The folks who pay their bills through the game do, so… and considering they’re the only ones with all the needed information to make that decision…
By your own posts that Story rules all, Aleph cuts off corrupted characters. So they will not be in Aleph as well as CA. Of course that doesn't mean Aleph might not get something new. Agreed. It's a lot like Uprising but to be honest it's not as bad. It's not like all of SP left and went over to the CA. Even I thought of quitting after the JSA split. I had a bunch of figures I couldn't use and could not afford to get the rest to make a whole new faction. I started Infinity because of the crap GW did to me by destroying just about all I had at that time and then CB did it to me again! I mainly stuck with Infinity because there was nothing else for a long time. Now they better be careful because there's much more completion to go to now. CB seems to not care at all about how players feel. It's taken YEARS for Yu Jing to recover (it can be said they still haven't). They split JSA off (2018) and soon after instead of giving a new sectoral to YJ or even an update to what was left, Corregidor got a huge update and lots of new figures (2019). Finally White Banner came out, and they sucked! It wasn't until N4 (2020) they became good and then got better when they updated fireteams. I've since moved on to other forces, including Aleph. I just painted Achilles too! I guess now I'll he's going to collect dust. But it makes me feel like I totally wasted my money and time, again! I guess I'm lucky I didn't have the rest.
As others, including the moderator, have pointed out, it’s completely understandable to feel frustrated about the removal of many SP characters, especially Achilles, who was considered the flagship unit of the sectorial. Everyone in this forum should feel they have the right to express their opinions and disagreements. However, it’s frustrating to see that certain users, often the same ones, mock or dismiss anyone who criticizes CB’s decisions or the way the lore is handled. This kind of behavior comes across as both immature and fanboy like, something that (maybe) the moderator should address sometime. After all this forum I think should be a place where players can discuss!
Oh, it's more than speculation. People keep claiming stuff they don't know. "All these characters are removed from Aleph" "Aleph will disappear and merge with O-12" "Hatamoto is way too cheap and broken", blah, blah, blah... Don't you think it makes sense that CB precisely chose one of the most recognisable faces of not just the faction, but the entire game line? Who would have care if "Nesaie Alke" had betrayed the Human Sphere to join CA? No one. The only good news YET. And we don't know if the characters are lost to Aleph YET. And even if they are, you don't know if some form of compensation will occur in N5.
I'm partial to the idea of Odysseus making a comeback. This is the kind of argument I can understand. We all have our favourite toys and it's unpleasant when we lose any of them. It's perfectly understandable to be upset by changes and vocal about it. Of course people will complain, and they shouldn't be castigated for it. And since no new units, mechanics, fluff, proper balance will make up for it - there's nothing left to argue over. Omen, you'll just have to wait and see if playing Phalanx in N5 will be enjoyable for you.
Personally I understand how some people feel, I come from other games that did some similar things and worse than this completely retconing the faction feel and focus, but i have to say that as long as the Steel Phalanx keeps its soul and the past and story of Achilles is not retcon I'm ok with it, I see this as Arthas grabbing Frostmourne, if the world evolves and advances in an interesting way I will take it, but I want something for Steel Phalanx to keep its soul, something cool that can compete with Achilles big shadow, like Heracles or something of the like
Funnily enough, me as Aleph player through and through couldn't care less we lost Achilles and co. XD But I do agree they handled it very badly. They should've lead with a video or post of that whole story and also about what Steel Phalanx gets in exchange.
For mE it affects my vahnilla Aleph. Used to use pat and diomedeis ,,lost them started using achillies looks like he is going to another faction and they dragged pat outa the grave to boot. I’m bitter and worried I won’t find somthing that keeps me playing… I sure as. Shit don’t wanna drop a tone More money on another faction just to get kicked in the dick next edition. I’ll reserve my full review once I see the list options and rules…
They are teasing, and look at well it works. Everyone talks about it. Mission accomplished. And the whole story will come, of course. But some prefer to start ranting and complaining the second they hear something, rather than just waiting for the full thing to come out... How many more enraged messages before it comes to that? Come on dude, I get it, you're afraid your faction gets f*cked, that's normal. But you're just having a bad time right know imaging all the worse. Just wait for it, maybe you'll end up having a good surprise. Maybe theses profiles will still be available in Aleph somehow. Maybe they'll be replaced with something new and nice. Maybe the faction will get some other type of boost to compensate. We just don't know.
