For the first part, thank you. It's refreshing to hear that. We all have biases, one reason for discussion, it helps us see our own blind spots. I hear your opinion and agree I don't want god machines, but I still maintain that maybe Nomads should not be the only faction with TAGs that make a guts roll when shot by a combi-rifle hehe. Overall yeah, No god machines, I just want better workhorses. As for the fluff justifications... those always ring hollow to me. I get that fluff should inform gameplay and i have argued fluff several times through out, but CB writes the fluff. Bakkunin could explode tomorrow if they decided to do that, and given JSA and Tohaa it's certainly possible (but CB please don't). But you can't ignore the real world when talking about model releases. Given real world constraints regarding money, pewter, and logistics it just seems weird to argue nomads aren't a TAG faction when we have the 3rd most number of TAGs and double or quadruple the number of everyone below us on that list. It'd be like given Ariadna half a dozen hackers, you could do it but if it isn't meant to be a hacking faction then why do it? Except even worse cause TAGs are a bigger investment to develop, produce, and ship.
From fluff Nomads do not have the capacity to manufacture TAGs, at least military grade TAGs, and beyond the big two PanO and Yu Jing, there are few, if any, other TAG manufacturers in the human sphere, there is a multitude of reasons why this should be, frankly Nomads have more urgent things to manufacture, and more profitable, than making their own military TAGs, mining TAGs for example that can turn a profit. As it stands all Nomad TAGs including the "rogue" Anacondas, are military surplus TAGs bought cheap from PanO deemed a failed series of TAGs retrofitted by Praxis. From a gameplay perspective, I think this should be reflected on the table, Nomads do not have the manufacturing capacity of PanO or Yu Jing, nor the wealth of Haqq to order TAGs. Though I would agree on Courage.
Like I said in the other thread, for me, Courage does not make sense for Nomad Tags. Nomads are practical and common sense means you get out the way when shot. Courage is overriding common sense.
So if you havent got big borders and you live on a spaceship, you only need TAGs for offensive missions. How many missions are our black ops boys going to send in a nomad branded specialist tag into an operation that would then identify who operated and commissioned that operation? Its not a major focus of what the nomads need so why would they devote huge resources to making and maintaining them? It specifically says that they dont have a major sized military force, its small and lightweight. Having a huge and lumbering operation behind it to deploy huge numbers of extremely heavy parts-hungry easily-identifiable 12ft walking tanks doesn't really jive with their raison d'etre. A few, sure, but its not their "thing". Thats cool, our "thing" is superb hacking. being able to deny or control where the enemy can operate their super massive machines of death is just as cool an ability as having one of them yourself.
It does and it does not, from an operational doctrine it may be enforceable to pilots to seek better cover and minimize losses, on the other hand it is a big armoured platform designed to soak up fire.
I see you have put everything in the quotes so I can not quote it easily but there are ways around that. You see other then Alephs Marut all the remote tags have there pilots being human off site, this is confirmed with the Seraph and Zeta fluff. So both Pan O and O 12 TAGs are still dealing with the constraint of the mammalian nervous system but are also adding in problems like latency, signal speed and issues with simplifying the data transfer to make easier to send and process on the other end. Because though I find a szalamandra in cover with suppression moving to take full cover from getting hit by combi rifle funny, it makes little logic for it. One is an effective armor of 11 (8+3 from cover) and the combi rifle does not even need to damage it to make the szalamandra jump behind a building and not see anything. The combi rifle poses no real danger to the TAG in this case but this can and has happened much to my hilarity and sorrow. Almost no other TAGs in the game has this problem, I think the other one is in Tohaa that can have this happen. Really sure it lacks AP but I feel it is a trade off for being a repeater. It also lost shooting out its piolet but meh that is for rule simplification. It piolet could use being a specialist like the Anaconda's but once more I am meh on that. In all actuality it probably has both.
The Nomads are the Human Sphere's foremost asteroid miners, either directly or via Corps like Rocaworks, roughly a third of Corregidor's internal structure is given over to heavy industry like refining, smelting, and production. Operation: Crimson Stone is set aboard one of very many Nomad Asteroid Bases. My headcanon is that they have a very limited number of TAGs, though they're not lacking in raw materials or software expertise the manufacture of entire TAGs is either slightly beyond them or not economically viable. There are only so many obsolescent TAGs on the market so Nomad pilots are less eager to leave their machines as an easy target and risk losing a hard to replace chassis.
