Hello there, I have some yu jing minis i collected over the time, simply because i loved the look of them. Havnt played in over two years and am looking to get back into it. I usually play aleph but somehow want to expand my yu jing. I was a bit overwhelmed when i realized how much new minis and profiles got released in my time off. I could really need some advice what to buy next. Probably want to dive into ISS but am open to all suggestions. Here is what i own right now: Crane Rank Agent (the awesome special sculpt with the sword in the head of an alien) Kanren (male variant with sword) Ninja with bow (think it was some box special miniature) Pheasant Rank Agent (female with sword) Su-jian (because cyber dog) Guija-pilot (because...) Old vanilla starter box with 3 zanshi, hsien with sword, Tiger soldier hacker and i think zuyong Thanks so much in advance! Cheers
With aleph and what you already, got you are already halfway into imperial service. My recommendation would be: Imperial service starter, Kuang shi, major lunah, rui shi and lu Duan, celestial guard (you can use the zhanshi as celestials), kanren hacker, some bounty hunters, eventually wu ming.
Ninja with bow is the operation special miniature from the out of production Red Veil box, yes. Here's a few recommendations: * Yaoxie box. While less a staple in N4 they are still useful and a source for MSV * Yaokong box. Very much a staple. Two boxes will give you options. * Kuang Shi. I don't think N4 is kind to maxing their AVA in ISS so one box should be sufficient. * ISS Starter. This is mostly for the Celestial Guards, but the Rage Fist Crane is decent and the Pheasant isn't a terrible option to have even if the profile you'll probably use most maps 1:1 with the female Pheasant you already have. * Dire Foes: Retaliation. Adil's medium infantry incarnation is quite the potent unit. Dire Foes: Defiant Truth. Xi Zhuang is just a nice unit to pad ISS fireteams with. * Yu Jing Booster Pack Alpha. Both agents in this pack are real assets to ISS and the Hac Tao is a good mini to have in vanilla. * Aleph Dakini box. Like it or not, these are some of the most potent units of ISS. Vanilla specific recommendations * Long Ya box. This is very much a hero unit in vanilla, they might not kill their points every game but they'll mess your opponent's plans up real good. * Shaolin Monks. Both blisters. Great miniatures in my opinion and very useful on the table. * Hundun HRL. Hidden Deployment template weapons are very scary and difficult for opponents to deal with. * Daoying Hacker. Best LT profile in the game. * Krit Kokram. One of the most useful NCO in the game.
Thanks a lot for your answer! Completely forgot to mention my aleph troops, have the 3 dakinis from the coldstorm (?) Box and a lot of different devas and a garuda. Great idea to use the zanshi models as celestial guard as they dont really seem to differ that much? Except for probably the visor helmets. I dont really like the models in the starter tbh, so i think the kuang shi is what i am probably going to get soon, kanren next perhaps just cause i like the models and perhaps the newer celestial box if i want the correct models.
Thanks a lot for your answer, really helpful! I dont really like the models in the iss starter, would the newer celestial guard box be a good alternativ as i already own a crane Agent and the pheasant as you mentioned. There is probably no alternative to the very dated Yaoxie Box right? Really dont like getting these old boxes somehow. Kuang shi is probably my next purchase as I already own some dakinis (forgot to mention them above). Thanks again! Oh and: really like the daoying models and profiles, shame they are not in ISS. Always seen machaon as the best LT Option in the game, but my knowlege of the game as mentioned is very limited but i can See why the daoying hacker makes a nice LT. Would you mind elaborating why the hacker is so good as LT?
Camo lt, with extra lt order, in a faction with access to NCO and chain of command. The daoying is very good since you can hide her, and she still contributes three!! Orders to your NCO. Additionally she can hack. So what is not to love. The celestial guard SWC box is nice and the combi/smoke grenadelauncher will be used almost a 100 percent of lists. The other loadouts have gotten a lot more interesting with the changes to fireteams. If you can get your hand on Adil in crane armor he is a great proxy for all crane loadouts if you want to ru ntwo cranes. As of now there is no recent direct alternative to the yaoxi remotes. Maybe there will be a resculpt some time in the future. You could use any Remote with the correct silhouettevalue as proxy if you find one you like more. I would recommend The swc dakini box for imperial service and aleph a lot. These guys are pure murder.
The Celestial Guard box is an SWC box, but it is absolutely an option. While I can not speak for what you will come to appreciate or not from it, I do think the risk is you'll end up using only half of each box. Personally I value having access to easily proxiable Monitor profiles (my lists often feature two Celestial Guard Monitors when playing ISS) so that's why I recommend the Starter. The alternative to Yaoxie would be to look at other factions (maybe Bulleteers can do the job?) or to augment them with additional parts. I hate the guns that come with the Yaoxie box and have augmented my Lu Duan and Rui Shi with guns that are intended for Space Marines and Imperial Guard tanks. The guns have an over-sized look, but it's much clearer what they are meant to represent. I don't think this box is as mandatory in N4 as it used to be, so if you want to put this purchase on the back burner it's going to be just fine. Daoying is an LT who spends her day in Camo. Typically an opponent will have pretty big problems assassinating her as a result, just sending a Fiday at her isn't really going to work if you supply some protection. If she can survive to late game (and she typically does), she also generates 2 orders for her own use, has a decent ARM value, and a Boarding Shotgun for templates - my track record with her is many more buttons flipped late game than times she's died, which is pretty decent for an LT chosen for cowardly reasons!
You can never go wrong with Remotes. All of them. Maybe two. ISS has AVA3 of the TR HMG remote. You may not do 3 but two is pretty good.
In addition to stuff recommended here, for ISS I would strongly recommend picking up the Hsien Multi-Rifle blister. He doesn't get much play in vanilla, but ISS loves to link him, and the variety of stuff he can drag along means he'll be the primary shooter in your toolbox of troops. If you have a Sophotect -- or a viable proxy (like say a Posthuman or Parvati) then you can skip the Aleph Support box too. Echoing what others said about the remotes; I personally think they still hold up, but their old construction makes them incredibly fiddly. The Rui Shi in particular has guns attached to wings with two very tiny contact points between them, and they have a tendency to fall off in transit because of this. I love the look of both of them, but if you have other Silhouette 4 remotes you'd rather use, I'd recommend getting those instead.
