IA Question

We did get the character Zuyong, and being a real army kinda stops us from using mercs, but not having access to Sun Tze is probably due to how many orders you could cram in a single combat group at that point.

 

We did get a new character, Tai Sheng.

Sun Tze isn't officially part of the Invincible Army. Being HI doesn't mean you're part of the Invincible divisions. Most of the mercs are for black ops wetwork, IA isn't really a black ops force they're an actual military division and don't directly employ mercenaries for that reason, outside of embedded war journalists.

It's got nothing to do with that. Sun Tze would lower the order count because he stops the Daoying providing 3 orders for 7pts each. It's just fluff reasons.

 

I believe the IA is more of military force rather than a black ops force. As far as characters I think the vibe they're going for is the whole faceless heroes type of vibe with a mix of everyone here is a hero so no need to point them out if that makes any sense. Hare to put into words. As far as mercenaries I think because the sectorials represents an actual military unit as opposed to say like a whole planet(neoterra for example) that it's more focused on itself. Also to me the ability to generate so many extra orders represents a well oiled machine that has spent considerable time working with each other and are true professionals. I don't think mercs would jive with that feel.
On the other hand I'm a sucker for mercs and will always gladly take em and find ways to rationalize taking them!

 

The only additional character I expect to see in IA is a new Dire Foe, either Zanshi or hopefully Zuyong.

Otherwise, it's the "every troop is a hero" army, that has spent so much time working together that they just know what the other trooper is going to do, it's a scary level of near telepathy that you only see in the real-world Special Operation types or in units that have been deployed in combat for a long time.

No mercenaries, because they haven't worked together enough to know how the rest of the force works.

 

I should add that I am a bit surprised that Sun1 isn't in IA. He strikes me as the profile that should be in IA and not in Imperial SS. Sun2 makes more sense in Imperial SS.

 

Probably something along the lines of YJ not fully trusting Aleph enough to willingly put their most powerful divisions of armed forces under his control. IIRC his fluff entry in the book has something along the lines of trust issues in it.

 

So instead they let him design their advanced training and doctrine indoctrination programme where he can leave his training and mark on many generations of Yu Jing officers to come.

Wasn't the trust issues with ISS?

 

Doesn't Sun not trust aleph? In uprising wasn't there something about suntze and saladin meeting in private basically talking about their distrust of aleph and aleph sending some aspect which they ended up getting rid of? I could 100% be remembering this wrong though.

 

I honestly can't remember exactly what it was.

 

I haven't actually read the fluff, but from what I have gathered both Saladin and Sun are loyal to their own factions rather than Aleph. They represent the most humane take on their factions ideology. In Uprising Sun was fully sidelined by ISS command, which is why I'm asking if it isn't true that he's essentially persona non-grata in higher ISS management.

All in all, it's a bit weird fluff-wise he's not in IA IMO. He's there in a very big way, but not playable, while in ISS which is a faction that needs his ideological guidance but is otherwise very alien to him, he's playable.
I don't think he's missing in IA for gameplay reasons, however, but it feels like he *should* be there.

 

Truth be told, Sun Tze shouldn't be anywhere near a damn battlefield:

So letting him go with the invincibles on the frontline would be too risky, firstly because he is a valuable asset and probably yu-jing's best strategist but also because he could actually earn himself some glory, something the party definitely wants to avoid. Remember, the invincibles aren't just an army, they're also a propaganda tool (the faceless anonymous heroes of yu-jing).

I'm pretty sure the reason why he is affiliated to ISS is because he probably have a bunch of imperial agents bodyguard following him to smack paparazzis/warcors across the face if they film him doing anything heroic.

 

Yeah, that was a repeat of the old Dire Foes mission stuff. Pretty interesting, actually, since Sun and Saladin were apparently conversing in an Arachne server (or some other place Aleph had zero access to)!

As far as Sun showing up on the battlefield, well, have you seen the movie Red Cliff? The guy doing all the traveling to convince people to fight (and mister "I know a little" about helping farm animals give birth) is Zhuge Liang, just as towering a military strategist as the historical Sun Tzu. He was at the battle, but not included in most of the fighting (not his skill set!). Zhuge Liang is the guy who saw that the wind was going to change before the battle at Red Cliffs, and in the (crappy, don't watch it if you have a choice) single-disc US release it looks like he waves his fan to change the direction of the wind. In the 2-movie version of Red Cliff (much better, even if the movies are a bit slow to Western storytelling), the wind goes still and then changes as he waves his fan, signalling the attack to start. Kinda ironically, the actor playing Zhuge Lian in Red Cliff is Takeshi Kaneshiro, who is half-Japanese from Taiwan (even more surprising is that he's acting in China under his Japanese name, there is not much love for Japanese folks in China). Yes, there are facial-structure differences between Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, etc. No, I can't tell you what they are specifically, I never did learn the cues while I was in Japan.

 

The more I think about it, the more I think this is correct. Sun Tze was more of a thinker than a fighter. While he might have been able to defend himself if he was attacked personally, if they got through his personal guard first, his power is in the overall strategy of the fight. I hardly think he should be in ISS at this point.

Now if they did someone like Guan Yu, it might make sense. Though even most of what he did was also stories. But he's more likely a real person as opposed to Achilles.

 

I think it's a good reminder that recreations aren't 1 to 1 with their historical or fictional counterparts. Sun Tze is a very capable commander and it seems that Aleph and YJ has seen it that he can also perform a battlefield commander role as well. Will he lead from the front like Wallace or Joan? Nah. He sits back, plugs holes, and provides assistance.

 

They were not on Arachne server, but in a space that the host walled off from Aleph (can't remember which one was it... I think Sun Tzu).
Personally, I imagine Aleph realising they created this private space, but letting them have it. Too much control tends to result in less control in the end.