just hard to pick over the SMG loadout, just because the toolbox on that thing is so good.
Yeah, the SMG profile is way too dependable. I mean... the SMuG Zonny is like brrAP brrAP DEPendable. And now that everyone is dead from cringing, let me remind you about those AP mines that the other profiles haven't got, either.
True. SMG DEP is way too great and damn cheap, giving us solid reliable button smasher and infighter. Can't argue it because the profile rocks. Although I'm looking Boarding Shotguns ability to spray around lethal templates, it does get very serious equipped upon heavy skirmisher like Zhencha.. It might worth trying out. Yeah, on 34pts its a steal. Agreed thrice upon. I personally think CB should priced SMG 37pts, BSG 34pts - that would be more selective.
Thirded that the SMG is just too cheap (and that's a universal problem with the SMG, not the Zhencha). If the SMG was the same price as the BSG (so SMG+DEP is more expensive), it'd be a much more interesting question for which one to take. The problem with the Zhencha Hacker is that it's an AHD. Not much reason to take one, especially when it makes you vulnerable to everyone's favorite cheap specialist the KHD.
A different way of looking at it is that it's not the SMG is too cheap, but that the BSG profiles offer too little utility to compete. If the BSG profile had had Minelayer or a Jammer, this would've competed with the cheapness of the SMG simply by offering attack vectors or defensive equipment that is otherwise lacking in the sectorial. Ditto Pitcher, even if that's not on Yu Jing's list of Nice Things, or a BSG+Light Grenade Launcher would've worked wonders as well. As to the AHD, I can't really see any way of salvaging that profile in the current Hacking meta.
I plan to use the BSG in one of my future lists for "The Grid", as it also is an FO and has D-Charges.
But we need to work with what we have and not what we want. So, I ignore the AHD for the same reasons mentioned and go with the FO BSG with D-charges. He’s definitely meant for search and destroy. He moves up to use his D-charges and then it’s hunting season with the BSG. Camo-Surprise shot and repeat. He can be a good hunter killer alternative to the Ninja. With his Climb+ he can go to places many can’t. He hunts down that Lt that was put into the building and takes it down.
The Shotgun is also good for situations of hard castling, where the Lt is being body blocked to prevent a direct shot or physical contact, but the template can thus hit several juicy targets.
How many play with destructible terrain? Cos the D charges have plenty more utility if you can bust through walls...
Yes, on the Zhencha, the problem is that the BSG doesn't have enough utility to compete. I'm saying that across all armies, the SMG is too cheap. It's basically got the same range bands as a BSG, and gets Suppression Fire. And yet it is somehow 4pts cheaper. Yes, the AHD programs need to be fixed. I want to add Lockpicker to support the troops who usually carry the AHD (sneaky recon types), and give the AHD a lethal antipersonnel program to stop KHDs from having a risk-free shot at AHDs. IMM-1 is nothing more than annoying, Isolated is better since it stops further hacking attempts, but I'd like to be able to Brain Blast someone. Nowhere near enough.
IMO, SMG and BSG are comparable on an even footing. I do think BSG is a tad expensive, however, so if one goes up 2 and the other goes down 2 I'd think their respective performance as applied across the board should be about the same. It's so difficult. KHD were introduced to, at least in part, tackle the issue of AHD running amok over hackable entities. Now that this particular fox has been released into the Australian wilds, there's a risk that the change AHD might've really needed is too late (which would probably be the removal of Oblivion) Improving Blackout to be a defence program is probably a good fix since it has the least impact on the hacking game versus non-hackers, and yes Lockpicker should be in there but it's not a very decisive program.
I have personally found the AHD Zhencha to be a godsend against linked Dakinis, and quite possibly linked HI for the same reasons. IMM the nearest one and start dropping impact templates on other team members through the stuck one to ignore the disgusting AROs those things get. It helps that my local tables have catwalks with railings exactly the height of a base on its side, makes advancing a Climbing+ model quite easy.
Only used the BS zencha once. And I approached it with the same mindset I have for an offensive push with a Lunonkod. Minus the koalas. But in the mindset of its a climbing plus, ARM 3 REMOTE. WITH A HSG. Just replace the shotgun types and replace koalas with Camo. Same sneaky punishment. For those who have seen a Lunonkod go on a rampage. Glorious.
I'm interested. Do continue please; in Korea Lunokods are not that common sight, and I could find some gold veins from HSG rampage.
Not much to say that isn't straight forward. Just easy to get around some walls, obstacles, etc that people forget to guard against because they don't expect an attacker to go over the wall instead of around it. And not having cover for the shot while on the wall isn't as big of an issue because in this case. ARM 3 and camo state. Use it to get around defenses to hit cheerleaders up close and personal. The extra wound gives it that extra security. I've hung my Lunonkod off the sides of buildings in defense because it's been in full cover off the side of the building while it would have been partial on the ground peeking. All terrain dependent, etc, etc. Yaddi, yaddi, yadda. Your meta may vary. (Side note: As a player of Yu Jing, Nomads for 11 years now. And Haqq, Pan'O since beyond boxes. I've found a lot of use for units that the main factions despise. But i see the value because it gives me something close to what i get in another faction. Classic example is the Prowler spitfire that most people don't like on the Nomad forum because of the SWC, slow move, etc. While i look at it as the closest i'm getting to having a Dao Fei in Nomads.)