Looks like we can take him in RTF and QK. How do folks feel about the profile? (Sorry, I don't have a good version of it to post here, I just know it from the gencon seminar video.)
It's a fun looking profile for sure. I will definitely make a list with him in it at least once. I doubt I will take him on the regular though. Thats less to do with his profile though and more to do with my love of too many profiles in Ramah. Ramah is awash with good profiles, or fun profiles in general.
I do not know if this picture will show for a long time - perhaps someone else will host it :) I have the Aristeia! Deluxe Box Version of Wild Bill and was using him as CSU until now. I do not dig the new sculpt, but perhaps I have to see it more often to change my mind... In my opinion definitely a good addition to QK. Fast, shooty, resilient, priced like an Odalisque - if he gets some kind of Wildcard,. He will be an autoinclude for me
I couldn't agree more. Make no mistake, Bill is a solid model for his cost, but given that he mainly just slots into the solo assassin sort of niche, he's competing with so many stone cold death dealers in RTF. However our QK players are no doubt excited to play him, as I think he's poised to do some good work in that sectorial.
USA, QK, and Foreign Company all make sense. I'm also scratching my head over Ramah. I also agree with what a lot of folks are saying here in that it seems like he'll be a bigger boon to QK than RTF. I'm assuming those pistols are light multi, so between fat 1 and twin weapon, he's basically got a short range multi rifle. Potential link options aside, he's essentially competing against kawarij and the smg hortlak in RTF and that's some stiff competition in that point bracket. Ironically, I feel like event though there are more models in that point bracket for an aggressive role in QK, they all are different enough that there's more room for a profile like Bill's. Especially because they don't have things like Mukhtar or Namurr in the next bracket up to compete in that fast killer bracket.
If i had to guess, Wild Bill might be enhanced in some way through Haqqislam medicine, hes got the 6-2 mov statline which is usually found not on regular humans, but often on the Ramah super soldiers. then on top of that hes got hyper dynamics and no wound incap. That's just my guess though
Challenger makes a very good point. If CB were to just give us this profile and call it a super-soldier, we wouldn't really question it. I think that's why it looks better in QK than Ramah. Ramah already has access to units that do a lot of the same things he does.
Thats my thought. I feel like he has connections with Haqqislam and its super soldier program in some way.
I can't tell if his character bio on the aristea page is saying he's from Dawn or not. It kinda seems like he's Ariadnan with maybe some cybernetic implants? I don't think he's an l-host.
He has a Cube, so he could very well be wearing an Lhost. Considering he used to get shot, stabbed, poisoned, and set on fire on a weekly basis for the entertainment of paying punters I'd go as far to say that the chances of him being in his original flesh are pretty slim. We also know that Gutier considers movement faster than 4-4 to be beyond baseline human capability, so it's quite possible Bill is using a Haqqislam designed Lhost derived from one of the various supersoldier programmes.
My guess is that his alliance with Haqq will be explained/intertwined with the plot of the Asteroid Blues campaign next month, in which he’s supposedly a big player. I’ve also seen it suggested (tho I’m not sure if it’s official, “in-universe” stuff or just fan speculation) that Wild Bill is an Aleph recreation, tho what purpose he’d serve, I’m not sure. Maybe he’s another rogue like Wallace.
I thought he might be a recreation too, which is why I went to check his bio, but unlike Musashi for example, he's not called out as being one. As @colbrook points out though, just because he's not a recreation doesn't mean he's not in a synthetic body, He could have started as meat when he first became an Aristo and then purchased a synthetic body as he became more popular.
I’d say it’s all up in the air - Wild Bill’s origins are seemingly deliberately obscured, so who knows what he might be. I imagine this’ll be explored in the campaign. Not long ‘till we find out either way.
Unfolding the fluff of these characters in online campaigns would be great. They haven't done that from what I've seen in these last few, but it could be a lot of fun to see their stories unfold through our actions. Honestly, a L5R approach where faction play / choices change the profiles of faction heroes would be really, really cool. Imagine Leila, for instance, going to command school and picking up CoC instead of her KHD or some other sort of new profile option?
My guess Bill's origins are along the lines of "we need a space cowboy in Infinity universe because cowboys are cool, I heard". As for his presence in Ramah... Let's just say I cannot fathom what's going on in CB's collective imagination when they decide what some group will look like, what fits them and what doesn't.