September>December 2023 - Winter is coming with some reinforcements

Remember she is a Merc, and on Soldiers of Fortune tournaments she is usually a go-to profile for armies that do not have access to Hacker+

Yes, but as they said this is the ebb and flow. Remember that before the Crimson Stone box, nomads went several years without many relevant releases, while combined got all shasvastii and all morats, and several vanilla troops like the avatar reworked (mainly due to the Defiance influence) and pan0 also got WinterForce + Military Orders releases simultaneously a few years back. Now when bakunin ends it will be back to a draught for nomads again for some years. It's the usual release schedule for most miniature companies.

 

Actually, PanO got VIRD+MO rework, WinterForce, and MO re-rework from Third offensive to Fireteam reworks. After that until now is pretty much a drought. I prefer more evenly distributed releases as a PanO player, like what if there was one more year break between Winter Force and MO re-rework. I’ve heard others prefer dump reworks as Nomad sectorial gets now, but I can’t remember their reasons.

 

This year was a tidal wave for Nomads (edit: and it's subfactions).

Since CB started, they tried to NOT favor one faction over the other too much. One or two factions did get more than others but never to this amount. This is the first year one faction has received more than 30 figures in one year, and the year is not over yet. I'm willing to bet they have more coming out in November and December.

Spoiler: Figures released since 2020

2023 Figure Release up to October.
Nomads: 10 Releases, 32 figures (2 Wildcat, 1 Evader, 2 Tomcats, 3 Beta Pack, 9 Bakunin, 1 Dire Foes, 4 Coregidor FT Pack, Meteor Zond, Stigmata, 3 Expansion Alpha, Illuminatrix, Uberfallkommando)
Combined Army: 6 Releases, 20 Figures (Hungries, Daturazi, 3 Rodoks, 4 Expansion Beta, Caskuda, CA Support Pack Alpha)
Ariadna: 4 Releases, 9 Figures (Wardriver, Pack Alpha, Patchers, Kosmo Support pack)
Aleph: 4 Release, 6 Figure (Agamemnon, Booster Beta, Phoenix, Maximus)
NA2: 4 Release, 4 Figures (Wardriver, Yuan Yuan, O-Yoroi, Sforza)
PanO: 2 Releases, 4 Figure (Dire Foes, 3 Armbots)
Yu Jing: 3 Releases, 3 Figures (Lei Gong, Hulang, Bixie General Release)
O-12: 2 Releases, 3 Figures (Roadbots, Secudroid, Sarko)
Haqqislam: 2 Releases, 2 Figures (Shakush, Yara Hadod)

2022
Combined Army: 8 Releases, 22 Figures (Morats re-work)
Aleph, 5 Releases: 16 Figures (Operation Blackwind)
Haqqislam: 4 Releases, 12 Figures (Operation Blackwind)
PanO: 5 Releases, 11 Figures
O-12: 5 Releases, 10 Figures
Ariadna: 4 Releases, 6 Figures
NA2: 5 Releases, 5 Figures
Yu Jing: 4 Releases, 5 Figures (Shaolin, Hundun, Tian Gou x2 not counting Madtraps, Qiang Gao)
Nomads: 3 Releases, 4 Figures

2021 New figure Releases
Nomads 7 Releases, 23 figures (Operation Crimson Stone)
PanO 7 Releases, 21 figures (Operation Crimson Stone)
Ariadna 6 Releases, 15 figures
O-12 7 Releases, 14 Figures
NA2 9 Releases, 13 Figures
Combined Army 5 Releases, 12 Figures
Yu Jing 4 Releases, 10 figures
Haqqislam 2 Releases, 2 figures
Aleph 2 Releases, 2 Figures

2020 New figure Release
O-12 8 Releases, 24 Figures
Combined Army 9 Releases, 16 Figures
Yu Jing 7 Releases, 12 Figures (Operation Kaldstrom)
Ariadna 3 Releases, 12 Figures
NA2 7 Releases, 12 Figures
Aleph 1 Releases, 10 Figures
PanO 5 Releases, 9 Figures (Operation Kaldstrom)
Nomads 3 Releases, 6 Figures
Haqqislam 2 Releases, 2 Figures

2019
(Operation Wildfire Shasvastii vs. O-12)

 

Ok and? its not like other factions in the past didn't have their own and more importantly this is the new release schedule spearheaded by Morats.

 

Morats/Combined didn't get nearly as much. This also makes me feel that they are going the GW way. Only coming out with what sells and everyone waits years for scraps if they don't play the popular faction.

 

What you speak is a Corregidor release and a Bakunin release, and a Morat release, not Nomads release and not Combined army release.

You really should treat sectorials as their own thing.

 

What are you talking about? Almost all of the releases for both of them are available Nomads as well. If they were only available to the sectorial then sure. When was the last time you saw something, not a mercenary, that only came out for a vanilla sectorial? As far as I know, CA is the only faction that has troops only in vanilla and that's currently 2 figures.

 

If a release is intended primarily for a sectorial, and only secondarily for the faction overall, it makes sense to see it as a sectorial specific release. The bulk of the new Observance releases fit that, as do several of the MO releases.

