Your talking about 50%. The Kriza doesn't even reach 36%. You want the Intruder HMG? In Vanilla Nomads: 51% and in Corregidor again 51%. So ... Intruder HMG must be completely OP? But the pickrate of the Kamau MSR in Varuna is another level. 85%. This means only 1 out of every 7 Varuna Lists doesn't field a Kamau MSR. Thats more often than Jaguars are taken in Corregidor. And more often than Mutts are taken in Vanilla Haqq. And Mutts are considered broken themselves. It is what I would call an auto-include. None of these units are filler. Not the Kriza, not the Intruder and not the Kamau with his bowling pals. But only one of these is nearly taken every game in it's home sectorial because it's broken af.
Sombras took my interest tbh. I don't play Corregidor (But I can bet it could change after I sesee the new box design of CJC), but I did felt they relied overly to Intruders and seldom Bandits to make their way for button pushers. A long-ranged, C+ Camo MI with its freedom from hacking could pose some serious threat to midfields and seldomly to DZ, and if their line is backed up with some Morans there would be a real troublesome thing to deal with. Needless to say I can swing him rougher than Zhencha and able to assume it will survive for further turns since they are not one-shotted by a SMG :p Aside from it, I think Sombra opened up the characteristic of Nomadian MI; pinnacle of tech shoveled into one MI profile, and well yes the profles do look flexible and cool.
FYI Kamau is getting at least a minor nerf by Multi Snipers going down to B1 for DA Ammo (making him less deadly on Active) and changing how Stun works (making him less potent vs heavy targets/TAGs). Don't think that's quite enough, but Varuna itself is going to change a lot. 3 Helots are gonna hard to fit, same for ZC Jammers, which was what Varuna's defense around the Kamau was built on. And ofc N4 itself is largely still a big questionmark. Achilles doesn't have anywhere close to 50%... hence the "doesn't scratch 50" as figure of speech. Intruder having 51% and not being OP is precisely the point. Pick rate doesn't equal being OP. Especailly if you dump every beginner and casual player in a pool with the min maxers (like me) the way the stats you are looking at are as useful to determine which core pieces are *the best* as trying to read a coffe grounds or checking your horoscope for the best list for the day.
I would actually argue (Vanilla) Nomads are that strong. I've played against a Vanilla list ran by one of Australia's better players, scary stuff, nearly every piece he brought could threaten or delay something three times its price and his attack options were so mobile I could count on one hand the number of times I actually got cover. Thing is, the type of system mastery that made the list play so well is hard to acquire. Most Nomad players simply aren't that good, and will come off worse against more straightforward number crunchers like PanO, ALEPH or Shas. That's going to tip the scales on a simple ITS win/loss comparison easily in favour of the noob-friendly option. Tunguska is another issue, and frankly having a shooter on the Swiss Guard's level isn't enough. They seem to have problems making a rounded list thanks to the cost of everything. Hopefully N4 helps with that.
Yeah - CB's pick rate stats are as good an indicator as Online Campaigns numbers. That ain't a compliment. Kriza is in Beyond Icestorm set, which also has Hellcat and an Intruder - top Nomad stuff to buy into. Kriza is in Tunguska Starter, being an obvious choice for Tunguska players Kriza is memed into being the Nomad top godlike ATK platform. Kriza HMG is much easier to use and more straightforward than Intruder HMG, or Hellcats, or any other ATK piece in Nomads. It's "Panoceania" level of easy. Still it barely scratches the percentage it does, being a self-reliable, single model potent ATK platform. I doubt Kriza is seriously OP in any way. +1B - cool, but if HMG Taskmaster had Koalas, Pulzar and TinBot I would have picked it over Kriza.
