If I'm honest, there are great options in Military Orders just like in Bakunin. Magister Knights in links, Joan and such. The trouble is that there's quite a few duff options and the good stuff tends to be quite limited. Like yeah Joan, a Tech-Bee and WarCor is a great option for a list basis. But... it's so good that there's not really much point in doing anything else, and it feels kind of cheaty too. PanO needs to have more cool options within each Sectoral, and it needs to have less gimmick-y options. The thing is that in a faction which is all about efficient shooters, the most efficient shooters get used, and everyone else sort of gets sidelined. Each Sectoral has two or three kind of good draws, and that's about it. Comparatively in Nomads with, say, Bakunin I've got the Holy Trinity Haris, I've got a Moira core, I've got a Taskmaster Duo, I've got the Riot core, Zoe and Pi-Well, Bran, could take a Prowler with a Spitfire, could take a Chimera or two, could go reaction heavy... etc etc etc. These choices aren't exclusive but when you're building lists you can include everything you want, and then tomorrow make a list with a completely different structure and hugely different options... and still have everything you want. PanO feels narrow next to that. And I think that the recent new stuff is breaking that mould a bit you know? Father Knights, Locusts and Blackfriars are all cool, and I actually legit rate Bolts too. These are choices that are cool and interesting but not mandatory. But when I look at SAA I'm like... okay there's not a lot of cool options here. Then they got some ALEPH characters which do provide options but I can see why PanO players are like, hey I want to play PanO, not ALEPH with some cheerleaders in blue and green? So I do get that. I think SAA need a couple more interesting and flexible options options (I counted up their native troops, and it's actually kind of a small Sectoral, especially as the REMs, Montesa, ORCs, Machinist and Trauma-Doc are not exclusive to them), I think that NCA are pretty solid, I think that MO need a couple more interesting and flexible options, and I think that Varuna needs to be cool and flavoursome with plenty of unit choices. Like one thing I think that was definitely a missed opportunity was putting ORCs in NCA and SAA. Why do that? Why not give NCA and SAA cool Heavy Infantry of their own? Both Sectorals have a decent need for that kind of troop, but SAA ORCs could be HI with ARM 3, Multi-terrain and Auto-Medikits to show being lighter for rough terrain combat but also with more rugged medical kit because it's an industrial giant, with Auxbots and Tinbots to add flavour there, and more CQB weapons like Spitfires, HFTs and LGLs. NCA HI could be BTS 6 and WIP 13 with CC 20, MA1 and Zero-G terrain to represent them being a tough and experienced naval boarding force used for protecting Neoterra's various orbitals, equipped with E/Maulers and such for disabling enemy marine forces, or have a limited selection of loadouts all centred around heavy weapons and everyone comes with a Spotter Tinbot, to show them as a fire support regiment with all the coolest shit because the NCA gets all the shiniest and most advanced toys. That'd have been easy to do really, and it feels a little like every other faction gets that kind of cool flavour and flexibility, whereas PanO get... ORC troops (aka the most boring HI) for everyone. ORC troops are pretty good, they are cheap BS 14 and that's always legit, but ORCs for everyone is dull, and flavourless, and tactically not that interesting, so again every PanO list becomes the same selection of most efficient shooters. It's a shame. PanO background rules and has loads of cool inspiration, and a lot of their troops totally use that really well. Some, though, feel super generic and those generic troops plus being spread too thin and the use of generic troops in multiple factions means PanO feels anaemic at times, for sure. IMO anyway.
A good post, very thought provoking. On a related note: CB wants the new sectorials to appeal to players, and a good way to do that is to offer something that's different or never before seen within a Sectorial. My hope is that Varuna will introduce some cool spin to these generic PanO units. Just the promise that ORCs will have a unique Varuna profile and a character sounds amazing. Hell, even the ORC Varuna paint scheme is an exciting and thrilling step towards lending PanO some distinct personality. Getting alien Helots who might have some distinctly non-PanO rules sounds amazing.
