So, if you add +1 ARM to a Spec ops it costs 5 XP. If you add another two (the next increment) it costs another 5 XP. +3 ARM = 10 XP. OK... but! +3 BTS is 2 XP +6 BTS is 5 XP +9 BTS is 10 XP ...and here's the kicker: Bioimmunity costs 2 XP. Why would anyone ever put points into ARM when +BTS+BioImmunity is so much cheaper (and better)? Oversight? The title reflects CA because those are the only ones I've looked at, but this problem probably appears in any army where Bioimmunity is a choice.
Even better, make a Spec Ops out of somebody who already has a BTS score and Bioimmunity, like the Muyib. 10xp and you're BTS12!
This is, indeed, rather disgusting. The only consolation is that its rangebands kind of suck once the PFs are done, but put that thing in cover and its pretty much immune to anything that doesn't have AP+BTS affinity.
I think it’s because they’re using the old values for skill cost back in N3, where Biommunity basically only negated Shock and Viral ammo. But with its new (confusing and unintuitive) rules, being able to make an ARM/BTS 12 unit that ignores AP weapons that aren’t Breaker or E/M is really stupid (and it ignores K1 and Monofilament too!) The Muyib can also stop at BTS9 and then go pick up Total Immunity. FUN.
A few of the skills need a little shuffle of points. Though another big problem is units like the Muyib and Deva that never should have been options for spec ops in the first place.
The way the game has matured (or get stuck in, whatever you prefer), there's a bunch of factions that can't have spec ops that fit the range between a Keisotsu to a Nyx. Most if not all factions do have something that's close to a Muyib or Deva, though. Like Kamau for Varuna, Haidao for Invincibles, Zouaves for MRRF, Grenzer for Tunguska, and so on. Something with only a few special gear and in the 20-30 range that could stand to benefit from perhaps a more limited set of upgrades, instead of 20 guns and 20 abilities/equipment, maybe 10 of each and only 1 upgrade step for stats. Maybe a shift towards those would be more appropriate in the future. Or maybe they design a specific spec ops instead of taking an archetype to smooth the power level; e.g. Pan-O has a Special Hexahedron Agent for all their sectorials and that Agent is similar to the Extraterrestial Relations Liaison from Nomads (or whatever, the names are sub-par I know)
Imagine making people with MSV2 built into their eyes who keep standing up with half of their organs blown up with a 12.7 hollow point equivalent, and now jamming an entire Jotum worth of toughness into a person and still getting away with "But Nomad Black Labs and cat-eared folk they've made!".
ODD+Feuerbach combos were a good enough reason to avoid it back in N3, Marksmanship and "build-your-own-Jotum" even more so
Yes, sure... Because a single model armed with only basic weaponry is gamebreaking... E/M, Breaker, PARA are the immediate answer to this.
Not sure I'd call a unit that comes with a panzerfaust "basic weaponry" and I think the "immunity" in the Haqq skills list is meant to be Immunity (Total) so a Muyib can be made into a convincing mini-TAG with BTS 9 and Total Immunity or a BTS 12 with BS 14 if you don't need a super-specialist. Biggest issue is still how unevenly the rule applies across factions.
spec ops were a great idea at the beggining. Now, they are not evenlty dessigned across factions, and this is just one more nail on it
