Indeed, with the Hexas as a useful "in the pocket" option for Sniper, Spitfire or KHD (more as a backup specialist now).
I always liked the Hexa sniper as a surprise ARO but found it hard to decide between it and the KHD. The choice is much easier now.
I think it's worth mentioning that sectorial balance vs certain opponents, or in certain missions, doesn't have to be perfect. It never has been, and I don't know why there's an expectation that a difficult matchup should be anything other than a difficult matchup. If a mission lineup has Looting & Sabotage, my PanO is at a disadvantage. If I bring NeoTerra against a Nomad opponent, I'm vulnerable to their Hacking. So if an event has Looting & Sabotage, and I expect a red-hot Nomad player to be in attendance, I might consider bringing a different Sectorial. If NCA is the only Sectorial I own, then I bring it, but I acknowledge it's going to be tough. Maybe I design one of my lists to be less vulnerable to these negative factors than others. Why is there an expectation that challenging or skew matchups shouldn't exist for Sectorials? Every Sectorial, whether it's new or old, has bad matchups. Cherry-picking the worst circumstances, and then claiming the entire army is unplayable because of it, is pretty dramatic. That's one of the reasons that Vanilla exists: so that players can bring a broad spectrum of tools, at the cost of losing links and higher AVA.
Sorry, sorry. Got caught up in the side discussion. Interesting that the exact same people who came into the PanOceania forum and started talking about IA kicked off a conversation about MO here... _______________________________________________________________________________ The Mowang is looking like a damn solid option, but we still don't know much at all about the Hulong. I wonder if it's where a KHD for IA might sit?
That bet still sits with the Daoying for me. Unless CB wants to pull a Montesa on us and ''Surprise, you too get an HI biker! And it gets a KHD!''
@Triumph This was pretty much my conclusion, EVO also allows for coordinated hacks and rerolls to attempt to brute force the program through.
From the info we have on Mowang, I think it'll come down to if there's anything unrevealed about it or if that's it. It could well be a basic mimetic version of the Daiyokai that's not got Fatality nor CC prowess in which case it'd be a decent near-40 - basically a mimetic Shang-Ji Enlargement *ehum* Could work, but it's a bit... you know... why? I think something important is still missing on this profile. Still not entirely convinced a KHD is necessary considering how good AHD with a Tinbot actually is. Hulang might have a Jammer, though DepRep or Pitcher is the most important thing missing for fighting encroaching Hackers. Two or three Tinbotted AHD/HD ganging up on an enemy Hacker in ARO would likely stop that Hacker before it gets to do anything and to do that you need to dictate where the repeaters go.
The Mowang I'm expecting to be somewhere around Kriza Boracs or Taskmaster. It might not even have anything fancy other than ARM5, BTS6, 2W, NWI, and Mimetism. Though that kinda steps all over the Shang Ji, so I'm hoping the Demon Lord gets something more. I just can't come up with an idea of what that might be.
A plain-jane mini-TAG isn't really all that bad. But it will 100% come down to price point I think. Right now, Yu Jing has a ton of 50-60 point high-grade brawler HI. At least 4 or 5. We have the Crane (only really sees heavy use in ISS), the Hsien (requires smoke support to reach full brawler potential), the Su-Jian (a literal miniature TAG with a wide toolbox), the Hac Tao (among the best gunfighters in the game, but also super expensive), and the Daofei (another fantastic gunfighter and attack unit that starts in the enemy's face and stays there). The Mowang either needs to be "barebones" enough to clock in cheaper than the above (so sub-50 points), or it needs to aim higher and be loaded down with rules and options that promote pure aggression. It either needs to be a budget main-line brawler, or it needs to compete with the real high-end (the Hac Tao basically, which is sort of in a league of its own even among our elite brawler HI). On the one hand, I think this kind of speaks to just how crowded a role the Mowang is stepping in to, and it is kind of disappointing to me that we're getting another brawler instead of something that feels unique (could have easily slotted the Daofei in to IA and made something brand new). On the other, the Mowang looks like it might be able to actually compete in the crowded category (which at least means it helps a bit with our mono-build issues, even if it is just swapping around the decor a bit). But it will all come down to the unknown details. If the Mowang is just a bare-bones super-HI that just happens to have Mimetism? That means it basically shores up the one weakness every bare-bones super-HI has and would be pretty good in the 40-55 point range. If it is loaded down with more features, then it becomes a tossup whether or not it is over-stuffed and can't compete in the crowded field, or if it bumps one of the older options out. At the very least, even if it is just what we've been told so far, it isn't actually bad, just boring and something we sort of have down pat at this point. So part of me hopes there is more than meets the eye, if only because another brawler (even a decent one) is dull for an army that has had some of the best HI brawlers since 1st Edition.
