Not my area of expertise, as typically I use the Avatar or no TAG at all, but trying to chime in on all of these. I do own an Iguana and haven't used it for years - early 3rd edition at the latest. I remember the biggest issue was it feeling fragile as hell - 2W is much worse than 3W when its on a giant TAG chassis. So a simple fix would be to change the setup from 2 STR + 2 W to the full 3 STR. Its still pretty fragile due to being less ARM, but you actually get the chance to fix it before it pops. Otherwise, I've always liked it as a light electronic warfare TAG rather than a MBT. So could play up that angle by giving the pilot a repeater, or giving the TAG deployable repeaters or a pitcher or something similar. Surely not. The Gorgos' most defining feature has never been its third wound or its peripheral or its limited ammunition and 3rd ed basic spitfire loadout, or even its symbiomates/bombs. No, its been its inability to be repaired by anything. For it to go from that to the god of regenerating TAGs has got to be a mistake.
My only concern with bumping the wounds is that you then break the soft cap of 4 that it and the Gorgos share. Of course, the Iguana was the first model to break the 3 wound cap, so it's not like there's not precedent.
The other problem is that you end up with a 73pt TAG. And it's not like Iggy is in Salzy league league, even at 5 wounds. The only way +1W works is if Escape System makes it effectively free. So a 3STR/2W Iggy and 3 STR/1W Annie at pretty much their current prices. That's probably the simplest (but relatively boring) solution. Also I derped re: Gorgos. You can still only heal the Unc state. So it's still not great.
What about giving the Iguana an X-visor and AP HMG rather than a different gun entirely? Also—and I say this only because my secret dream of a canon Chameleon mimetic Nomad TAG is highly unlikely—would giving the Iguana Mim-3 add enough durability to counterbalance the squishy factor?
I like the X-Visor idea, would save CB from needing a resculpt so it's a fairly practical solution though it doesn't address the poorly-located +3 band for midfield work. Mimetism would easily and instantly make the Iguana work, just look at the Tikbalang which has been using a plain HMG this whole time with the same saving values. It's why you don't usually see people suggesting it here; it's way too easy as a way to just make things good and snaps internal balance in half when applied to gunfighting platforms above MI class. I'd hang onto your Chameleon dream though; CB seem to like TAGs as much of the rest of us and the Manned designs appear to be favourites with their baby-carrier arms. It's only a matter of time until they need another type of reptile, whether for Nomads or an NA2.
Looking at the Shakush and with a slightly slower MOV, larger silhouette, lower WIP and higher PH they're fairly close. Iguana is only 7 points more expensive with a pilot that is heavier but can't get out during game and it all looks fair until you notice the STR value. Just bump STR up to 3.
Restore the ejection system. Half the fun/utility of the Iguana was being able to launch the pilot 1/2 way across the board and change the dynamic of the round/game. The day they took that away (and buffed the hell out of Geckos) was the last day I'd ever play the Iguana.
That honestly wasn't enough and was janky as all hell. It was a pity it was removed but this is mechanically better.
I think its quite productive to split 'fixes' into two types. The minimum effort fix and the exciting fix. Usually the former is a points cut or, as someone else mentioned, just slap mimetism on something and its usually good (hmm, could it be that this rule is bullshit? Nah no way). Boring, but gets the job done. Wasn't it a random location or a 16" scatter or something? Picking a target and "combat jumping" to that location would be a cool effect and set the Iguana apart quite well.
It WAS literally pick a location and Combat Jump to it. If you failed you scattered. Hilarious when you have an Objective token that you need to bring back to your DZ. "Oh look, Iggy died. I Eject. Oh I failed and scatter... into your DZ... Looks like I'll deploy in my DZ then." There was loads of other jank.
AP HMG and 3 STR. How the heck is the Iguana around the corner of the Montesa Tikbalang in terms of pricing?
At least, Iggy HI keeps TA First I would like to see Iggy with a bit more ARM. If a crappy Anaconda can be ARM 7 now, why not Iggy? Right! Altnerativly immunity AP. Second I would like to see the Iggy HI with BS 13. So its Zhuyong level. A nice bonus would be to keep the -3 hacking and the repeater.
Could bust the operator down from 2w to 1w+NWI+SI to compensate, which is fitting as that seems to be how they model the lighter HI suits.
Yeah, thats not unreasonable. I still kinda prefer "just make excess STR not transfer to Ws" though. It is less powerful than "add an extra wound" but perhaps a little more interesting.
AP ammo and 3 STR. Make the Operators W 1 if you have to, or NWI. Either way, 3 STR would resolve a lot of the problems it has.
Making dissapear the extra wounds would be too much. People would try to move and ignore ridiculous aros knowing that it would survive. Giving it 3 STR and 1W+NWI+SI gives him more survivality as a TAG, maintaining more or less the same amount or total wounds, but the problem of being hard to repair remains, just a bit softened Bs13 on the operator could be nice too, but instead, I think it could be checked his movement and change it to 6-4 with superjump (he actually was trown, it would make sense for him to land nicelly with it and brings something different to corregidor) The weapons could be checked, but not sure what could be done.
I see being able to face tank ridiculous AROs and know that you can't die as a feature, not a bug. You trade lower resilience for the ability not to die in a single order.
Its Friday which allegedly is switching day. Figured I would take the opportunaty to propose something slightly unorthodox that I think cod do with fixing. Libertos freedom fighter: I know that the original thread premise was for underperforming units, which this is clearly not; at least not in terms of power. I do however think the current Libertos misses the mark in what a mercenary unit should be, i.e a slightly zany profile that occasionally fills a niche. The cube jager is a good example of a unit that feels different to most factions core offerings. The Libertos is ubiquitous and strays far too close to being an autotake in almost every faction that can field this fishy fellow, I thought the opportunity cost of fielding it in a 15 model cap might have been enough to rein it in in n4, judging by the number of lists im herring this turns up in that hasn't been the case. Clearly at 8 points its great at the porpoise of midboard control. So am I wrong? Do you feel that its fitting these things are everywhere or perhaps they aren't that common and i'm misreading their popularity, if so let minnow. Or should the Libertos receive a bit of bloat to stop that 8 points being such an annoyance for your anemones.