When I tried to answer this it was very hard to narrow it down. Mostly I hope Corregidor has the same self reliant, laconic, gives zero f*cks, get it done, no frills, effective, latino-afro multi ethnic vibe. I really dig that. I hope Bakunin has at least 2 ways to play that are cost effective and strong for different things (rather than just mainly Riot Grrl link based lists being very strong, though I hope they stay good). And similar for Tunguska, that they keep their 'professional killer' anime vibe overall (boo to cheerkillers) and have more ways lists fit together for an effective whole. If there was any unit I was most hype for (but also most afraid they will not stay amazing) it would probably be Uberfallkomando, followed closely by about 80% of everything else in Nomads lol
In general I hope CB manages to not only nail the overall balance but also the internal one. For Corregidor including the three completely new troops we now have 31 entries. I hope somewhat iconic troops like the MB, Intruders, the Jags and the Geckos still have a place right next to the new shiny toys. Make Jaguars linkable without the Senor. Apart from that Hachiman said it best: In Bakunin the internal balance is just as crucial for me. Make Observance fireteams a viable choice, give the Prowler the respect he deserves and keep the sectorial as colorful and crazy as it is. Not Bakunin exclusive but definitely relevant - I'd love if they make MetaChem tables a little less random with all high impact choice.
BJC probably has the worst internal balance out of the 3, anything that isn't RG core + Morlocks is questionable at best, and even when you are running a RG team, StarCo. does it better due to linkable Avicenna.
I'd mildly disagree on the detail of both those points. RG Harris + Moar Morlocks is also very strong; and the Avi in the link vs Avi out of the link + Morlocks and Zeroes is meta/taste/playstyle dependent. But that doesn't change the overall argument: BJC needs some serious love to get the internal balance back into whack. Perhaps the most important profiles to understand that will be the RGs: there's the potential for RGs to be even better in N4 based on the rules we've seen, while I kinda want that... I mostly don't because it'll turn the faction even more into the "Grrls + Furry Fun Times" it is now. The other unit that will be a bell-weather for the performance of the faction is the Custodier. There are few units - to me - more emblematic of what BJC could be but isn't than Custodiers. N4 Hacking rules are a good start; lack of NFB between White Noise / Surprise Shot (-3) and Mimmetism(-6) is an easy next step (and something I simply expect will be the case, assuming White Noise and Cybermask stay as programs). More generally - if it stays - I'd like to simply make Cybermask a deployment skill. The utility of N4 Hacking means that having your Hackers choose not to ARO to maintain their Marker state is a significant penalty while immediately allowing Nomad Hacker LT profiles to be less of a risk. This would also minimise the insane order inefficiency of Cybermask. Re: Kriza. It's fine. I'd have just preferred our faction features to have been emphasised more. There was a myriad of ways that could have been achieved in N3, they just weren't. I think they'll be less popular in N4 as other options that better leverage the internal synergies improve... hopefully. Re: Wildcats. I'm coming around to them more. A lot of their viability will depend on how Terrain rules are implemented in N4 and how common terrain is. The +1" Move, ignoring Low Vis penalties and DTWs has the potential to make them top tier Difficult Terrain fighters. Whether that's useful or not depends on rules that aren't on their profile. But on a table that heavily features terrain, I can definitely see myself running an aggressive Haris with a Tomcat to stand them back up again when they fall over (provided that 1W troopers don't continue to get cruelled by Shock). Less "backbone of the CJC military" that I saw them as and more "problem solvers you through into terrestrial combat when you absolutely need to burn a problem out of existence".
Yeah I've pretty much come to the same spot on them, as you've seen in the correg thread. MSV1 makes sense on them in this niche as well. Still comes down to link options to how often they get used, but even without any mix or wildcards (which would hurt going thru terrain anyways) their Haris with NCO will see use for me. The HRL also gets cheap enough to use if there is a mixed link. A decent balance of power to cost for a WB counter in annihilation style mission. I don't want to spend a lot on ARO in those because they give points.