Nomads already have the best hackers with the best repeater net and great engineers which already synergies wonderfully with the TAGs nomads have. The designated TAG faction is PanO. Other big players in TAGs are combined and the Marut which is the only TAG in aleph. It's not about the available choices. And honestly except the iguana all the TAGs are fine and can be sufficiently supported by the lists. From my standpoint it's important that each faction has its own identity with strengths and weaknesses. Nomads already have a lot of strengths and don't really rely on their tags. They have their huge bag of dirty tricks. I would kill for pitchers, eclipse, or HD+ access in yu jing... I think the focus should a lot more often be on what your faction has not what it might be lacking. ;)
I think this is the point really. how many nation states in our world could theoretically make a modern fighter jet and aircraft carrier to launch it from, but how many of those actually do? For every plane you put in the sky you need thousands upon thousands of people in RnD, mining, manufacturing, storage, distribution, software, maintenance, training, arming, refuelling, and then actually deploying. All of those people need to pay their bills and eat so the total cost of making and deploying that kind of capability is astronomically high. If the kit you make isn't as good as your competitors you've spent all that time and cash to still be outgunned/outclassed. Most nations now just buy their kit and expertise from one of the few big boys that do make stuff. Infinity universe is no different.
Yes that is why courage is a hang up, because that happens and though funny it is also sad to see the plans fail because of something like that. I am fine loosing models, that happens, but death is different from being forced back when you are a walking tank. Failing that check moves the tag into full cover if it can and removes suppression on it. When you have it guarding a fire lane and holding down a flank your plans just go out the window. I also feel courage makes perfect sense for Nomads, every military action is to secure or protect there home which is only allowed to live by the grace of politics. I am a big believer that TAGs design needs to be redon as a whole. Build a use case then make the TAG fit the use case as if it where a specialized model; like with the Uhlan which is a TAG hunter and it does that job well or the Overdrone which is dedicated fire support and it does that job well.
Good use of Fluff, but if the machines are easy to replace and maintain (something explicitly stated on the Gecko), then wouldn't you be more likely to risk the machine knowing you can get a new one? Parts and frames certainly do not seem to be at risk of running out, especially if the Black Hand has gone so far as to make their own merc company... which does have courageous pilots, fire team duo, TAG operators with specialist operative, and AP spitfires for previously HMG equipped units.
Explicitly civilian minors though, I would not expect courage necessarily. Aside from the risk to life and limb, and the lack of training, a minor can't expect to get replacement parts if their TAG gets wrecked. The nomads explicitly can.
Question on that actually. Aren't the nomads in control of the arachne network, the network explicitly created for running a black market beyond Aleph's influence? And this is in addition to having the largest, most profitable, and skilled mining operation in the sphere that almost destabilized Ariadna's control of the teseum market. I'll agree the nomads don't make their own TAGs, they are too busy building ship and orbital parts or other profitable ventures. But they could make a TAG is they wanted to, they make ships and orbitals after all and those require much larger facilities to produce. Still not asking for super TAGs, just parity with other factions... including the NA2s running a merc TAG that calls the Nomad Nation home.
Yup, much like modern Fighter jets, while Dassault and Lockheed Martin have newer designs there's still plenty of F-16s and Mirages out there in the hands of smaller militaries being kept relevant by retrofits and upgrades (and arguably superior to expensive disasters like the F-35) Nope, Triphammers might be converted mining TAGs but their pilots are professional mercenaries.
Okay, now apply this logic to the real world. Why would CB keep giving Nomads TAGs at double or quadruple the rate of all but 2 factions if they are not meant to have a focus on TAG play. You have to develop the model, produce it in large numbers, and then ship them. Very similar to tanks, just now made of pewter. Stop using a fictional universe to answer a question based in a real universe. You can say you don't know, that is a perfectly good answer.
Fair enough, they are mercenaries. I was wrong on that point. However they don't have a guarantee of replacement parts (or bodies) if they mess up, it's one of the reasons the existence of the Anacondas is so strange in universe (unless they have a mysterious backer *ominous music*). But a nomad pilot does not have these issues (especially the geckos). Also yeah military surplus is crazy, lord the number of shermans made in WWII. One reason I don't think the answer is shortage of parts or even whole mech frames, the reptile series is old and out dated but if it's anything like the real world they made ton of them. Also thank you for your thoughtful answers.
When I see a discrepancy like this I actually find it more fun to come up with a reason why, rather than why not, partially inspired by some of the great mysteries of real life militaries like these: https://www.arrse.co.uk/wiki/British_Military_Procurement_Mysteries