 

I think we've all defined our positions on it ad nauseam, and we won't convince each other about it. Nothing to be gained from dragging this.

On a positive note, I'm a big fan of units available only in sectorials. I'm hoping we'll see more of that in the future. I'd also like to see more cases of units available to both getting less weapon options in vanilla.

 

This Tournament Extra basically doesn't exist in Germany
The TOs I know don't like it and the players are generally way too indifferent to care about it.

But I myself took her instead of the Custodier for the IV or V Interplanetario when SOF was the official extra.

 

Not at all, the Bakunin box was almost useless for a Vanilla Nomad. All the new troops were Bakunin only. Even the SinEater profile was a Bakunin exclusive. If you played vanilla that box only offered 4 resculpts for models that are actually not really that relevant in Vanilla.

 

It was not a tournament nor was it the one I played against.

At the moment all minis in the Yu Jing box are completley new and not in any sectorial. I do not think we need a Korea Sectorial, but would like to see the new troops equally spread over the existing ones.

Pan O, Haq, Nomads and maybe Aleph contain reworked profiles.

 

If I am not mistaken, this is the list of vanilla exclusive units:

edit: To clarify, these are purely exclusive units which can not be found in any other army. As QueensGambit pointed out, there are more units which are exclusive to vanilla armies, if you compare them within their faction (vanilla to their faction sectorials, not to all armies).

Combined Army

1. THE CHARONTIDS
2. AVATAR
3. SKIÁVOROS
4. THE ANATHEMATICS

Haqqislam

1. ZAMIRA NAZAROVA, Kum Enforcer
2. ZULEYKA NAZAROVA, Kum Enforcer
3. SALADIN, O-12 Liaison Officer

O-12

1. ALPHA UNIT
2. LYNX UNIT
3. DEVA Functionaries
4. TEAM SIRIUS
5. DELTA UNIT
6. OMEGA UNIT
7. GAMMA UNIT
8. RAZOR UNIT
9. GANGBUSTERS, Special Crime Squad
10. CUERVO GOLDSTEIN, Basilisk Level Delta

Tohaa

1. KAMAEL Light Infantry
2. SAKIEL Regiment
3. GAO-RAEL Unit
4. GAO-TARSOS Unit
5. ECTROS Regiment
6. MAKAUL Troops
7. NIKOUL AMBUSH UNIT
8. KOTAIL Mobile Unit
9. SUKEUL Commandos
10. TAQEUL Officers
11. GORGOS Squad

With regards to Bakunin (exculsive units, not profiles):

1. ORPHANS OF THE OBSERVANCE
2. PENITENT OBSERVANTS
3. REVEREND CENOBITES
4. INITIATED OBSERVANTS

 

In a tournament level you should know specifically the mission, what your opponent fields specifically (so when saying PanO it means specifically Generic PanOceania and not Varuna) and what your secret objective are before choosing which of the two lists you will use, then the LT roll is made.

 

Reinforcements are a mixture of new units and reworked profiles for an OOP sectorial, or a sectorial if they do not have any OOP.

I think Nomads are the only exception were they include units from different sectorials, Tunguska and Bakunin.

 

But it's still a fact that "Nomads" have received more new figures this year than most other factions. Both re-sculpts and new troops. This is just 18 for Vanilla Nomads. The second largest faction is Combined with 20 and all of them available to "Combined".


──────────────────────────────────────────────────
GROUP 1 9 1 2
STIGMATON (Hacker) Heavy Flamethrower(+1B), Heavy Rocket Launcher(+1B) / E/M CC Weapon. (2 | 58)
MOTHER AGATHA Breaker Combi Rifle, Pulzar / Pistol, EXP CC Weapon. (0 | 39)
METEOR ZOND Combi Rifle, Flash Pulse / PARA CC Weapon(-6). (0 | 22)
LUNOKHOD Heavy Shotgun, Heavy Flamethrower, D-Charges, Crazykoala / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 27)
TSYKLON Spitfire, Chain Rifle, Pitcher / PARA CC Weapon(-6). (1 | 33)
ROBIN HOOK Rifle(+1 Dam), Tactical Bow(+3 BS), Drop Bears / Heavy Pistol(+1B), PARA CC Weapon(-9). (0 | 23)
DIABLO Light Shotgun / Pistol, Shock CC Weapon, Trench-Hammer. (0 | 15)
DIABLO Submachine Gun / Pistol, Shock CC Weapon, Trench-Hammer. (0 | 16)
GROUP 2 9 1 1
CHIMERA Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Eclipse Grenades / Viral CC Weapon, Pistol. (0 | 20)
3X PUPNIK DA CC Weapon. (0 | 3)
LOBO (NCO) Red Fury, Flash Pulse(+1B) / Breaker Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-6). (1 | 33)
LOBO (Specialist Operative) Breaker Combi Rifle, Heavy Riotstopper, Flash Pulse(+1B) / Breaker Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-6). (0 | 25)
CARLOTA KOWALSKY Breaker Combi Rifle, Light Flamethrower, Adhesive Launcher(+1B), D-Charges / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 30)
TOMCAT (Engineer) Combi Rifle, Light Flamethrower, D-Charges ( | GizmoKit) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 26)
ZONDCAT PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 4)
MORAN (Surprise Attack [-3], Camouflage [1 Use]) Combi Rifle, Flash Pulse, D-Charges, Crazykoala / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 18)
MORAN (Surprise Attack [-3], Camouflage [1 Use]) Boarding Shotgun, Flash Pulse, Crazykoala / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 18)
WILDCAT Heavy Rocket Launcher / Assault Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 23)
WILDCAT Combi Rifle, Light Flamethrower, D-Charges / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 24)
EVADER Feuerbach, D-Charges ( | TinBot: Firewall [-3]) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 31)
8 SWC | 513 Points
Open in Infinity Army


