Nobody talking here my friends? In my humble opinion Tohaa with N5 have suffered many nerfs that they didn't deserve, and few, if any, interesting additions. I'd be curious to hear other opinions.
I still have to play, and haven't done a complete read of the rules, but on general I like the new ruleset. That being said, yes, I agree that Tohaa has suffered many nerfs (some of them indirect, like the Kerail throwing smoke grenades at 11's or 10's). For example, as Tohaa relied a lot on Fireteams, and the new Fireteam rules doesn't allow Impetuous or Frenzy troops to "cheat" the system when it comes to cover. This hurts Neema, the Sakiel and the Makaul (that got even slightly more expensive). A more relevant nerf when it comes to the new Freteam rules: now we don't get B2 everywhere on ARO, one of Tohaa's main defensive capability. With HIs now becoming cheaper, we'll suffer. The Taqeul, that never got a miniature, lost the Spitfire profiles and gained the Disposable trait on its Endgame PT, while gaining nothing in return and still been an expensive profile. The Gao-Tarsos, meanwhile, lost the Combi profile that did have a miniature and we are forced to choose between cheap but template-less shotgun or expensive (CAP-wise) Spitfire. The Kamael are in a bad position right now, as they kept the price but got hit by the Fireteams rules, and I think thet the only reason I might use them in N5 is when I need to "downgrade" another trooper in a Triad if I need the points to keep the list under 300. At least the Gorgos (that got an HMG and can potentially be healed once using a Speedball) and the Longarms feel "usable" now (still suboptimal, but better than before), and the Sniper Taagma is a relevant buff, as it's the fact that basic Kawaii Sentinels now have the Minelayer rule for one point less (to compensate for changes in Sixth Sense rules, I guess). Aelis Triangulated Fire is now really powerful, and the Kosuil's cheap Engineer profile will probably see more use thanks to the new Deactivator rules. Many small changes here and there, I could keep all day (well, night currently) checking the Army app and writing down impressions.
Tohaa are still in the game. Somehow. Some armies could not do that. But of course I see my new profiles not so interesting. For now I have only last two combat force repacks. There are some hopes in the future about words, that in a new book tohaa would take an important place (with haqq and aleph). Or get essential box with some old miniatures. I would be happy even this way. But of course better not to trust CB that easily and have too big hopes.
Put down my pano and got a game in with tohaa the other night. They work fine tbh. Stuff that needed nerfing got nerfed (taq was way too good at everything to stay as it was, it existing in n4 ruled several other minis out of contention in list building). General changes tweaked things like makauls, they're better gunners with contenders but can't douse as much area with smoke. Kriigels have become fantastic thanks to +1sd in triads and mirrorball. Clipsos got better, kerails benefited from super jump changes, gao tarsos got a lot better with the jet propulsion stuff too. Hell even the cube Jaeger got better as it lost its swc cost. Remember guys, new edition; new mindset. Get back into list building and dust off minis that haven't seen table time in years. New game, new meta. Fun times!!
I feel Tohaa did very, very well this edition. Gorgos is light TAG price for a heavy TAG that dodges on 13. AP HMG was welcome. Neema is fantastic. AP spitty and with Guided being on reset ARO and her naturally high BTS she can do well. Phero ability's becoming disposable is less of a thing for Tohaa as we have the best baggage in the game Makaul really needed a points increase. They were way too cheap. In a Haris they did well as they got +1 to dodge. What I also noticed is Tohaa kept all the janky Mercs like Armand*, Libartos and MBH... Most factions didn't. We also got that Taagma sniper profile which is fantastic. A big blow is Viral counting as normal ammo against structural. Can't easily kill TAGs with Viral snipers anymore Tohaa still got skin in the game. I may take them to a tournament next month. *If you have never done it you absolutely have to take Armand with Symbiomate. He becomes hilariously resilient.
Neema doesn't lose frenzy in fireteam now, so she can't get the -3 for cover after she killed a model. I think is a big malus.
You would use the frenzy to your advantage. You pair her up in a duo with the Makaul, go and kill stuff and if they survive to turn 2 you Just go impetuos and start killing things again. With the amount of chain of command tohaa have you can use an aggressive liutenant pretty freely i think.
