Have you played TAGs in N4?? Some of the best use of tags is an aro piece, simply because killing them is so damn hard now. There are times where you can get a positional advantage over a TAG where they can't guys, but I think that should be rewarded, because even with optimal weapons, chewing through a TAG in a turn can take several orders, and that's if you don't just get unlucky and turn into a fine mist from an EXP round.
It's true for almost all units that unless you hide them during turn 1 if you didn't go first you'll likely loose them, but once you've had a turn counter-dealing with their removal tools this is no longer as much an issue. This is, however, a feature of the way this game plays because of how a unit can take several actions per turn. Now, if you just hide your TAG during later turns, all you do is allow your opponent to set up repeaters or get close with hackers which means you've got more of their tools to worry about. So far, TAGs have been playing fairly well for me. Haven't been too impressed with the Blue Wolf, but the Guijia has been rocking. It's the ARM difference between them, mainly, and the way it scales basically exponentially. Guijia / Maghriba can face tank what a Blue Wolf / Shakush can't
If you haven't played N4 TAGs yet, I suggest you do so. Their durability has increased a lot, and even moreso their damage output. Dealing with a TAG without specialised tools now is extremely hard.
I did an Armoury mission today with a TAG and I definitely was pretty satisfied with its durability this time around. It definitely helps that the Xeodron got such a huge buff, between the Multi Marksman and 6-2 instead of 4-4. Its effective armour 6 definitely was worth the points, and it took a number of orders between an HMG and a plasma weapon to knock it out in a suppressionless ARO situation. Very nice. Which brings me to another question...does Bioimmunity work the way CB intends it to work? It seems like if your BTS is higher than your ARM, there is no reason to ever declare that you'll take your saves against ARM. It's less a skill and more +# ARM that has the added benefit of ignoring K1 weapons. For anyone that is aware of this, the xeodron would function identically with 0 as its ARM value. The only exception would be if there was a Comms attack that hit ARM... EDIT: I am wrong. Checking ammo types (pg 174), E/M halves BTS, so you could choose to save on ARM instead. Very nice.
I believe “breaker” weapons still exist in N4, and a Xeodron would be better served to use ARM against those as well, instead of half BTS.
Why did they give Q-Drones Mimetism while the human counterparts don't have it? Raicho didn't have Maestro or anything prompting this skill and neither did Scylla's Charybdis, more likely they wanted her to be extra good against hackers, beyond what the +2 DAM on Trinity does, plain and simple as that.
Yeah, well, it's a shift in the power level of hackers without a commensurate adjustment in points. She used to be a KHD w/Maestro, now she's amazingly better than the other KHDs with Maestro because stacking modifiers besides Firewall are so much harder to come by in N4. I get that she's somebody's self insert but this is getting ridiculous. Q-Drone has had mimetism for time immemorial.
They did get commensurate adjustment. In full! They were all reduced by the full 0 points extra they cost for losing this ability. All 0 points. Scylla only had Maestro on the Killed Hacking Device, which she no longer has access to, and she was adjusted upwards in points more than the Pitcher would cost her and given a worse CCW. Nah, you're pulling this one out of yer arse and besides which, why do you think Combined Hackers, specifically, need this?
Because part of CA's dynamic (and fluff) was being able to engage factions like Tunguska in the hacking game and do well.
So what? Yu Jing's dynamic (and fluff) is that they are able to take on everyone else in melee from a position of advantage and that hasn't been true (edit: or entirely necessary) for over 3 years. Anathematic, Skiavaros and Charontid are of course S-tier hackers with Bit and Nourikas being about as near equals to Mary Problems as you can expect, but why do you think this is not sufficient and why do you think that Combined needs to have what is essentially rank-and-file hackers to also be on par with Tunguska's hero hacker? Because if memory serves, EI KHDs had Maestro, no? (Please do note that Aleph's dynamic (and fluff) is that they have are the very best technology in the human sphere and the very best users that money and politics can have constructed using this tech, I find it very appropriate that Aleph have one or two better individual hackers than Tunguska, even though I'm somewhat dubious on whether hacking's relationship with Guided weapons is entirely healthy for the game... So Scylla being almost on par with a Skiavaros when it comes to hacking is not inappropriate, far from it)
Not actually true in fluff, but if you're talking about Uprising changing that for the worse, I wasn't a fan of that either. Because they were on a more even power level with her before, and it fits the fluff of the race of alien computer-people to be good at hacking. Sure, and Onyx's fluff is being the scariest technology the EI can muster... but a REMpiloted Dakini makes them look like shit.
