I just hope the Mowang has something to spice it up. At the moment it's no doubt a really solid unit, but I want cool and fun things. Well, at least the miniatures probably are gonna be damn cool, which is a huge factor for me. (except hospital pijamas Zhencha)
Their fault for leaving before we developed that tech. Honestly, the Mowang is one skill and/or weapon away from being an interesting enough HI to be able to have it's own niche in the faction.
Especially since as cool as it is now... it's the Su-Jians Combat Form with Mimetism and different disposable weapons ATM. Full Auto Lv1 would be cool. It's a cool skill. That only the Kriza has. And it has both levels. So just getting the first level is pretty unique.
Yu Jing has non-vanilla stuff. Daofei, Su-Jian, Liu Xiang, Kuang Shi, Zhencha... even their more basic stuff like Zhanying are quite interesting and unusual in terms of loadout.
Zhanying and Cranes are quite honestly units with more stuff than you can shake a DA CCW at. Which is why I like them. Too many Camo markers? Sensor sweeps. Ariadna? Breaker Combi or Nanopulsers. Enemy fireteam, especially an Ariadnan fireteam? Crane with Dual Nanopulsers. TAG around a corner? CC it. It'll either have to deal with Electric Pulse or a CC25 13DAM DA attack. Need to defend some stuff? X-Visor helps supressive fire, and Sixth Sense Lv2 is... Sixth Sense Lv2. Can't forget MadTraps either. Hackers? Cranes are pretty good AHDs TBH, and Zhanyings are SSL2 Hackers AND get Bioimmunity AND D-Charges. Yay. Lieutenants? Both are great Lieutenants IMHO. Heavy weaponry? SSL2 ML if ya need it, and Crane Spitfires are pretty great.
How is Liu Xing not vanilla? Having a single use nerfed DTW hardly qualifies. On the other hand , I quite like Zhanying even if they are not power units.
Multi wound drop troops (or if you want to be pedantic, drop troops that can soak a wound) are not vanilla. Combined has one, ALEPH has a character, Haqq has the Ragik which is Dogged. Nobody has one that is as tough and fast as the Liu Xing (Fraacta slows down and the others are ARM 1-2). Liu Xang is not vanilla and non-descript.
And even then, we're not sure YJ is going to get any nice things. I would hope that IA has some nice things (being able to put 16 orders into a single combat group would be a very awesome thing), but what we know about YJ so far is nowhere near as impressive as what we know about PanO. Sadly. I really hope it doesn't get an AHD. FO or maybe even just Specialist Operative would be fine by me. Doc or Engineer would be interesting.
Could be a mechanical transmutation gecko-like light TAG. Would fit with Duo, and would be a great fast alternative to the Guija. Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk
I do remember hearing some rumour about another Mech Transformer somewhere. Maybe a Su-Jian type unit with Fast Mode and Murder Mode, but would need very different loadouts and some stat changes not to step on any toes.
I'm as keen as anyone to hear something about the Hulong but I fear the speculation here is getting out of hand. I'm pretty sure I recall somewhere it was said that we weren't getting another TAG with this book so I would rule out anything besides the Mowang being a S5 silhouette or larger. I'm not sold on the idea of us getting an HI biker either (or something with mechanical transmutation) in part because it would draw such direct comparisons to the reworked Montesa but we wouldn't have the discount for Frenzy/Impetuous. One thing is clear though and that is IA is not a faction of showy pieces. The liu xing is very basic once you get past AD4 and explode lvl X, the zencha is similarly pretty bare bones except for the climbing plus and terrain skills. They aren't inspiring but some people seem to getting good work out testing them. What IA definitely lacks from the information so far is anything with real melee combat presence. The sectorial isn't getting any of our current CC guys (the hac tao is not built for CC) so there's definitely space for something to fill that hole. Ability maybe on par with the Crane?
We've been told that the Guijia is going to be the sectorial's only TAG by Bostria, but I don't see that being any information relating to smaller-than-TAG units like Mowang and Yan huo.
There was old talk about IA having another transformer. But the Tiger was also apparently a sure bet for inclusion as recently as a few months back, and the Dao Fei specifically cited its inclusion as part of the Invincible Army in its fluff since 1st Edition (and repeated in 2nd and 3rd no less!)... so it may no longer be a thing. As for trying to suss out what the Hulang is by using roster position, the Zencha being where it is already throws any notion of that out the window, because the Zencha isn't a Skirmisher any more than the Daofei was. We don't know if CB put the Zencha there because it is in the same position as SK usually are in the roster, or if it technically comes before the normal position because it's a "heavy" skirmisher. For all we know the Hulang is a Warband, or an HI that acts like something else, or a misplaced MI profile. At this stage, the Hulang is basically just a straight up cypher. Could be anything from the previously rumored transformer to a completely unknown new Skirmisher, TAG (unlikely), or even Warband.
Yeah, that's my problem. I cannot come up with a good loadout to replace the current Su-Jian's. Or even skill changes. Well, the Su Jian is also ARM5 BTS6 2W NWI. But the Mowang's dossier image does not look like it's a transformer. This is very true. There is very little CC capability left in YJ these days, even less left outside Imperial SS. Seriously, go open up Army, and sort by CC >=19. There's the Pheasants, Cranes, Ninjas, and Shaolin over CC20, then Hac Tao, Hsien, Guijia, and Kanren at CC19. (I'm not counting Aida, Knauf, or Krakot) If the Mowang is related to the Daiyokai, it certainly could have a decent CC score. Daiyokai is CC20 MA2, after all. But I'm kinda hoping the Hulang is the new CC beatstick. The other alternative would be the Shang Ji getting a CC bump up closer to Crane levels.
What I want out of the Hulang which is my personal wishlist. Is a superjumping CC HI. Imagine a Domaru stat line. But up it's BS to 13. Drop duel wield and berserk and replace with superjump. Give a combi and underslung DTW or shotgun. Or large DTW with assault pistol/ SMG. DA CCW. Priced in the mid 30s. Going into the 40s for the spitfire. Basically. CC BS PH WIP ARM BTS W S 23 13 14 13 3 3 2 2 MA: L3, kinematrika L2, tactical sense combi rifle+ LSG, pistol, DA CCW combi rifle+ LFT, pistol, DA CCW chain rifle, SMG, pistol, DA CCW BS, HFT, pistol, DA CCW Spitfire, chain colt, pistol, DA CCW Would be nice to add smoke grenades. But i don't see IA using smoke. Essentially. The unit is designed to bum rush and assault positions in close quarters. Using a combination of templates, high end +3 in 0- 8" weapons and CC. With options for longer range engagements. Before breaking through allowing Zencha, link teams into the breach created. Pretty good concept for a shock trooper. This will never happen. But it'd be cool if it did.
Managed to think of an interesting transformer: CC focus with an anti-materiel CCW and at least one level of Martial Arts. Leverage the 8 inch Cautious Move to cross ARO lanes, get behind opponents and cut them up with Surprise Attacks while using the superior durability to tank light covering fire, before fleeing to friendly fire lanes at end of turn. Just using something like a Contender and BS 12 for ranged fire would keep it from messing with the Su Jian's game, and render the end result cheaper than the Su Jian.
