And with the largest and most powerful of the Knightly Orders based on Svalarheima, it’s an almost certainty.
Given how much setup the idea of Military Orders being firmly imbedded into the Svalarheima Winter Force has been given in the existing setting and background material it's kinda bemusing that anyone would think they won't feature.
And, frankly, given how deeply intertwined the Church and the PMC are, it would be odder for a force to not have representation from the Military Orders or a NeoVatican affiliated unit.
It's an allergy to poor writing, if I'm going to be blunt. They've had a wonderful opportunity over the years to actually make something useful and interesting out of the PanO military. They've bungled it every single time in favor of this hodgepodge, garbage fire that relies on shoveling Knights in. If they want to put a couple of Knight units in? Fine. Treat them as Mercs, don't give them any ability to enmesh themselves with the Link Teams present, etc. The Church is the Church, and the Church despite the wildly misstated nonsense that gets spewed here IS NOT PANO.
Wouldn't know then, given that it seems most of that stuff is locked in RPG books rather than anything actually to do with the game. The impression that I have been given with regards to Svalarheima has nothing to do with the Military Orders "being firmly embedded" within the Svalarheima--but with some of the Orders recruiting out of them. But so what if that's the case? That's the whole schtick of the Church, they 'recruit'(really more of a blackmail/pressganging situation as it's a way for someone to get in from the resurrection lottery) grieving families into signing off on their loved ones to fill the ranks of the Order Sergeants and Crusader Brethren. Varuna was a perfect example of how we could have had a Knight free Sectorial. They bungled it, jamming the stupid Montesa bikers in...because reasons, I guess? Still not sure why on that one. The Military Orders are the millstone around the neck of the PanO design space, and the sooner people start rejecting this and stop rewarding CB for it the better. And before someone chooses to jump down my neck, as per usual, about the Montesas: They literally didn't have to be added. Look at the number of new units in VIRD. One more seriously would have hurt? The sad part is that if they didn't make these units so obviously 'gap fillers' intended to plug holes in Sectorials other than MO? I probably wouldn't make such a big deal about it. But I will, because they clearly have no interest in designing things outside of MO when it comes to PanO. That's another big reason why I want MO split off into a NA2: Let them have their cake in designing MO and let us move on from having to be leashed to them.
Hospitallers are based on Sval, and we've seen a handful of MO units in the closed battle lists. While its possible they are "All" just placeholders I dont think it too likely and I think its an indication of CBs thoughts RE the feel of the Sval army, that it will have overlap access to some of the MO units. Perhaps with Units like Hospitallers playing the role of core HI option. I would not hoever expect the sectorial to get access to tools like Joan or Defersen
Or, alternatively, MO is an enjoyable and interesting element of PanOceanian design which will continue to be part of the Faction long into the future. An element of the design which is appreciated by the vast majority of players, and derided only by a tiny ('though certainly vocal) minority. Despite some issues with the tabletop manifestation of some parts of this element, with the MO Sectorial suffering from many well recognised and thoroughly explored issues ('though still having the potential to play well in some matchups and scenarios, especially in the right hands), most of us are pleased to see the Orders appearing where appropriate in PanOceanian forces. And anyone trying to argue that Svalarheima is NOT one of those places is literally ignoring everything which has ever been published about that part of the setting, in Infinity or the RPG.
I partially agree. I like the concept of an army made of knights but I don't like how that idea was executed. It's a mess that contradicts common sense regarding military practicality. But, if you consider that MO is actually the NeoVatican Army, and that the NeoVatican is one of the most powerful lobbies of Panoceania, then you could say that the NeoVatican is somehow Panoceania. As for Svalarheima, the Hospitallers are deeply intertwined in the panoceanian military effort there. I don't think they should be left out. I also expect some more Nisse profiles, and Nisse linkability.
Except up, down, left, right, inside, outside and every which way between the story and background portray the Church as being an integral part of, well, everything in PanO, from banking to consumer products to politics to Resurrection... so, there’s that...
For sure, and the its a good way of bridging the factions South East Asian, European and South American traits given how big religion (in particular Christianity) can be too those cultures. Id still like some more oceanic stuff, in particular Australian and New Zealand derived flavour, but there is more than enough room for the religious aspects.
I wouldn't be so heavily derisive if there was an actual alternative presented to the things that MO bring to these Sectorials. Because let's be abundantly clear as to what we're discussing here, and it ain't "are MO part of PanO?". It's the fact that MO's design space does not mesh with the rest of the Sectorials and the insistence of shoving MO units in to meet some seemingly present quota has resulted in other Sectorials losing some of their potential uniqueness in favor of Knights or Knight-adjacent units being thrown in. Auxilia would have been a perfect place for a Biometric Visor, for example. They're a unit that receives close escort training--that means bodyguard work...instead we get Black Friars just thrown into the mix. I've made my "MO should be a NA2!" spiel enough that people should know by now the idea isn't to remove MO from PanO. It's to separate the design space in a way that hopefully would be beneficial to all involved. And let's be honest here, even if MO became a NA2--so what? There's nothing preventing the Montesacycle from remaining a thing in VIRD, nothing stopping the Black Friar from being in NCA, etc. It's not like we have a viable "allies" system in this game--it's all just set up as part of the AVA lists. Once again: What was the point of the Montesacycle in VIRD, other than to appease the people who insist that MO need to be present everywhere? Because I can't see it. I cannot see any way, shape, form, or function that was brought by it being Montesa rather than a genuine PanOceanian military unit. Cool, so when do Auxilia become linkable? When do they become the ACTUAL MAINSTAY of NCA, instead of being sidelined for Fusiliers? When do Aquila Guard become tactical geniuses, since they're supposed to be the graduates of a top tier officer's school? Even more importantly: When the hell are they going to let NCA players buy their 'light' TAG, the Uhlan, and not have to start a second frigging army to use the other half of the box? Because frankly, that showed the lack of forethought given to some of these things. They could have brought the Tikbalang, a TAG setup for closer engagement ranges, into NCA and made some hooplah about "the pilots are undergoing retraining for urban environments" but instead they slapped "of Montesa" onto the unit moniker, threw "Religious Troop" on it and called job a good 'un.
definitely Harris and a KHD profile. Not sure on that mixed 4 Fusilier + 1 Nisse core though. I also expect to see crusader brethren. If I recall correctly one was supposed to be in a CBL list but for some reason didn't get printed on the pdf.
His name is Gautier. And if you think CB bend to player wants, PanO would have had smoke a long time before a mounted knight no one had ever expressed a desire for previously.
Yeah... it's kind of easy to forget PanOceania is actually meant to be significantly Oceanian sometimes. Croc Men are about it for Pacific Islander cultural references and the ANZACs don't appear at all. I'd like to see a clearer identity for PanO as a whole eventually, right now each of its sectorials could easily be an entirely separate faction due to how pronounced the differences between them are and Vanilla tends to look outright schizophrenic due to this. A bit more focus on the fluff of what makes Sval units PanOceanian instead of not-Swedish would hit the spot perfectly; in the past there's been a lot of focus on units clinging to cultural traditions that should probably be altered or destroyed by 300 years of radical change.
They seemingly have Bolts being the 'ANZAC' references. They even tried to be cutesy about it with the "Drop Bears".
I'll tell you what's gonna be on Sval. My dad works at Infinity and he told me. Fur coats. Lots and lots of fur coats!
Well, I know that some folks around here will not like to hear this, but maybe MO (and the NeoVatican) is the glue that keeps PanO as a whole together?
It is a big part of it... of course, being one of the main political actors, plus cultural, plus financial, plus Resurrection does have that effect.
