Modest Proposal to improve White Banner Army list variety and faction identity

I mean it gets pretty darn close. Linked SJ with 3 Zhanshi HD is really good with Guilang Minelayer. Can even throw in Dao Fei/Guilang Hackers or Combat Rems with their repeaters. Pair that with a missilebot and only mines can stop a guilang from yoloing 12” and dropping a repeater.

 

That's not even remotely close to how good Nomads are at it.

Nomads can literally place a pitcher in your DZ in one order and start spamming missiles at shit. Pitchers and Pandas are far superior to a Guilang with a Dep Rep for offensive hacking projection.

Nomads also pack superior hacking devices and actually have highly valuable upgraded programs, like AP Trinity or B3 Oblivion.

White Banner offers the potential for some forward deploying repeaters. Congratulations, Nomads can also do that, along with a bunch of other factions including ones like Pan-O that are decidedly mediocre at hacking.

Druze and WhiteCo are examples of two sectorials that a running just behind Nomads in terms of a hacking threat. White Banner is hanging out with Pan-O sniffing glue in the remedial hacking class ahead of only the Ariadnan and Tohaa drop outs.

 

We aren’t going to agree. Fastpandas on a 4”inch Forward Deployment do not add up to an infiltrating Minelayer with Repeaters. You can also miss your pitchers. But yeah, Having two repeaters, one at midfield and one at enemies DZ in 2 orders is so order intensive and WASTEFUL.

TJC is definitely packing better Hacking Devices and individual Hackers, but it pays a premium for them. The linked Interventor rolls worse BTS rolls against oblivion as a linked Zhanshi HD. Securitate Hacker is actually awesome considering it is immune to oblivion.

Blinding yourself with cynicism at something WB is actually pretty decent is your own problem.

 

I disagree about taking AP away from the Shang Ji. It losing anti-armour ability wouldn't make the Yan Huo worth taking, it would just take away an anti-armour option from a faction that is already lacking in good anti armour options.

The biggest change the Shang Ji needs is to get a model release. How long has it been since Kaldstrom dropped and we're still waiting for the flagship trooper for two sectorials? CB basically forgot that WB and Winterfor even exist the moment after they dropped them.

That said, the Shang Ji's presence in WB should probably be re-evaluated. I'm not necessarily against it being there at all, but it shouldn't be the lodestone of the entire faction.

 

Yes, compared to Pitchers and Pandas it is more wasteful because aggressively using dep reps generally means you're sending a Guilang on a one way trip. If you want to use your dep reps aggressively you've got 1 shot to inflict maximum damage then they get broken and you can't replace them with a dead guilang.

Hecklers and Pitcher units can project a hacking network safely. That's what makes them so problematic to deal with because you can't just clear the hacking bubbles once and then more or less push the threat of their hackers out of your face, you're forced to actually chase down their hackers and deal with them or accept that they'll keep hitting you every single turn because they can continue to fart more repeaters out across the table. A Heckler can sit within 8" of a baggage bot and just keep flinging pandas around into the midfield with ease to project an incredible coverage for a hacking network. Same for a Tsyklon.

In comparison trying to achieve the same thing with dep reps take a huge amount of movement that just isn't feasible order wise.

 

It's not a all of them and very specific ones but I agree that WB should at least have the Son Bae. But the Weibing is possible, and a FTO non-camo Long Ya would be unique to WB.