*flips to CB's info page on Yu Jing for newbies* Amazing! They've finally removed Oniwaban as a recommended first purchase! Seems like our schtick is now to have state of the art technology. Hey, maybe Yu Jing hackers are the ones who should all have ECM: Hacker -3 after all.. Hmm... (this is written with sarcasm, for anyone who missed it) Again, the alien computer people are WIP 16, BTS 6 and Oblivion +1B with NWI or 2W and NWI, with all three examples also being significantly better at shooting than Mary, Scylla or an Interventor. Whether you like it or not, but alien computer people being really damned scary at hacking checks out, and not by a small margin. When did a REM piloted Dakini enter this conversation? This isn't your thread over on the Combined forums where you ask for the benefits of playing Aleph without the limitations or differences of doing so. I can only assume you would like the 1 SWC version of Apsara that Aleph players are low-key complaining about? No? If Onyx seems to be a C-tier faction or lower to you, would it not make sense to make the stuff that is specific to the faction work instead of just making it Evil Sub-Section? Now, I realise that this is a game of nuance and that I'm being pugilistic about it; but do try and seriously consider what's actually wrong with the faction instead of trying to snipe the benefits that other factions have. I'm personally riding a bit of a high from the N4 changes because the mostly minor points adjustments to IA and a few ability alterations has made that army a rather fantastic experience to play and make lists for, so if your faction feels restrictive, mono-build, or just generally weak, I'd actually be all ears about what feels off with it. Just, you know, the lens of "give me what they have" is a bit... wrong. As someone who doesn't play Onyx, I'm only on the receiving end of what works and what meshes well, so I only see the high-points of the sectorial. What I see are some horribly terrifying melee units that you don't want to get within 14" of, a bunch of light TAGs, some really good hackers that I can never really afford to engage in E-War with, and all of it with Combined's signature of remarkably cheap Baggage REMs, armed EVO Hackers and that damned Q-Drone. This doesn't quite match the narrative you're driving here, as you can imagine. Now, I don't see Onyx very often, but I see Shasvasti and regular Combine so often that I am starting to wonder if they are Infinity's Space Marines...
Don't be silly. The Shasvastii are Infinity's Sisters of Battle (with Tohaa starring in the Eldar/Dark Eldar role...)
*Looks at the shavasti model I tested my SoB paint scheme on* That comparison is either serendipitous or creepy, not sure which.
Well, you have Tinbots with -6 firewalls, so basically the same thing. They're also a *lot* more points. My point is more that right now Onyx has the limitations of ALEPH but less of the benefits. Hacking *is* the stuff that is specific to the faction. In N3 OCF relied pretty heavily on hacking to make all their remotes work. The issue is... Onyx used to have what they have. Cheap REMs can't really be used for defense anymore now that Overclock's gone. The overall increase in lethality means that the Q-Drone is worth a lot less than it used to be; if you leave it out it's just going to get knocked unconscious, likely in one order, and if they finish it off you're out of one of your precious attack pieces. Our melee units are aight but they're no Guard + D-charges, which is the new hotness. Invincible Army's hackers are actually better at fighting other hackers due to their superior Tinbot and the fact that Tinbots don't stack with Firewalls any more. Armed EVO hacker is nice but compared to what it used to have (Exile, Overclock, Kaleidoscope) it feels vastly diminished from N3. The point is this: I dunno about the power level of OCF, or CA as a whole, but it's changed pretty dramatically how it works. I feel better making lists for USARF than OCF.