Edit: Adding in what's come out for Vanilla Combined.


──────────────────────────────────────────────────
GROUP 1 9 1 6
TYROK T2 Rifle, Shock Mines / Heavy Pistol(+1B), Trench-Hammer(+1 Dam). (0 | 21)
OZNAT (Sensor) Vulkan Shotgun, Smoke Grenades / DA CC Weapon, Heavy Pistol. (0 | 26)
SYNC PRETA Chain Rifle / AP CC Weapon. (0 | 7)
RODOK Missile Launcher, Light Shotgun / Heavy Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 31)
RODOK Spitfire / Heavy Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 28)
RODOK (Strategic Deployment) Submachine Gun / Heavy Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 23)
DĀTURAZI Boarding Shotgun, Smoke Grenades / Heavy Pistol, Shock CC Weapon. (0 | 18)
DĀTURAZI Combi Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Heavy Pistol, Shock CC Weapon. (0 | 18)
DĀTURAZI Combi Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Heavy Pistol, Shock CC Weapon. (0 | 18)
DĀTURAZI Combi Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Heavy Pistol, Shock CC Weapon. (0 | 18)
GAKI AP CC Weapon. (0 | 4)
GROUP 2 4 4 3
GAKI AP CC Weapon. (0 | 4)
PRETA Chain Rifle / AP CC Weapon. (0 | 7)
PRETA Chain Rifle / AP CC Weapon. (0 | 7)
ZERAT (Forward Observer) Boarding Shotgun, Flash Pulse, Shock Mines / Heavy Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 25)
DROPSUIT TARYOT Boarding Shotgun / Heavy Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 22)
RINDAK FTO (Paramedic) Submachine Gun, Flash Pulse(+1B) / Heavy Pistol, PARA CC Weapon. (0 | 27)
CASKUDA Combi Rifle(AP), Chain Rifle(+1B) / CC Weapon. (1.5 | 64)
STALDRON Flash Pulse / CC Weapon. (0 | 0)
4.5 SWC | 361 Points
Open in Infinity Army

 

I have not argued for or against this point.

All I have done was replying to the sentence quoted in my previous post. Since I play O12 I knew that there is at least one additional vanilla faction with exclusive models next to CA. This sparked my curiosity and I wrote a script to give me all units which are exclusive to a vanilla armies. I shared my findings, but not with the intention to argue for one side of this argument.

 

Yes sorry. You are correct on that. I should have quoted another.

 

Regular Kum, Hunzakut as well.

I'm surprised there are so few, actually. I always thought there were more, but the rest are all mercs.

Those five are all extremely good, though.

 

This is actually very useful, because it shows rather interesting trends.

For example we have:
2020 103 figures, 45 releases
2021 112 figures, 49 releases
2022 91 figures,
2023 83 figures (up to October)

Combined army 70 figures
Nomads 65 figures
O-12 51 figures
PanO 45 figures
Ariadna 42 figures
Aleph 34 figures
NA2 34 figures
Yu Jing 30 figures
Haqqislam 16 figures
Here I will add Tohaa with 4 figures - the three longarms and the spec-ops.



So, two things. Smaller number of miniatures, doesn't necessarily means less product. It can also mean more shared profiles, like Maximus who is both Aleph and PanO related. But the reduction is nonetheless interesting. We also find out less miniatures per box, which is not unexpected - we see less 4-men unit boxes and more 3-men expansion boxes.

Second is that the clear outliers is CA and Nomads. CA got reworks on both shas and morats and no one talks about them since the reworks were well overdue and apart from the occasional odd unit (I'm looking at you jayth!), the rest were not considered bloaty. Also, the CA has always had very likeable badass alien design and people enjoy stylish villains. Nomads got the tail end of the Corregidor rework stacked with the Bakunin rework and did saw units that no one really wanted to see too much. The whole penal units in Corregidor never managed to impress much people and even the Gator, as strong in game as it is, was hardly necessary. A lot of the new units in Bakunin were not strictly speaking something that had a gap to fill. The longarms, the penitent, even the initiates... This makes Nomads stand out much more as the "disproportionate" faction.

The rest of the factions, outside of poor Tohaa and the Haqqislam are doing fine. Haqqislam is starting to see updates, finally, and we can only hope that this will continue with QK becoming more supported. Hassassin rework was also largely on point and fitted well with what was there so far.


Edit: For whatever reason, the message was cut in a weird part.