I wish more LI or MI had multirifles as an option since they are more likely to be a part of a link or be a "bargain" solo troop. That way the point cost won't be as heavily weighted as HI who often have multirifles.
I agree. MULTI Rifle on Rao would have been quite nice. I know he's stuck with an assault pistol because that's what the mini has, but it would have been a really nice choice from a playability standpoint. The sneak preview art for the new dungeon crawl also got my hopes up a bit... Sigh.
Shock ammo is much more useful than AP most of the time, and DA or Stun AROs are wicked. Exactly. B2 DA or Stun AROs are evil. Shooting one of YJ's 1W+NWI 'light HI' comes to mind. Baseline example: Zhēnchá, Armored Reconnaissance Regiment - Boarding Shotgun vs. Orc Troops - Combi Rifle, both sides in cover within 8", ORC in 5-strong link so Surprise Shot does not apply. Active Player 33.97% Zhēnchá, Armored Reconnaissance Regiment inflicts 1 or more wounds on Orc Troops (1 W) 5.24% Zhēnchá, Armored Reconnaissance Regiment inflicts 2 or more wounds on Orc Troops (Unconscious) Failures 43.77% Neither player succeeds Reactive Player 22.25% Orc Troops inflicts 1 or more wounds on Zhēnchá, Armored Reconnaissance Regiment (0 W) 2.13% Orc Troops inflicts 2 or more wounds on Zhēnchá, Armored Reconnaissance Regiment (Dead) Same situation, but ORC has a multirifle and is using Shock ammo: Zhēnchá, Armored Reconnaissance Regiment - Boarding Shotgun vs. Orc Troops - MULTI Rifle (Shock Ammo), both sides in cover within 8", ORC in 5-strong link so Surprise Shot does not apply. Active Player 33.97% Zhēnchá, Armored Reconnaissance Regiment inflicts 1 or more wounds on Orc Troops (1 W) 5.24% Zhēnchá, Armored Reconnaissance Regiment inflicts 2 or more wounds on Orc Troops (Unconscious) Failures 43.77% Neither player succeeds Reactive Player 22.25% 22.25% Orc Troops inflicts 2 or more wounds on Zhēnchá, Armored Reconnaissance Regiment (Dead) (Zhencha is not shock-immune, so it's straight to dead, but otherwise same odds of winning the FtF as a combi) Using DA ammo: Zhēnchá, Armored Reconnaissance Regiment - Boarding Shotgun vs. Orc Troops - MULTI Rifle (Anti-Materiel Mode), both sides in cover within 8", ORC in 5-strong link so Surprise Shot does not apply. Active Player 33.97% Zhēnchá, Armored Reconnaissance Regiment inflicts 1 or more wounds on Orc Troops (1 W) 5.24% Zhēnchá, Armored Reconnaissance Regiment inflicts 2 or more wounds on Orc Troops (Unconscious) Failures 36.24% Neither player succeeds Reactive Player 29.78% Orc Troops inflicts 1 or more wounds on Zhēnchá, Armored Reconnaissance Regiment (0 W) 10.93% Orc Troops inflicts 2 or more wounds on Zhēnchá, Armored Reconnaissance Regiment (Dead) That's a 7.5% increase of winning the firefight, just from changing to DA ammo. Now, Stun ammo is good for stopping TAG or HI Rambos. Used to be good for stopping Doggos, too, but the Total Immunity change kinda nerfed that. Using Stun Ammo: Zhēnchá, Armored Reconnaissance Regiment - Boarding Shotgun vs. Orc Troops - MULTI Rifle (Stun Mode), both sides in cover within 8", ORC in 5-strong link so Surprise Shot does not apply. Active Player 33.97% Zhēnchá, Armored Reconnaissance Regiment inflicts 1 or more wounds on Orc Troops (1 W) 5.24% Zhēnchá, Armored Reconnaissance Regiment inflicts 2 or more wounds on Orc Troops (Unconscious) Failures 34.34% Neither player succeeds Reactive Player 31.68% Orc Troops hits Zhēnchá, Armored Reconnaissance Regiment (Stunned) That's another 2% increase, nearly a 10% improvement over a combirifle in the exact same situation.
Technically its not a increase in winninf the f2f, that doesnt change. it is an increase in at least scoring a wond due to prob curves on the arm roll (2dice vs 1 Dice)
Yeah, that'll be interesting. I wonder if she'll end up being like Aida, minus the Viral Mines? I wouldn't mind seeing a Ryuken-9 style character, x-visor and negative mods to play around with rangebands a bit. If she's Svalarheima, she'll have to wait a while for a Sectorial, which is pretty significant from a design standpoint. A lot of units get so much better in the context of 5-man link bonuses, so she'll need to have the ability to perform well on her own for a while.
The first concept art of her definitely did, but her most recent art has a lot of differences. For one, she's got a lot of white in her color scheme, which is pretty non-Kamau. Her helmet and chest armor have a lot of differences too. She's also got a Nordic/Scandinavian name, while most Varuna residents are South Asian, South Pacific, Australian, etc. I'd love if she was a Kamau though.
Though, we have some pretty badass soldiers in PanO. Joan V2 being the best of them but De Fersen and Patsy have the potential too. I'm waiting to see if Uma will be the kind of solo carry trooper like Black Friar or Joan V2 or the link catalyser Patsy is. As for MULTI rifles, I love them. Versatility has a cost and I find that paying 4 points over Combi rifle to gain access to 4 different ammunitions is a fair price. I try to have as much as I can afford as they really change the potential of a trooper. The only times when you're going to find them useless is against TI troopers (thanks to the new immunity to non-lethal ammos) and 1W 0-1ARM Shock immunity troopers (like most of the REMs). And don't forget that SMG can't switch ammo in SF state, something a MR can do! Thing is, combis are already pretty lethal against those troopers a MR is useless against. So, paying for a combi on HI isn't that dumb if your meta favorises those type of troopers. You optimise your weapons to fight against what your environment loves and there is few reasons to take a MR over a Combi in this case. But if you know you're going to face ARM 3+ and/or Valor level 2 or 3 troopers, taking MR is something I find natural because this lone weapon brings you all the answers you need at 0-16" and it would be a shame to pass this. Comparing combis and MR to BSG is quite comparing apples and oranges to me. Shotguns are designed to be brutal at short range and transform any misplacement of your opponent in a bloodbath. But this weapon isn't very good for midrange fights and by this, not great for maintaining table control once you finally reached it. BSG are cheap but also really limited in their range and B2 can be very frustrating compared to B3. So, to sum up, I don't think there is a better weapon. They all have their place depending of what is played in your place. You tend to love CQB? BSG is the way to go. If your opponents favor order spam and the tables aren't great for shotguns, combi is enough. But if you're used to face high-end troopers all over the place, MR is the best thing you could take for fights at short range.