@Solar: I disagree with some parts of your assessment, especially regarding SAA. At this point it's the most flexible and fun to play PanO sectorial. Aleph presence is obviously a very subjective thing, but personally I like the idea very much. It's fun, fluff-justified, and it's not like every sectorial has to be constructed in a same way. For example JSA is pure YJ, IS has some Aleph and Merc presence, QK is full of various mercs, Bakunin is pure Nomad sectorial, and so on. It was also there from the beginning, HSN3 only expanded on the idea, so if someone dislikes it can avoid it by choosing a different army, or sticking to vanilla PanO. Amusingly, Aleph units also cause SAA, the least hi-tech of PanO armies, to be best of the bunch when it comes to hacking. I also fully see the logic behind sharing some basic units, like ORCs or Fusiliers, throrough the sectorials. PanO armies are regular military forces, some standarization is to be expected. We're not like Nomads, who have completely separated military structures on each of their ships. Each sectorial has plenty of unique units and options, and plays in a completely different way, so sharing one or two units with others isn't restricting, but instead gives that "unified military force" feel. An interesting solution would be to give such units a bit unique options in different sectorials. We already know that Varuna ORCs will have some unique loadouts; SAA ORCs could get Jungle Terrain and a single loadout with DTW for jungle warfare. NCA ORCs might use Forward Deployment or a heavy weapon to fill a different niche in sectorial. Fusiliers in MO might have access to Haris to play well with existing link options. The possibilities are there. From my PoV PanO has three main problems: First, large overlaps between some units. This mostly concerns knights, and stems from the general idea of having few separate CC-capable HI units. Still, the problem isn't severe. Hospitallers are perfectly fine. So are Santiagos, by virtue of having some truly unique options. Montesas are also great after HSN3, and have a clearly defined role. Sepulchre's problem lies only with the Combi loadout, should it get a different weapon it'd be fine. Main offenders are Teutons - which are the most CC-oriented order and have some niche cut out for them, but it's too narrow for them to see much table time; pushing them more into the "HI warband" direction, with DTWs and Eclipse Grenades would give them a clear role. And finally Father-Knights, which are an interesting unit but severly undergunned for an elite HI. Some loadouts are also clearly not thought out very well; for example Missile Launcher is - in theory - a great roadblock, dangerous and able to withstand a lot of fire. In practice - not so much, and the points are much better spent elsewhere. If he were to get a Feuerbach instead he might see more use, having more active turn potential while still having a useful ARO. Second problem is that few units are visibly underpowered or without a useful role. Teutons, Bolts, Rao, Singh and Bipandra are the worst offenders. This would be very easy to fix, if not for the third problem... ...general lack of vision when it comes to faction design. We've been talking about it back and forth many times, apparently no designer has heart for PanO. And so the default solution for a new unit is "just give them +1BS, Mimetism, and maybe MSV". Some of new units, like Locusts or Black Friar, break with this scheme, and give hope for the future. Others, like Kamau redesign, feel like a lost opportunity.
Anyone understands why does Bipandra costs 23 points? Doctor is 4pts all over the place. Apart from that, if everything she has on top of a Fusilier costs a point, than it still doesn't add up. +1 CC, PH, WIP, ARM +3BTS (on this one, check Machinist and Trauma doc, Engineer is also 4pts, and Machinists have +3BTS on top of Trauma doc for 1pt), Nanopulser, V:Courage(, Doctor). That's still 21.
Maybe Bipandra should have been a Fusi with Doctor, +1 WIP and Courage for fluff reason for 16 pts. Then she would have been boring and useful, not just boring.
Bipandra is a great model surrounded by more cost-effective options. Seriously. She belongs in a Bolt link. Or as the thing that gives access to a Bolt Harris. As is, the only way bolts are getting more enticing to use is a massive price drop,more link options, or making fusiliers less min-max useful - like making them ava4 instead of 5. Of course everyone wouldlose their minds if that happened. I don't know what CB is telling the player by having AVA total on bolts, and I don't know what they're telling us with bipandra.