you are confusing a strong army with a strong player. I know a few players that can win easily using any army. That's because those players are way better than their rivals, and that's the reason looking at the few top players is a biased move. Is as if I valorated an army badly because it is run by the worst player I know, which looses almost allways. And please, don't compare KB with SG, having hidden deploy (the enemy doesn't know where he is until is too late), access to both good offensive or aro weaponry deppending on the role you want, better BS, better malus and stealth if needed to scape hacking is way better for those 14 points (way better than paying 10 points for a 360 visor at least) on the pickrates, there is context to look out. Some units are highly picked because they are the only one fulfilling a role in the army. If a role is needed, and no other unit can do it, chances are that unit is picked more. The shotty options for TJC are filled to different degree by different units... kriza, HM, szally, even tsyklons. The fact that KB is not so used, just exposes that it is not so powerful, not so deffining in that role. On the other side, intruder was the only MSV2 in all nomads, no other unit can do what he can. That creates a place for him, and the player has to choose not only if use him as the shotty dude, but also to have access or not to that niche. That's why its pickrate is higher than KB while it is far from broken too. Kamau MSR has the same situation, is the only MSV2 in its sectorial, but the pickrate is higher than any other nomad unit, and their winrate is also higher so there has to be something else. At times like this is when "broken" comes to mind. Totally agree. On vainilla, TM perks (MA, Stealth and koalas) make him more solid and rounded than KB, Having HMG KB competing with RF TM should be an indicator of that. Add zeros and piwell to the good points. Moderators are not so bad, but pay SWC tax. More than bad internal balance, the problem is the non-revision in n3. Paying N2 SWC and base point costs is very taxing, specially on cheap dudes like moderators, or in religious troopers. Almost all of them had been neglected all n3...of course they will have issues!. A curious note: only zeros, zoe+piwell and RG were a little checked in n3, that could ring a bell what happened here. Well, Bran and Kusanagi also got specialist option, but Kusanagi didn't get the religious troop discount anyway.
BJC did get a small revision in N3 Human Sphere (that's where they gained Haris for Reverends, Kusanagi Specialist operative etc) but they didn't get the further 'mixed fireteam update' that most factions got subsequently. Even CJC got that. I hope BJC get at least a little attention to add such things in the N4 transition.
Each of the ships has dud units - Grenzers for Tunguska, Wildcats for Corregidor Prior to Corregidor rework Bakunin was unquestionably the best Nomad sectorial and just being able to field a competent HI core for zone control missions/Armory is worth a lot. And sure Riot Grrls core in StarCo is better in the vacuum but the support for that train is still better in BJC due to Morlocks and Zeroes (also no LT tax)
After the Wildcat "buff" I'm not going to hope for anything. However I wonder how people would react if Kriza got nerfed to Full Auto 1 (Burst +1?).
that will deppend on its final cost, but why should he get a nerf anyway? Is not as if TJC were overperforming
Maybe a Burst bonus will be Fireteam compatible. A Burst 6 Haris would be very dangerous, even considering the cost. Personally I'd like to see a minor Kriza nerf in direct offensive power combined with some more potent Suppressive Fire synergy, alongside general improvements to affordability of other non-Hollow Tunguskan units. 2-3pt savings across the board allowing for a more traditional and versatile Nomad approach as well as a more viable Szalamandra would easily make up for a loss in Kriza HMG hammer capability.
I don't see a reason to nerf Kriza it's not broken by any means. HMG profile is fine the others actually need some tweaking.
if there were enough buffs to compensate, I would ending accepting it... but then there will be complaints about all those buffs even if TJC doesn't get to top tier sectorial.... exactly what has happened during N3 (and as you can see, is still happening). KB MK12/MR need a check on, not a nerf. Seems that MR will become more usefull and cheaper, so maybe that will be all for it, but an x-visor or a trade to an aro weapon could be nice too. The MK12 instead needs a check on the 360 visor costs. It cannot be more expensive than those 4-points MSV2 that are out there, it makes no sense at all. The extra point in the Lt is ok, has a meaning, but10?
360 visors across the board need a review, it's not unique to the Kriza. If that happens then I'd expect the Mk 12 Kriza to again be a decent option. I'm curious how they'll make the "BS Attack (-3)" interact with Suppression. It required a specific exception in N3 to remove FA2 stacking with Suppression, and with the way MODs stack in N4 would again require a specific exception. I hope that "BS Attack(-3)" will again stack with Suppression Fire's "BS Attack(-3)" and it will just be appropriately costed (ie. ~ the same cost as Mimetism, just with different limitations). With N4 Crits, Cover and ARM pricing changes, Szaly's got a major boost. Gizmo-kits as well (BS13 Engineers...), and that's before we see if there are any Manned TAG changes (please no Engineers killing TAGs...). I think there's a strength to allowing Kriza to be a strong Duo pointman in TJC rather than having it be a stronger haris (I actually think this role is the one Nomad S5 HI and Geckos can shine in, and I'd like to see expanded).
