Setting up for the Year of the Aliens, for sure, but it seems a little odd. I'd think Third Offensive is going to be a book full of Combined Army successes and new scary units to dial up the threat level, but all this year's as-yet-unpublished sectorials are from the Sphere... Are their stories going to be an account of cycling in reserves? Acon forces badly mauled, Varuna deploys to replace them. French forces have been withdrawn, TAK reinforcements now dominate the Expeditionary Corps. Assault Subsection cant deal with Swanson-esque infiltration which is disrupting the blockades, OSS is deployed to lend its expertise. Tunguska bolsters weakening Corregidor lines (or maybe strikes back against CA infiltration/attacks on Sphere networking and financials)?
that's cool looking green-black book instead of the uprising red-black. I'm betting it will contain TAK, OSS, Tunguska, Varuna and all their fluff. it will probably also set the scene for 2019 and the year of the alien, so to speak.
What a decidedly dull name. "Third Offensive: The Game Expansion because "Acheron Falls" sounded cool but we also didn't want to confirm it to be that..."
Prepare to see the asshole mood of Yujing. Being a dick and allowing the CA success to punish PANO for supporting the uprising. Yujing evilness strikes back and Yujing Players/fans are gonna be disappointed yet again. And I don't think this book is gonna be "acheron falls", at least the way we've pictured it. It seems like the uprising book. So yet another piece or fascicle of what we've pictured or expected about acheron falls... that's the reason I figure behind the dull name "the third wave"
Personally I think the book will be good. If you look at that spine, it is a thicc boy/girl. I also find the name Third Offensive, much more sinister than "Acheron Falls" but I do believe this is the Acheron Falls project. I think we will see a true offensive of more Combined Army elements into the sphere and perhaps could see the Acheron Blockade fall. If this were the case, the Combined Army would attack Acon, it is a staging ground and training facility for the ASS and jungle fighters. Militarily speaking, it would be smart. I think we will see Acon attacked and thus can no longer provide resources to the fight (as they are defending) thus the fluff reason for removing them from the shelves but not Army. I think the book will provide: -Redux of Spec Ops -Redux of Campaign Rules -Fluff of all the sectorials that have been released post NA2 -Fluff of the new units -The new rules listed -Advancement of the story The Combined Armies Second Offensive was brutal. With increased activity and resources, the Third Offensive could be catastrophic.
What I'd really like to see - maybe not now, but definitely at some point - is shakeup of Human Sphere alliances and power equilibrium in face of full scale warfare. Svalarheima/Huang Di garrisons decimated by a surprise attack and joining forces to combat the common enemy. ALEPH sending elements of Steel Phalanx to defend Bakunin from getting overrun. Joint human/alien PMC, with no loyalties but to themselves and the highest bidder (imagine Magna Obra meeting Exrah...). Shasvastii calmly analyzing, if allying with humans - at least temporarily - won't be more beneficial to the Continuum...
Bakunin would probably just slaughter any ALEPH forces from the back the moment CA assault stopped. If they would wait that much in the first place - I'd bet they'd be shooting the reinforcement vessels as soon as they appeared.
Maybe, maybe not. Or maybe any decision would result in Bakunin Civil War, with losing side (regardless which one) becoming a NA2, and winners maintaining control of the ship.
I want to see Shasvastii troops defecting the CA and joining humans, maybe with the promise of a place to start their civilization again
This is what I like. Advancing the story has simply so much potential for great, engaging storytelling, and underlining complexity of relations between different factions.
Unlikely after the Human forces bombed their main nursery on Paradiso, effectively wiping out an entire generation...
True, but this story was created a long time ago, CB might've changed the direction of their story. They might've noticed, that such unflinching hatred, even justified by the genocide, would be contrary to the Shasvastii being long term thinking race, coldly calculating the odds, advantages and disadvantages. They might just as well go "yes, they've commited unforgivable atrocity, but joining forces with them would be a net gain for us. We can always pay them back later...
Think you expect too much from it. If we compare it with Uprising, there have to be 4 sectorial army lists, the same ammount. In Uprising, there where the revised missions for Dire Foes and I think, in the new book will be some new missions too. Therefore there will be not so much space left. And if I have to bet, the new Campaign and SpecOps rules will be in a Campaign Book next year similar to Paradiso.
