Not according to @ijw https://forum.corvusbelli.com/threads/civilian-mercenary-within-sof-extra.1390/#post-19443 and https://forum.corvusbelli.com/threads/what-is-master-source-for-infinity-profiles-rules.1391/ so not, Army app is not a master copy. PDFs are. So new CSUs are not ITS legal xD
Which is quite stupid, because you can submit illegal lists in the OTM that are marked as legal and I guess not so many TO will check every list with the PDFs. Army should be the highest instance alone for practicability.
And you didn't get to the part where the rebel ninja got a 0 SWC forward observer profile with supression fire enabled combi rifle but ours didn't. Now that they opened the door for different troop options for different sectorials and that even a tiny country of weakened rebels has mass access to mono-filament weaponry, I expect a ninja with mono CCW and boarding shotgun because high command knows how useful were those oniwaban and, though we can't teach them superior infiltration, we should at least be able to manufacture their weapons. Because those heavy armor can be shut down remotely in the same vein as what happens with hacking, immobilising those penal troops so they won't escape, which has proven useless since they escape anyway because, you know Yu Jing are total evil incompetents.
In a world where even top notch military tech (TAG) can be fully hacked and taken over, is it realy surprising that someone found a way to deactivate Wu Ming remote control device ? The answer is no. Regarding different profil for "small" NA2, it was the case from the first NA2. Compared to Qapu and Haqqislam, Druze have better druze, better scarface and a Bashi specialist. Everything is not an aggression whose goal is to paint Yu-Jing as moron, please don't take it like it.
Wu Ming serving under Ikari are, logically, either troopers that will never become part of civilized society again or individuals on loan for operations conducted on behalf of Yu Jing. My problem with the first one is that if this somehow becomes a norm for Wu Ming to flee their shackles, then logically Yu Jing would end that program and simply execute them instead of offering them a second chance at redemption (and unlike Second Chancers, Wu Ming have a very real chance at returning to society)
Carlos described the Ikari as "an army that finds extreme pleasure in pissing off Yu Jing", so I'd think that these a rogue Wu Ming getting some sweet, sweet revenge on a society that has failed them.
I think you might want to read Wu Ming fluff again if you consider society as the one failing the Wu Ming instead of the other way around :)
Please sir, Star co. the free company of the stars, is not associated with the Nomads nation, we are an independent mercenary company not tied to Nomads. What? oh you saw these Alguaciles last week fighting in a corregidor force? maybe, but that was last week now they are independent mercenaries. Well on one hand there are plenty of old armours around so why not use them, on the other hand those new systems would not be bad to be field tested and if they fail, well... a third option is the soldiers selected for Wu Ming are not useless and they would rather see them survive the punishment (if possible) and get back to service. In general Yu Jing take the effort to make sure entrants on penal battalions have the chance to survive, I am not sure they would put a kill switch in the armour, too much of a vulnerability, besides even if they escape, there are not many places they can go. In theory the PDF is the solid base and the army is the official tool, because we are all humans, the best way is to point out the inconsistencies between the two so we can check and fix them.
Not entirely true if we read correctly the Ikari teaser, Ikari seems to have a bone to pick with Japanese as well.
Hey, I'm not against PDF perse (double verification is always good, plus I'm a Traditionalist and like paperback stuff). What I was saying is that for general public Army app (which on itself excellent tool) is highest level of authority when it comes to army building. Also it is much easier to correct army than "static" PDFs. What I was against was a long difference beetwen something which was announced and available in PDF and Army.
Even the Nomad Nation employs mercenaries. Besides, the Alguaciles that help QK protect their shipping lanes come from somewhere XD The Wu Ming seems less a Penal Unit, and more of a Disciplinary Unit. Anyway, if they were just prisioners they would be Kuang Shi, so we need to assume they have some kind of violent past. Maybe triads members caught, corrupt policemen and agents, etc... Easier system: you can't get out. And after a while your WC systems get too filled, so... a bad way to go. And removal of critical parts requires access codes from the controlling agent (so you can take out the helmet, and some pieces to access urgent maintenance). The Ikari ones might have managed to extract the codes from their minder... So they can get out whenever they want. The only "WTF" we can really give is how does Ikari keep the armors in good working order. There seems to be a mix, for what I saw in the teasers, the Ikari are kinda like Ronin, but the bad part: honorless, masterless Ronin bandits in it only for themselves. It's not that they want to take it on the JSA, as much as they enjoy doing it and their existence and behavior is an insult to the "bushido" the JSA follows (which must be closer to what it was now that Musashi is there training the Tankos). Update when the PDF has priority: "hey V, update this in the databases". V proceeds to up the PDFs after prepping the Army. Army Web is updated, Army Mobile and Desktop stay on v.X-1 until all the bugs have been found on Army web (like Lunokhod being the Salyut!B on Starco)
"The Wu Ming Assault Corps is a penal military regiment. Its members have no name and this has been substituted by a serial number. The regiment comprises the most dangerous and most violent elements of the Yu Jing regular forces, authentic gallows fodder." Literally penal unit for military misconduct
Part of the reason it isn't so strange for them to be HI is that they're from the StateEmpire army, not civilians... I've always imagined the Zhanshi probably don't serve sentences as Wu Ming either, its the Invincible Army soldiers or Domaru who fragged their commanders or shot up civilians or the like. They're heavy infantry soldiers already, throwing them in some old armour pulled from storage and sending them into battle means that training and experience isn't wasted breaking rocks in a military prison.
You're missing one option: That these are mercenaries wearing older power armor. So they'd use either the Wu Ming or Janissary profile (and the Janissary profile includes religious). Basically, "Counts-as Wu Ming", not that they are actual YJ Penal Troops.
Or, the Ikari company is rather small (as in just a company) and when they defected from YJ they liberated one or two squads of Wu Ming/nicked a bunch of their equipment. After all nothing in the Wu Ming's profile suggests that a soldier who put on a suit of Wu Ming armour would be necessarily different from a penal soldier wearing that suit.
While that's a good basis for the unit, that's kind of like calling a Chinese amphibious unit "US Navy Seals" just because they operate similarly. Or giving a Russian submarine the same Nato call name as an American sub just because it's roughly the same size and capabilities. The ISC would be different, is what I'm saying, even if the stats and the models would not be. Chinese for "Those who made their own names" perhaps, would be an appropriate ISC.
