I dont understand why so many have to get sardonic after my suggestions. Like just think about it. Now that CB has lifted the ban on orders being confined to 1/model, has corrected the crit mechanic so ARM means more and now that CB has made troop types across the board faster. Every stat, skill and piece of equipment in a profile feels more balanced than before. Like, think about the logic real quick: Let's say you have a force of 75 points worth of troops you're looking at anywhere between 2 and 7 regular orders prrsenyly depending on the faction and units you're playing. All CB has to do is a little bit more math and figure out at what point does a single model's point cost and current kit warrant an additional order, or ARM point or something else that is universally useful OR contributed toward the theme of that unit. Moreover every player in the game has expressed at some point the displeasure of some unit that doesnt quite make sense, the kind of freedom CB is branching into, if followed to it's natural evolution, arrives at precisely what I'm discussing.
I personally do not think that some further variations in Morats Stats, with reworked Wargear and "Skill Talents" would be so weird. . . Morats are the ONLY Culture of the Combined Army Collective that are 100% devoted to wars, apart from the Ur Drones that are essentially "Paramilitary Adapted Tools" (you take a Cultivated Artificial Humanoid bred for Housecleaning or Industrial Work, give "It" a Plasma Carbine and adequated "Combat Programming" and obtain the Onyx Infantry "Bots"). . . Sygmaas and Shaasvastii fight because they have to (I believe their "Shard Of the E.I. Culture have lot's Civilian Careers); Umbras are more "Sociopath Gladiators" and "Nazi Schultzstaffen" rather than professional soldiers (they remind Me, as Military Doctrines go, of the GW Dark Eldars). . . But Morats are so devoted to War, that necessary Civilian Careers are "Prison Mandatory Duty" while being Field-Butlers and Attendants to High Officers is reserved to Honoured Veterans (much like Hatamotos of Daymyos and Shoguns of Old Japan). . . They are the "Leonidas' Spartans" of Infinity Universe. . . . . Some more leeway could be thought, about some splinter cultural group that could be "Rare Special Forces"; maybe different from "Mainstream Morats" as they hails from the same "Racial Minority" of Kornak Gazarot. . . . . . . Some of the potential Cultural Tropes of Morats, that I discussed beforehand, were not only about the Wargame Stuff and what is allowed, or not allowed, on the Miniature Tabletop. . . Actually "Infinitythegame" as Wargame is rather DEAD in My part of Italy (years that LGS do not support it) was more interested in what could be useful for the Roleplaying Game and all of its widespread variations. . .
At present Morat society is being fed conflict in exchange of the EI having their collective brains mine the bitcoin of eternal happiness in the background. Red murdermonkeys will get fed of this status quo and conclude that ultimate darwinism is to be achieved by fighting tooth and claw against the biggest force in the known universe: the Combined Army. The turn coating won't be homogenous, and that would be just fine. Conflict weeds out the weak and forges the ultimate society in the fires of Mars. So, once the schism occurs, morat mercenaries and pirates will be seen in much bigger numbers across the Sphere. One such factions that will make contact with them are the Japanese, and lo, they would've found kindred spirits. Morat society preaches a sense of honor and greatness through deeds of martial prowess that would go hand in hand with the blazing spirit of Yamato... and because bushido is one hell of a drug. Therefore... JSA+Morat NDA army coming 2023. Samurai monkeys. You laugh now while you can, I just have to sit here and wait. Time will prove me right.
I hate that I like this so much. I believe the NA2 forces are a perfect place for CB to get creative. I like that Druze and JSA are their own thing but then they meld into Ikari. I like that the Anaconda, Brawlers, Ninjas/Kunai, Saito and Yojimbo are mercenaries across the board. I would like to see a splinter faction of Morats in NA2 with 1-2 other EI units. And 2 other mishmash factions. One where it's mostly if not all, JSA and Morat troops. Then another Morat mashup with one of the other factions, possibly Ariadna? Only cause they would see all the Dog troops and the people who openly accept them as kindred spirits of the wild. Hell, I imagine the NA2 faction could do this across the board over time.