I'd really like different weapons from the Daiyokai. Red Fury is not bad but how about a Shock Spitfire? How about double Spitfires?
I genuinely don't understand how that steps on the Shang Ji, especially given what we know about the changes they are getting? But I wouldn't expect anything more other than perhaps a wider range of weapons (that seemed like a surprisingly narrow range of options). And my expectation is that it's going to be "bare bones" but far cheaper than the other "bruisers" with which it is competing. Giving a "punch" option for a solo on a budget (never a bad thing).
I don't know anything about major changes the Shang Ji are getting, other than Wildcard and TacSense on at least one profile. If the Mowang is 40-50pts of beatstick gunfighter, that's exactly what the Shang Ji is right now. Which is why I say that the Mowang is stepping all over the Shang Ji.
Hopefully the Shang Ji becomes out toolbox unit, with plenty of equipment and skill options that the rest of IA may be lacking. With Wildcard and, hopefully, a decent, not-too-high cost it would have a useful niche.
The Daiyokai effectively has a Shock Spitfire due to Fat1, giving the Mo' Wang one would make them more similar.
After gathering moar info, it looks like; Zhanshis role as Zhanshis (This include being a sandbag for any reasons), a cheap link filler and cannon fodders. Everyday Doc and Engineer. Remotes are quite vague at this moment, although I heard Panggulings are getting a FTO option, but I could acknowledge this after getting a book. For our Heavy Heavy Infantries; Zuyongs, no doubt this boys will be our main link. Taste varies with each spice you add - It could be Standard McStandardface HI link, or something more. Shang Jis. It looks almost certain that these guys are getting a Tactical Sense skillset (Which I assume, advanced command console on iZuyong suit X). This unit could add more momentum to its link, one solid tactical piece if I may. Mowangs. The revealed skillsets are quite satisfying regarding mimetism, and getting a NCO means this guy will act once, or even twice more like any drama cliches. A beatstick with more fat included. I just want a spitfire now. Hac tao. What. You don't like our ultimate killing machine? Yan Huo. Now being worried by some voices that this guy is becoming worse because of Mowang trooper. Still, HRMC is one thing to look at, now getting a special haris option and Shang Ji being wildcard - delivery service incoming. Heavy firepower support. Guijias. I prefer calling this guy Super Zuyong, by all means. And our maligned Light Heavies; This guys will be IA's button man, or some toolkit. Haidaos. It looks almost certain that this unit can join a team as a Wildcard, and the dossier included one heck lot of options. Passive battle Engineer. Liu Xing, a quite underlooking piece compared to its expectation (Still, don't think he deserves that much salt; go to another thread to debate, please.). Fits the AD role. Occasional button man. Zhencha, Camo+C+ infiltrator. Risks are high (Just say no to Shocks), but rewards are good too. Midline skirmisher and probably our main button man. Daoyings, the slender silluette is not a full HI definitely; Podcast said its a grey matter of IA, Brain of IA, and I am assuming this guy will be our Lt2 ( Mowang laughs. ). Linkability unknown. Hulangs, I think one of the thing Yu Jing gutted from is CC unit; Honestly I wager this guy will be our pseudo-domaru CC assault unit. It may fall to Lite HI, but I assume this man will be the CC lite, better when you have some kind of Camo for dirty fighting. TL;DR : Mowang a fat beatstick with delivery service Shang Ji, Hulang a CC assault unit. IMO.
I would like to see him get an AP Spitfire (AKA Molotok) or MMMR, it would make him a mobile, midrange Heavy Armor Hunter, something YJ lacks if im not mistaken (im just seconds away from my bed, so its very likely i could be wrong...)
I do think that, no matter what else it's carrying, the Hulang will have at least a DA CCW. We're running out of spaces to put in effective Anti-Materiel CC and the dossiers so far haven't shown any fancy swords. Yu Jing relying on D-Charges for objective destruction just feels wrong, so I suspect the Hulang will bring the weapon for the job even if it turns out to lack top-quality skills. I'm not ruling out the Daoying as full HI, it looks kind of like CB zapped a Shang Ji with their evil "Feminiser Ray" and stole all its muscle mass but that's never stopped these models from having full-power profiles before- just look at the new Joan 2.0.
