Bronzes look like they might be the single hardest to dislodge model in the game once they get into suppressive fire. 360 vision, MULTI Rifle, BS13, ARM4-5 (7-8 in cover) Total Immunity, Courage, 2W, a DTW to stop CC models before they arrive and CC19, MA1 and a -6 penalty in CC to stop anything short of Shinobu. It’s going to be hacking, smoke or spec fire. I’m also very excited for the Crushers, they picked up some very nice kit to make them attractive choices in the midfield. They also feature our first big boy template weapon, the LRL. Previously the only impact templates O-12 had access to were the Kappa ML and the smart missile bot. These guys plug a sizable hole in the faction. Bluecoats are very cheap for what you get and have some attractive fireteam options for their many many relevant loadouts. DTWs galore, with some solid backup gun profiles. The proliferation of Red Furies means that our SWC can buy more fun guns in more places. Lawkeepers have some good prices and I’m always a fan of fast attack pieces. Red Fury on a bike looks good at first glance but I’m not sure how it will pan out as a pure gun fighting piece. I see Lawkeepers as more of a second wave attack piece that can quickly get into a deployment zone and run amok with a combi or shotgun. I’m liking the combi specialist operative with the sidecar for quick button pushing and setting up an effective 2nd turn counterattack. Overall I’m very surprised by the link options given to Starmada and it’s going to be very interesting seeing the new profiles (Nyoka, Raptors, Psi-Cops, Shona, and maybe some exclusive Beta profiles? A man can dream. Also, Hector. I bought his model years ago and it’s been sitting in its baggie unassembled. Your time to shine, buddy! I
The best bit is you can put them into Suppression Fire at the start of the game with a Command Token!
I was a little disappointed when I saw the Starmada pack and it was basically a bunch of new units, rather than filling in some of the missing O12 units, but they looked cool enough. Then they fluff out the rest of the sectorial with even more units that aren't around... Is the Tien Gou or Knight of Santiago in something else? Nyoka and Raptor are also new, but at least Varangians are included... Amusingly I bought a Victorian Parvati not long ago, cool enough figure since I probably won't get the ITS one. I do like the kappas in the box, actually, but also wish they weren't there. All these Availability 2+ units, but I'm certainly not buying multiples of the box and having triple kappas adding up. I already get extra kappas from Defiance, and of course another Saladin. So I dunno, if I need to proxy all these guys, why bother having any mini's at all?
Tian Gous will be a White Banner release sooner rather than later, and Santiago Knights are a classic PanO unit. Good luck finding the sculpts though, the box has been OOP for a while and they haven’t gotten around to a resculpt yet.
Santiagos have been in MO since it's inception, they're some of the oldest Knight sculpts so it's nice to hear they're about to get a new one. Tian Gou are new with White Banner, no model yet. Both are orbital security forces and Santiagos are actually stationed on Circulars (including their appearance in Outrage).
I did figure they picked Tian Gou and Knight of Santiago so they could do a pack of each and count it for YJ or Pano, plus O12, and White Company all at once, but I guess they're only singles.
Sorry, I did mean more "are their figures currently in a box". :) Of course, it gives me something to use my knights for, since I've got a few along the way but haven't really done any PanO stuff.
Gotcha, looks like Santiagos are OOP now but they were ooooollllllddd! Any Knight is also extremely interchangeable with any other Knight.
Santiagos also don’t appear to be super crucial to the faction so far. Duo with a Bronze is not super exciting and the KHD doesn’t appear to be essential like it is in MO.
Slapping a tinbot on your HI beat stick that wants to be rolling around the midfield is incredibly useful, but that's about it.
I'm really liking what I see, tbh. It's a really hard-hitting sectorial with one key weakness in a lack of a strong long-range ARO. Kappas are going to be the only real Defensive Fireteam option for now, though we'll have to wait and see what the other unknown units bring to the table.
I'm also excited to play one of my favorite units, the Santiago Knight, in another sectorial :) Can't wait for the resculpt!
vague thoughts of tossing parvati and a bluecoat into a betatrooper squad and just... owning the midfield.
They do. But i think they are going to change quite significantly in skills and equipment in N4. I think they'll be holoprojector units much like Cho. Though they may keep the mimetism.
Assuming we keep the MSV1 Mimetism Marksman Rifle (maybe MULTI MMR?) that’s a solid gunner to throw into any link as a wildcard.
In the few games of Code 1 I played I always played the Psi Cops with Marksman Rifle, it can definitely kick butt. I am assuming it becomes a multi Marksman because of the whole 'Hi Tech' thing. It will definitely see play in my Starmada as a kappa link point man that does medium range ARO duty. Depending on how the Nyokas turn out it might see use in their link as well.