And that is an excellent method for getting fans to make purchases of another Faction, down the rabbit hole! (Yep, I'm guilty! ) Like Sigeric's prognostication!
I wonder what would come out of Free Morats joining with some rebel Tohaa instead and what could a Symbiont Armor do for a Morat seeing what they already do for the lean and thin artichokes. Could be pretty beastly :D
Based on some of the vulkan shotgun / symbiont armor / flame vulnerability fluff, I get the impression that there's a lot of bad blood between the Tohaa and Morats.
I thought I recalled a bit about the profile updates that the Suryats got in Campaign: Paradiso tying in to the fact that Morats have been fighting Tohaa as part of the ongoing EI / Tohaa war. Can't look it up right up at this moment.
Yeah, the suryats in particular were heavily used against tohaa which is half the reason they have so much fire weaponry. The other half being they´re jungle troops. However, that means shit. The enemy of my enemy and all that. If they want to come up with a Tohaa+morat merc faction they will come up with one. Although I find that unlikely, I can't say I wouldn't enjoy the idea of a mixed aliens merc force.
The implication has always been that MAF was the primary ground force used against Tohaa and there's a LONG history of violence and animosity between the two races.
IMO only makes for a more interesting "enemy of my enemy is my begrudging frenemy" scenario where Morats who rebelled against the EI/CA work with Tohaa who rebelled against the Triumvirate.
While that is interesting, personally I can't imagine Morats actually wanting work with anyone. What I'd rather see is a Morat force that fills all the gaps in MAF left by the absence of CA support with actual Morats and Morat technology. Morat Remotes, Morat Doctors, Morat warbeasts, etc. After all, Morats were an intergalactic presence and multi-system conquering society before they ever met the EI. And they fought the Ei to a standstill (and are the only ones to do so, as far as we know). They had to have a fully developed military of their own, with a full slate of tools and resources. They also seem t be about as technologically developed as the Human Sphere. Its been suggested that one of the reasons we don't see more female Morats (which are presumably half the population) is because they usually occupy other combat and military positions not well represented in infinity and filled by other CA races in the current recon force. Like intelligence officers, ground vehicle pilots, artillery operator, naval officer, fighter pilot, etc. Establishing a full Morat army would allow CB to explore new strengths and weaknesses and introduce new options. A Morat light tank? A heavier/lighter TAG? Actual camo? A set of asymmetrical Morat drones with completely different functionality than standard CA drones? Morat intelligence officers? What we've seen of Morats so far is so limited because the EI has pushed them into a specific role. But left on their own they can be so much more. And this could help differentiate a new Morat army from CA loyalist MAF (and prevent a Yujing/JSA style split) It would also be interesting to see a Morat army without Daturazi. I mean, I LOVE Dats, but its hard to imagine they'd leave the EI. So we could see what could fill that gap instead. Giving Vanguard Smoke Grenades would be a very good start and suddenly make that unit useful for the first time.
That's a good point. I always envisioned the natural fighting style of Morats was just a high CC stat with Berserk and some possessing a natural talent for dismissing fancy shit from other races in by having NBW. Datz in form and function scream epitomal Morat to me, and I wish CB had retconned them a little. Giving them Berserk was beautiful. A few others I would have made similar changes but that just my vision.
Right now Datz are top contender for best warband in the game. They were never bad, but N4 made them just deliciously good. I know they're the most fanatical followers of the EI ever, but if there was an NA2 Morat Secessionist Army I'd like to keep them if only because they're that goddamn nice to field. Realistically, though, units like Daturazi and Rodoks should never be in an army like this, since they're the ones more closely aligned with the EI itself and less with the Supremacy. On the other hand, it would give us the chance to see some weaker, more brutal warbands in their place.. Krakots for example could be pumped into actual warband status and be given smoke, if only an NA2 exclusive profile so we don`t have every vanilla faction with access to a 14 point smoke throwing missile.
