Minutemen & future USARF updates.

The Unknown Ranger suffers in Vanilla because he's always going to be compared unfavorably to a Vet Kazak. In the USARF however, his current profile can become quite a killer with Tactical Awareness, NCO or a Wildcard addition. Making him something similar to a Patsy in Varuna would be useful as it lets him be that pointman for the group of Maruaders, Minutmen or even in a pinch, Grunts when seizing that mid-field objective (that the Foxtrots can't handle).

 

Minute Men just need NWI and they're fixed it's a little boring but a simple solution. Then they could make them wildcards or something to add of bit of versatility in USF. Wildcard for the unkown ranger and he would already be significantly better.

 

Regarding Minutemen, they mostly suffer from in-faction competition from Grunts and Marauders. In several cases (Rescue) Multiterrain is a big advantage, and smoetimes being HI is favourable (Frostbyte), but I admit these are rather special cases.
For me the FO profile clocking in at 23 points rocking a brace of flamethrowers seems like a nice toolbox unit, an able DZ-guardian / button-pusher / occasional hunter-killer trooper. Sometimes you need one guy to go and get sh1t done.

 

While NWI would be great it would make them quite expensive. I'd love to see them getting Auto-Medkits (I mean: every Minuteman has a modeld First-Aid Kit on them). That would make them more a stand alone Unit and somewhat unique in that regard.

 

Yeah, Shock Immune and NWI on Minutemen makes them suspiciously similar to Vet Kazaks.

I'd be happy to see them gain Dogged if Marauders lost it, just to help cement Minutemen as the more resilient/elite unit.

 

I’ve enjoyed the x-visor profile as a midfield roadblock. We have a lot of midfield skirmishes that already force opponents into hard choices, so tossing a HI in the mix with some staying power to watch over them has been helpful.
They also have a 0-SWC lieutenant option, which I usually prefer.

I think the real problem is they are about twice the cost for +2 BS over the grunts. There just isn’t enough flash. Something like an automedkit, or maybe an NCO or Tactical Awareness profile would set them apart. But I would be worried about overshadowing the new Third Offensive sectorial.

 

Minutemen and the Unknown ranger, some of my favorite minis... but man can running them feel painful. I actually found myself falling in love with the shotgun/grenade loadout for them as they're pretty fast for USARF and can be a real pain once they get into the center.I actually found myself falling in love with the shotgun/grenade loadout for them as they're pretty fast for USARF and can be a real pain once they get into the center. But I agree that minutemen shouldn't just be vets wearing red white and blue because vet kazaks are so good.

The automedkit is actually an interesting way to make them feel HI tough without stepping on vet kazak toes. This totally gets my vote. I mean they have the medkits and not even a paramedic option!

NCO/Wildcard unknown ranger would make him the sort of guy you can stick in links to lead the charge, that's my biggest hope, and would taking him for the cool factor a bit more justifiable. I've also read plenty of people saying to make the rifle t2 at that price. Give him some punch without eating all of your SWC.

When they first came out people seemed to have hated the Blackjacks. What's the general opinion on them now? Did people finally warm up to them? I love my tubby t2 turret. I pay 39 points to tell my opponent that this lane of fire is now off limits and go fight elsewhere.

 

It's not that Minutemen are bad, it's more that Grunts are borderline OP ( I have at least 9 in every list ), and Marauders are really good. Also, skills Minutemen have are basically useless, they drive unit points up with no real gain for them. Grunts should be at least 2 points more expensive, and Minutemen need a rework. Drop all their current skills, add NWI and nothing else. It fits USAR style IMO. Maybe add an X-visor, since they already modeled some kind of visor on the model.
Unknown Ranger has some weird combination of skills and stats that make him average at everything, and his price is crazy high. I can get a BlackJack ( which is also strangely priced, but in opposite way as he is too cheap IMO ) for less points. And BlackJack is awesome.

 

I don't agree that giving them NWI makes them similar to Vet Kazaks; the latter still get Mimetism, Veteran & Sixth Sense, so there's plenty of variety. (PS: I think all Ariadnan HI should get NWI).
Plus, I'd second giving them more Fireteam options; wildcard is probably too far, but allow up-to 1 or 2 of them in any Grunt and/or Marauder link.
(When I used Vanilla, I did enjoy the X-visor load-out on suppression fire, as it became quite a road-block).

IMHO, Unknown Ranger just needs Shock Immunity and the Wildcard option.

 

Minutemen have 4-4 MOV. They are far more mobile than Grunts. Sometimes this is pretty imprtant (Rescue, rushing for a quadrant to control, for example)...

