Flamethrowers are not very useful weapons, terrifying, but not very effective. Most modern militaries have ditched them in favour of incendiary grenades or rockets that do the same thing but from further away, and without large tanks of thickened fuel on the operator's back. Having said that shotguns and swords are also rarely, if ever, used by modern militaries but show up regularly in Infinity because the game is based on anime and action movies, not real life. Most likely explanation is that a Zapper is more effective against the sort of forces Aleph are likely to send in, immobilising Tactbots and wiping Cubes. Though I'm not sure a directed EMP weapon is any safer aboard a spaceship/station than a flamethrower, if I'm being honest!
I don't care about lore explanations, if I have the choice between a template that isolates stuff and a template that kills stuff, I'd rather keep the second, thank you very much. Sad to see the swap.
I think terrifying an opponent counts as "very effective". Someone should not underestemate the impact of damaging the enemies moral midfight, and burning and screaming comrads are quite devastating. TBH I am not a Soldier in active duty, but history showed the impact of such weapons more than once. In terms of effectiveness I think it is very based on "what do u want to achive?". Burning the fur of a overly sized teddy seems like a job for the Flamethrower. Get rid of some electronic junk coverd in white metall or equaly less burnable skin-material? Maybe a zapper will do the trick. (Ingame-effectiveness aside) I realy love the flamethrower as a weapon, but i can "understand" why they swapped it in terms of fluff and Moira weaponry.
I mean, i realy like the models and most of the artwork, but is it just me or are these the worst facial expressions ever in this dossiers? I mean, the orphans and Kusanagi are fine, but the Healer looks like a SIM, Robin seems to be a Pinocchio-Doll on Drugs and Wabara can act as villian in a Shrek movie....
The faces do feel a bit flat and without volume on most of the dossiers, yes. I do like the design of the observance clothing though, quite cool looks. But I think my favorite is the Penitent. I love the bulky look
They don't have these kind of expressions on renders, so I guess they won't have them on actual models either. Therefore, I have no reason to concern myself with the concept art details.
The stylization of the faces is intentional on the miniatures. Bostria did speak about their decision to give them pre-Raphaelite faces (although this creates a bit of a confusion - English pre-Raphaelites or Quattrocento; I claim the intention is the latter, based on the sculpts). Which in turn will give a more stern and statuesque appearance, at least if you are a sufficiently good painter to make use of. I find this decision very good. Unlike GW, which is a "miniature first" company, that creates tanks with no underside, we see here an actual attempt at creating a thorough visual identity with the stylization of the faces, the choice of symbols, the choice of architectural elements etc. and all of it - based on specific artistic styles. Call me a bit of a snob, but I like my toy soldiers with some actual design depth in them. Honestly, I'd be very interested to see where this can go, for example with plastic terrain elements (siocast might have issues for miniatures but will be perfectly fine for this), in scenic bases, maybe in the new Lizard...
I think Orphans are the cheap link filler specialist option. They'll be WIP13 doctor/engineer options with smgs for really cheap so you can have them follow your HI around.
I guess they will be like Order sergeants; not that hard of a unit, but flexible in a limited area, with some AVA TOTAL LI to fill
Also Confirmation that the cenobites are Impetuous. I am looking forward to how everything will mesh together. Also: So many E/M Grenade Launchers!
I think healers/doctors are underutilized by many Infinity players. The utility of having a decent one forwards with the rest of a wrecking crew is pretty high: allows you to continue to sink opposing orders taking down units they managed to knock unconscious before. For most ITS missions, bodies and AROs really do have an impact. Even if she were just a Gunnar-style hitter, if Doctor is tacked on top of it, cost is under 35, durability is decent, and she can link I'm interested.
I generally carry a healer in all my lists, and my recent experience with the fuckmothering Rindak (have I said I love this guy today? Because I do) do make me think a doctor that can fight it out is useful. However, at 35-40 points, Wabonka of the Bonkin' Bat is threading the line very carefully. She might be awesome, she might be a paperweight. We'll only know when the stats come out tomorrow.
I personally only care for Konstaninos in this Dire Foes set. I'll be looking to get him from a split on ebay when he pops up.
Ok, topic ends here. If you want to discuss that kind of things, go to any other place of the internet, but not here. I expect you can discuss today about the upcoming profiles and how happy you are with the new stuff or how dissapointing are the new things.