"Buy our stuff." "We made you 9 Bolts sculps, buy them dammit! Now we bolted Bolt to Swiss HMG you have to buy Bolts noaw <demonic laughter>!" She has a boring fluff that's why she is what she is, now buy this Dire Foes box!
It could have been a Hexa KHD. Or a not stupid looking Nisse HMG (which is nearly as cool as a Swiss HMG). Or a swordless Swiss HMG so it doesn't look derp. Or a third Father Knight sculpt but with MULTI rifle this time. Or an Auxilia with free auxbot in the box. Okay, I'm actually pretty happy with our sculpts.
Bipandra is actually pretty versatile with decent stats. Put her next to hexa, trauma doc, auxilia, and csu and you start to feel the min-max draw. She's definitly overcosted, but if I had a model like that scooting around in, say, usarf, or maf, id be a little excited for a linked doctor with a template.
Problem is her link 90% of time just want to hold in back, sacrifice this ML/MSR on the altar of "wasting your opponents orders", and hapilly cheer for their Swiss Guard, Squalo, Hexa's, Buleteer, CSU's and even Auxilias :P And as far it goes usually Fusilier ML/MSR either rocks that you don't need any medic or disappears violently in the red mist.
Actually, unless Fusi dies dies, it's a good idea to pick up the dude, and Doctor is way better in that than a paramedic. Unless it gets shocked or receives multiple hits, going prone while going unconscious helps this a lot. So Bipandra would be nice to add to a link, but I feel I'm paying 9 points extra for that linking option.
For that there are Trauma docs with palbots. 1 doc, 2 bots, one bot with a def link, the other one backs up SwissAquila, the doc herself is somewhere in the middle, maybe closer to the main assault pieces. This is soooo much better (and still costs 20 points, so less than Bipandra with largely expanded doctoring range), because if you activate the link to move bipandra in BTB to heal fusiliers, you're risking to get shot while doing so. Plus, after fusi is healed (if you don't fail the shitty wip, I've seen this happen 2-3 times in a row quite often), Bipandra stays within template coverage, so the next ML or RL hit takes her to hell together with the fusilier. So just no. Bipandra is overcosted AND useless in a fusi link (unless you're MO and want a full fusi core)
Yeah, ARM and BTS don't look to start costing more than a point until a much higher threshold that where Bipandra is, so the idea that she pays more for ARM 2 than (e.g.) Grunts pay for ARM 3 is just not feasible. Likewise we can clearly see that Doctor (+Medikit) costs the same as Engineer (+D-Charges), from any number of other profiles, so the only difference between the Doc and Machinist are 1 point and 3 BTS, ergo the +3 BTS from 0, is 1 point (all other things being equal). The depressing thing is, CB had 25 point to play with in making a combat specialist doctor (same points as Treitak Anyat), and even with two cracks at it, still managed to make a trash profile. I still stand by my idea that she should come with Angus as a extra regular order (who is basically a WIP 10 Fusilier, so ~8 points, and can join any fireteam Biandra is part of), then for Bipandra give a Fusilier profile: Doctor, Medikit, V:Courage and WIP 13 for ~25 points total.
Or she comes with Angus who is an extra HVT that your opponent needs to place and you can alternatively score against, and can't be within 12" of any other HVT. So as long you bring Bipandra with you, Angus will always need rescuing.
Ooh, that's even better than what I had in mind. After typing I was considering having Angus as the "perpetually injured" fireteam member, i.e. give him an ARO weapon. Angus with a Feuerbach and Bipandra as a doctor, as a package (have to be in the same fireteam), for ~32 points and 1.5 SWC.
Giving Bipandra CoC in NCA. would be very cool, I hope CB will do this, but she is PanO, So! we might not get it. I would also like to see her get a SMG but the Combi is just as good.