 

Haha, I came here with the intention of making a post asking why does anyone field Minutemen?

In my opinion, the only thing that needs to change for Minutemen would be the cost...lower it. Like lower it down to Marauder level, don't add anything to them and keep SWC's the same. They will become viable options with no other change, you then would have a realistic choice between FD L1, Stealth and Dogged(Marauders) or Shock Immunity, better stats and speed. Right now, for +.5 SWC you can get a Blackjack AP HMG with ARM 5, Chest Mines and Battle Ravaged for essentially the same cost(2 points more) as the same AP HMG Minuteman loadout, that's ridiculous.

As far as the Unknown, yeah I agree with others on here. He's too expensive as well, not in a "not worth it way" like the Minutemen, just in a "I would rather have these guys instead" kind of way. I mean you can run a 5 man Grunt link for 3 points more than the Molotok Ranger(and 0 SWC), run them up the board, break the link, Coordinated order + Reg order and throw 5, B3/ARM3 Suppressive Fire speed bumps in the road, while absolutely not caring if they die...where if your Ranger dies @47 points/1.5 SWC, that hurts. In the active/reactive turn that's 15 dice Vs. 4/3...at least he looks cool.

One other thing that's notable is that high point cost models are high priority targets. People will risk a TAG to take out that Ranger, to where, in my experience, they will actively avoid the Grunts in suppressive fire because they don't want to potentially lose their flagship guy to a 10point trooper. The Grunts in effect have more board control in that scenario.

Feel free to point out my lack of foresight...I have 5 Minutemen on my paint table collecting dust that I would like to find a reason to finish.

 

It's a very good analysis and I agree on all points.

Minutemen are useless and if you take them, you gimp yourself. That's simply it.

The only 2 profiles I could ever consider in today's state of the game are the LT. profiles (both HMG and Rifle) and the XVisor AP Rifle one, which I sometimes use, simply because it's a weapon that shoots decently up to 32 inches with no SWC cost (but the model is too expensive).

 

Exactly. If I'm short on SWC's I'll glance at the LT or AP Rifle...but that's it.

 

I admit I took the HMG LT once when I went to Korea and didn't have space in the bag - he did nothing in 3 games and died like a schmuck in the last one. Unimpressive and I skip him ever since.

The XVisor Ap Rifle girl I take sometimes, but she is a hit and miss, and when she dies due to being outshot, 30 points go down the drain. I could take something a lot better for those 30 points, usually.

 

Pretty much sums up the thread to me and should be the title, these are some of my favorite mini's in the range. And your breakdown of a minuteman vs a blackjack perfectly sums up why I think they collect dust.

I think pts adjustments would work, but I would really like a mechanical tweak, if only because while minutemen look cool they do feel a bit bland. 4-4 mov doesn't make them feel terribly distinct. Especially when put up against marauders and grunts, two extremely attractive options for the army. If they got a pts discount you'd probably see them turn up more, but I think it'd have to be a dramatic cut to make the "grunt +1" be something you take when free forward deploy is on the table.

 

As far as the Minutemen vs Blackjack argument goes, think I'll stick up a bit for the little guy;

• He's S2, so is easier to manoeuvre & hide.
• Can't be hacked, so no need to worry about those pesky hackers & repeaters that I often see.
• I've seen MOV 4-4 and muliterrain make more of a difference with the new ITS season.

Based on that, whilst the Blackjack is preferred by more people, (other than me!), I'd say the Minuteman does still have a place.
They're probably most effective as a Core Fireteam as they can take differing weapons & specialists, so a simple load-out comparison can give the wrong impression.

My 2p anyway.

 

I'm of the unpopular opinion that USA is fine in its current state. That said, if I could make any changes, it would just be to allow a Minuteman to join Grunts, and give the Unknown Ranger Wildcard, those two changes alone would go a long way. If you want to get extra fancy, give Mavericks Duo. The biggest problem for Ohio in my book isn't that they're bad and need to be changed, it's that Season X made both MI links that much more desirable with Forward Deployment.

 

For Unknown Ranger, on his overall profile (NOT tied to anything specific):
-Inspiring Leadership. Might sound weird given that he doesn't have a native LT profile...but it would be a hell of an interesting trick for a CoC model to be able to pull Inspiring LD out.
-Tactical Awareness OR NCO
-Counterintelligence

Yeah, it's a lot to add to him...but I think it would go a long way towards making both profiles viable.

For Minutemen, again on the overall profile:
-Tactical Awareness OR Counterintelligence
-Fireteam Duo