That would be one post too many, please refrain from posting until you have cooled down a bit and can engage in a civil conversation.
Nil desperandum. Plus, remember - there's always the "ignore user" option. My list has a few entries (and I'm seriously considering adding a few more). My time, energy and enthusiasm are precious commodities available in limited supply - and some folks under this sun aren't worth wasting these on them. I guess you might be facing a similar problem, hmm? As for the N4 to N5 transition - I'd suggest a big mug of tea, and even bigger of patience (if it can come in a liquid form). CB's manner of communiciation could've been better, but we have what we have. And I believe getting one's nerves wrecked by fragmentary data is... not a good idea.
Lets put some perspective in the discussion. First of all and I am not sure why I need to say that again, please respect that some people may feel the loss of a particular unit, on the same matter though, emotional overreaction are not conductive to any conversation. I must say the path that lead to this was really well established in Endsong, and we all should have seen it for what it was. Now on a historical evaluation, while I can understand Yu Jing players felt that the removal of JSA from their faction was a blow to the faction, reality is and we all know it there were Yu Jing players and a separate section of JSA players, yes, there were "Vanilla" players that where using a unit here and there but the separation is an improvement to both factions, as Yu Jing could be developed without the baggage of JSA in generic lists and JSA could be developed independently and not eat up Yu Jing release slots. How it was handled is open to everyone's interpretation, for me it was the best way done without leaving either faction so devastated in the fluff that would be irrelevant in the narrative of the Human Sphere, but people are free to disagree.
Adding to the above, if one specifically does not regard JSA separation as loosing units, then, up to and until Aleph/ Steel phalanx looses the four characters the faction that has lost the most units and key models from units (again not counting HMG to Spitfire changes), is unironically PanOceania and specifically Military orders.
As long as you can remain civil. Frankly I am not sure I see the trolling you insist is been done to you, the replies are more or less "ok I understand you are upset but, calm down and wait for what the future may bring".
Regarding vanilla armies, from what we've seen in CA teaser they'll be impacted by units becoming sectorial-exclusive to a much greater extent than by any singular unit moving armies, getting reworked, or becoming removed altogether. The playing field will look considerably different, and I'm actually looking forward to it, after sitting out almost entire N4. Another thing I'm really interested to see is how this will influence the internal balance of various armies. I dislike it when some units are autoincludes, while other are outclassed by competition from the same armies in almost every scenario. I'm curious what will get cut from vanilla Aleph to become sectorial only.
I am sorry if it came off as trolling. We were trying to provide some perspective. Some of us here have been through multiple edition changes, so we have seen the ups and downs. For instance in the transition from N3 to N4, @Errhile lost his beautiful Kasym Beg. He is still hopefully awaiting his return as the fluff is ambiguous and his body disappeared. For me, N4 changed Vanilla Haqqislam as the 15 model limit impacted our ability to leverage our wonderful Irregular models. It has been a learning experience. And since I use certain rarely used profiles in my N4 lists, I have no doubt that some of my Vanilla Haqqislam models will be lost and my lists will have to change again in N5. But I strongly believe that N4 is much better than N3. Like N3 was clearer than N2. Looking at the small morsels that have been provided for N5, I expect CB to continue the trend.
Theoretically with units decoupled from Generic list, it creates a free space that can provide sufficient ground for improvement and change within their respective sectorials.
And from N2 to N3, Azra'il. While the unit technically stayed, it switched from S2 (of which I had 5, inc. some converted to cover unreleased sculpt) to the fat S5 HI they are now, making my models unplayable. In time, I have improvised, adapted and overcame it, making them into Riot Grrls for my StarCo force. ...even bought one more from a bargain bin to convert into RiotGrrl ML (as old Azra'il had nothing the like).
