I have recently wanted to start on Vanilla Yu jing, so far I have the Red Veil Box, Tiger Soldier Blister, and well everything else that plays in the ISS. As part of core list-building I feel I really need some shaolin Monks, however, I am having a slight trauma over the Kuang shi and CG boxes, since I bought those and then the new sculpts came out, as I have been playing for 2 years now with ISS I wanted to know how the Shaolin Sculpts hold up today, also, should I bite the bullet and get Beyond Red Veil? I ended up doubling down on Celestial Guards and Kuang Shi xD. Also, what models do you absolutely recommend for Vanilla Yu Jing? I mean, models that define vanilla yu jing as a faction over ISS or IA.
Absolutely recommend for vanilla: -Yaoxie remotes (Rui shi and Lu duan) -Shaolin Monks -Tiger Soldiers -Mowang -Daoying -Libertos -Monstrucker The last two arent Yu Jing Models, but gives vanilla YJ an edge over the in-faction alternatives.
If you already have the Kaung Shi's then Hac Tao and Guilang are top contenders for vanilla. Daoying is decent but you need her Lt. order to work, otherwise her investment isn't worth it. Mowang is a okay but honestly, if you want a gun fighter who's filthy r*pe then do yourself the favor of investing in the Hac Tao HMG. Tiger Soldiers are absolutely a must. I swear by these guys in vanilla and very few things compare to dropping a competent BS13 + Mimitism gunfighter behind the enemy lines. I use both the Spitfire and Combi+Flamer equally and many times I bring both in the same list. Libertos is obviously broken, so yes buy him.
Mowang has its uses as well. It's cheaper than Hac Tao (both in points and SWC), has NWI and his NCO is nicely paired with Daoying Lt2. I often use it as my datatracker. Haidao sniper is handy as well. You can never have too many MSV2 in the army. Beyond Red Veil gives you up to date Guilang sculpt (not the most useful profile though) and Daofei that is nice as well. Zhanying is a good proxy for second Guilang.
Su Jian should be at least considered. It occupies much the same space as the Mowang, so if you're just starting out, you really only need to prioritize one of them. Su Jian is more mobile and capable of attacking from unconventional angles, while the Mowang is a better gunfighter and more straightforward beatstick. You absolutely should buy red veil. The Guilang and Daofei are some of the most notable stars of vanilla, and the Zhanying offers a lot of utility (he's more valuable in ISS, but can do some decent support work in vanilla if you have room, although he's not a priority there). I'll second (third? fourth?) the Hac Tao. Both versions that come in the set bring a lot to the table. I'm partial to the KHD, but the HMG is still nothing to sneeze at. MSV2 Sniper Haidao puts in work for me. He's another strong recommendation, even without the fireteam bonuses that IA provides him. His sturdiness lets him do a little bit of pushing if he has to, but he's more than happy to sit back and poke holes for your mid-field fighters to force through. Of our three main MSV2 options in vanilla (the Bao trooper is a joke profile, it's not intended to actually be used on the table), its mix of capabilities and cost makes it my favourite and best performing.
I do have the Red Veil Box, The Yaoxie Remotes, a Box of Yaokongs, the Su Jian, Kan Rens, zhanyings, Pheasants, Cranes and Hsiens as well as Kuang shi and Celestial Guards. I also have Sforza, Miranda Ashcroft, Authorized Bounty Hunter, Sophotect and Garuda along with two Ninjas (one from red veil). I believe I should go for Shaolins since I just got the Tigers, and the Hac Tao has always been something I want to play xD I do so love the Daoying LT2 since I’ve always loved Rui shi and Lu duan, another thing, how has the zhencha performed in Vanilla? I love that little dude and the Haidao as well.
The Zhencha is basically a strictly worse version of Dart that costs the same amount of points. But Dart is unreasonably well optimized and honestly just overpowered, which means the Zhencha is still pretty freaking amazing. Marker state, climbing plus, and mines are a beautiful combination. That said, there is only one single viable profile, the FO SMG. Avoid all the others like the plague, they're very overcosted and undergeared in comparison.
@Weathercock I don't see how pumping a billion orders into killing 1 or 2 models, and having access to the worst mechanic in the game (spec-fire) makes Dart overpowered, especially when she isn't a specialist. Quite frankly there're a shit ton of models that are far more egregious to game balance than her: Sheskiin, Taigha creatures, Ghazi Muttawiah, Posthumans, Counter-Intelligence available for 12 points in vanilla Nomads (seriously, who the F thought this wasn't an abominable game decision?), McMorrough or rather... Dashat in general. Dart doesn't really register as a blimp on my radar to be honest. I do very much agree with you, regarding the profile though. I tried the BS profile and what actually kills that profile dead, is the fact that he doesnt have mines, so he can't do the BS attack + Mines combo, which is freaking terrible, especially when he's noticeably more expensive than the SMG version. Honestly, he really should be given shock immunity for no increased cost. His points makes little sense to me, when compared with a freaking Dao Fei Boarding Shotgun. He really shouldn't be a profile that costs nearly 40 points with a Boarding Shotgun when he's such a massive downgrade and have shaven so many stats off. Also, the reason why the lack of immunity rubs me in such a wrong way, is the fact that he's literally the only 1W HI that isn't shock immune. Every single tech-peasant, space redneck from Ariadna have immunites on their 1W HI and the supposed high-tech HI specialist faction will actually construct a HI suit that isn't immune to Shock?
Zhencha are solid! Think of it more as a two wound infiltrating specialist and all the profiles are good. People forget they're good, but Assault hacking devices can score multiple classifieds, stop tags and HI in their tracks, and having one whilst being in a token state protects you pretty well from killer hacking devices. The boarding shotgun is really useful as a roadblock - camo tokens have 360 vision whilst in token state, so being able to be at +6 mods at anything coming around a corner at you lets you castle up pretty well. It is a shame not all the profiles have mines and the smg is a bargain, but the other two profiles are solidly useful as well.
Two orders, the first is placing a Mine around the corner whilst keeping the Zhencha out of sight, then for the second order you peek out with the Zhencha and the target has to choose between dodging both the mine and the Zhencha's Attack, or shooting back and eating a Mine too the face.
Hell, if you can spare the extra order and really need to make sure everything works, you can re-camo to add surprise shot. Even if they try to dodge, they'd be doing it at -6.
They'll be dodging both the Mine and the Shots at -3, the modifiers don't stack as they're from separate attacks.
The dodge is made against all attacks coming your way. And the modifier from the mine and the surprise shot are separate things. I don't know why they wouldn't stack. If he was just shooting back and eating the mine, of course he'd only be at -3 for the shots (before range/visual mods), but the mine automatically imposes its own -3 mod to dodge rolls.
Because it's two separate rolls. You're making a Dodge vs the Mine, and a Dodge vs the Zhencha. Now, due to the rules for Dodge you make one roll and use that result against all attacks. For example, Fusilier Angus is attacked by a revealed Zhensha and chooses to Dodge, triggering a nearby AP Mine. Zhensha rolls 2,4,19. Angus rolls a 9. Result: Angus dodges the attacks from the Zhensha as his PH is 10, but fails the Dodge against the mine due to the -3. If the Zhencha has started the order Camouflaged then his 9 would have been a fail against both attacks as both are imposing a -3.