I am not sure were in the fluff it says other PanOceania funding nation religions converted to Christianity, because I do not remember seeing it anywhere, if nothing else, even in Acontecimento a planet that in the fluff has been specifically settled from earth nations that have strong Christian roots there is a well known regiment of Sikh. What does happen in the fluff is that The Neovatican Church has a strong presence that imposes itself over the other religions, via marketing, excessive politics and one could argue unfair competition, lets not forget MO (and the presence of all knight orders) are essentially Private Military Corporations "gifted" to PanOceanias military complex as exclusive contractors they do not need to pay for. I do not mind to see religious units of other religions appear in the future in PanOceania (especially another Sikh unit) but I am not sure if that matters on the subject discussed here.
If this is at me: all I am saying is if Pan O has multiple religion, then I feel it has an image problem right now as it seems very much one way. If it does not then it is fine and disregard me.
Acon and MO are both heavily spanish-Catholic tradition but Acon does have its Sikh warriors, NCA features representation from the Church and from secular interests, Varuna features references to one or two smaller faiths from Oceania but its Knight representation in the Montessa actually breaks established lore (that Order was invented by the Cardinal of Acon to give the locals an order of their own). MO and its Knights get heavily pushed because they sell well. I think Islam isn't referenced outside Haqq more to prevent confusion than anything else.
This is still a two-Order solution to a one-Order problem for any faction that has Smoke. And I've used the TAG trick on my Nomads, with a Szalamandra- except this was to cover the Szally's own Pilot, who is a solid Specialist in its own right. I'd argue any faction that requires you to be better at the game to get identical results is undertuned- we have solutions to many problems, but our unit design doesn't actually help with them much compared to other factions. Our Plan A shooting really isn't good enough to excuse that extra difficulty given the depth available to the likes of ALEPH and CA, who have unquestionably equal or even better gunners.
I think a hypothetical SAA update that focuses in on Central/East Asian iconography could have the potential to be really really interesting in part because of that part of PanO not being explored a ton. Give us Ghurka Skirmishers, Urumi Close Assault Specialists, and idk, some crazy light TAG or bike HI based off South East Asian war elephants. Also if CB could make Akalis actually good in the process that'd be sweet as well.
Out of curiosity - since I don't play PanO - what's wrong with Akalis? They look like very reasonable Combat Jumpers, comparable to units like Hassassin Ragiks or Hellcats...
Personally, I think the opportunity cost on parachutist/CJers is very high due to having to leave an order off the table until the unit arrives. As a result, I think you really want your parachutist/CJers to have as much impact and play making potential as possible. Ragiks get pseudo 2Ws thanks to dogged+shock immunity, Hellcats get reliable CJs, esp if you take them with an EVO (I still don't see them that much). Rasyats get parachutist (dz), eclipse grenades, and good CC stats to make fetch happen. You aren't really overpaying for anything on an Akal, but you are leaving an order off the table on the hope that a 1W base BS13 combi (hacker)/spitfire can make a strong play. I just don't think they will do that often enough to justify their opportunity cost. Also they are just kinda bland as well - more or less being just Crusader Brethren without the bloat (although maybe Crusaders are just bloated Akalis? Bit of a glass half empty question there lol).
Islam outside of Haqq is really only mentioned with NA2. For instance, Druze are Muslim of some type. I am actually not talking about Islam in Pan O which makes wonder why people are acting like I am. Checked the RPG book for Pan O and it appears that people of the Hindu faith are not uncommon. My general understanding is Pan O comes from a power block of Oceanic countries so places like Australia, Philippine and so on as well as India. SWF being Finn/Scandinavia is somewhat odd but I feel that is more to go with the name of the planet, also bias hear I love the names. You can simplify this complaint into: I want more O in my Pan O and less C. O for Oceanic and C for Catholic.
that is not correct, the Druze have their own faith, and have been persecuted in several Muslim countries.
Ok I see now, they have some ideas/beliefs from but are not part of the Islamic faith. For instance they do not fallow the 5 pillars of Islam. Sorry if I offended anyone.
Mostly just incredibly bland loadouts. They lost an E/Mitter+Combi profile with the edition change, their best weapon is a Spitfire, and they don't have any decently affordable or unhackable Specialist options. They are genuinely solid AD troops, but can't reliably score or handle any of your gear checks, so in PanO's rather cutthroat and top-heavy roster they tend to get cut for things that can actually win the game in this edition.
Question: If Akalis became less boring and could use their E/M weapons (sorta like Airborne Rangers), would you use them? They would have to be priced higher. Also maybe an FO profile?
There's also an islamic minority group in Yu Jing, Adil Mehmut comes from it. They are said to be valued as intermediaries between YJ and Haqq. I don't remember the details, but they might be related to RL Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group living in Xinjiang province of China (historical Chinese Turkestan) and, indeed, premdominately Sunni Muslim.
Yes, that is Adil’s background, and in fact there are ethnic Uyghur Invincible regiments, which is where the Dahshat Company recruits from. And Indonesia didn’t convert to Christianity when it became part of PanO, nor did India. It’s more that, like it or not, the NeoVatican is what CB and interrupter wanted to run with as a major part of PanO, to the neglect of other fluff elements. Of course, seeing where they started from, it’s a fairly reasonable decision, regardless of what we as fans might prefer.
They'd prob be worth a try, depending on the cost. E/M CCWs are really good, but 1W is a tad rough for a CC unit. Def better than they are now tho imo.
I think Akali need to be 100% utilitarian (e.g. lose the E/M CC weapon and get a slight points reduction), gain a little boost so that they can use their E/M CC weapon (e.g. gain Singh's profile), or gain a secondary weapon that gives them a little more utility (e.g. Grenades, E/M grenades, E/Marat, etc.). I still occasionally take them because I love airborne, but they're very bland; you're ultimately just taking a BS 13 combi that let's you deploy behind people 55% of the time. While we're at it, Crusaders could do to gain Dogged.
A few things, I am not sure how many religious groups in the level of MO and Akalis exist in PanOceania, would I love to see a Gurkhas inspired regiment? sure, would they be a religious type regiment? I am not sure, in the same way, I guess many units in PanOceania have a Polynesian theme, but are missed by the community like the Croc men. On the same note, I would rather Akalis not miss their E/M CCW as it is one of their articles of faith, the Kirpan.
