All right-y. We've had some time to ponder, mull, and dream the big dreams. So what do we have left? I've noticed what I feel is an oddity for the Spear of Allah and it's notably technology based approach. Hacking: Normally I'm not too worried over this because hacking has never impressed me. But it seems you want a hacker or two in many missions to get things done. We're (currently) lagging a little in this area. We have the ghulam (hacker), Mukhtar (assault hacker), Tuareg (assault hacker), and Leila (killer hacking device). There is also (currently) no deployable repeaters/pitchers and only Remotes that carry them to provide coverage. But from a background perspective, I do have to wonder at the very narrow selection here. HB has five hacking units, pitchers, and remotes to generate a hacking game. QK has... seven? units but admittedly only one pitcher. Then the usual suspects in terms of remotes. For a supposedly more advanced task force it just seems a bit... lacking? Engineering: Another (currenlty) weak area. I'm well aware that engineering in general is a low representation area for Infinity in general. But again, we have an 'advanced' force with 3 kinds of heavy infantry, nearly twice the normal amount of remotes, and potentially two TAGs. Little dude will be overworked even with up to 4 Nasmats. Or should I view this as the remotes, etc as disposable assets and the goal it to try to tough it out?
Have a tea, o brother. Have some baklava. If this doesn't help, have a shisha, o Father of Impatience - I'm not going to inquire what you're filling it with ;). You're worried, and you haven't seen the whole thing yet. There are units we have yet to hear a word about, above the mere fact of their existence: Nahab Aeromobile Team and Monstruckers. An obvious design space. There are units that we haven't been shown DF loadout lists for - which is basicaly everything save for Muktar, Numarr and Hortlak Janissaries. This is a less obvious desing space, but equally valid: for example, Murabid Touaregs could be easily upgraded with Hacking Devices differnet from the so-far standard AHD. Or Deployable Repeaters. And same might be the case for other units. Even the profile lists for the troops shown might be not yet complete, though this I'd consider unlikely. Perhaps the REMs are to be considered disposable assets in RTF. After all, Haqqislam puts a lot of emphasis on their soldiers, and our medical care is second to none. So, if we have to sacrifice a drone to keep a trooper alive, I say, so be it. But this still remains to be seen. Please note the other Haqq forces can only count on additional engineers if they bring in Kaplan- which is not available fot HB. So simply nothing new in this department.
A killer hacker Tuareg specific to RTF wouldn't be unusual (see Spektr KHD) and would be very welcome.
This isn't intended to be a woe-is-us kind of thread. I'm checking my "world view" so to speak. :p Off to take family back to assorted homes, will edit later.
I'm not worried, I'm more wondering about a sort of internal consistency. :p I believe I noted engineering is generally pretty low across the board and the entire game. ;) But our only other sectorial does indeed if extra possible engineers. Perhaps this is why there are 4 Nasmats as noted. ;) Story on.
Keep in mind a distant possibility of an Engineer profile in one of the new units. On the other hand, many - seemingly high-tech - faction seem to be doing with just a basic Engineer.
Maybe RTF uses their tech to lean to unhackable LI rather than hacking defenses. Or they will link Rafiqs to bring along repeaters with heavies. The mystery links could solve at least some of this. In any case, I think they will skirt hacking by emphasizing LI (as a lot of Haqq does) rather than engage in infowar, as HB does to an extent. I agree with @Errhile on engineers. Historically underused, but hard to say if that'll change.
I think it's reasonable at this point to expect at least one hacker and at least one engineer we haven't seen yet. We know we're getting a Nahab Aeromobile Team. This is very likely going to be some form of AD troop. A hacker profile, especially an assault hacker one, is likely. Combine this with our WIP 15 TO assault hacker, and aggressive hacking is covered. I agree that only having a ghulam option for the base hacking device is odd. I'd say that pushes us away from using remotes as the main punch of our list. As for the repeaters, don't discount the increased AVA of remotes in that. If you were to actually take the full AVA of Rafiq and Fanous bots, that's 5 repeaters covering a sizable portion of the table. The Monstrucker has a unit logo that resembles a cog and text around it that says "keep on truckin'." Based on this, I'm going to conclude that it's an engineer. It's probably going to be WIP 13, being a mercenary, but still a second engineer.
Mind you Ramah, just like the other sectorials, will have access to an EVO hacker for regular hacking needs. Availability 3 Fanous remotes pairs really nice with that for cheap ARO duty. If the Nahab is AD3 or higher, it'll benefit from the EVO hacker as well. Assault Hackers will primarily be a threat for Maggie, the Janissaries and Al Fasids. Regular Janissaries can bring a tinbot. If I'm not mistaken, Maggie is able to duo up with a Rafiq to give her some repeater coverage. As it stands, RTF's only KHD is Leila at the moment, but that might change. With plenty of repeaters and Leila's special fireteam options (will she be wildcard like QK?), assault hackers shouldn't be too much of a problem. Another option is to skip heavy infantry all together and utilize Ramah's fantastic light infantry :)
Then why not bring more? I thought they weren't letting remotes take people's jobs? Which they can't do either if immobilized...
Does anyone run more than one Engineer? I play Nomads and I don't, even with Tomcats. Think that's rather uncommon.
Isn't this what's represented by the four Nasmats? I see your point, but it doesn't really bother me. Haqqislam is a midtier tech power and I'm fine with less engineers / hackers, even in RTF.
Yeah, I also like that it leans more heavily on showcasing Haqqislam's edge in biotech and medical science rather that stepping on the toes of PanO's straight tech advantages and Yu Jing's Heavy Infantry identity.
Sure. But it's is currently less than our other sectorials, while at the same time demonstrating more need...
I hear you, but the Mukhtar and Tuareg are better quality than other hackers (except Leila, who is bae). Barid is cheap and wonderful, but certainly not as elite as these two. So I suppose it seems to me that RTF has elite hacking, if not numbers. And the bio focus helps them feel hi-tech, but also distinct from Pano, YJ, Nomads.
Leila is waifu thicc. But Barids I feel are our single best hacker in the faction. Exceptional cost, and all of them have good upgrade programs.
Barids are excellent and come with Pitchers, which makes them very good at delivering their programs.