The Operator profile is still the same unit, just like with Dogfaces and Fraacta. Escape System is basically a Transmutation with extra gimmicks. (Basically in N3 the fact that the unit was a TAG came with a bunch of extra rules that Escape System needed to override. In N4, TAG doesn't come with those rules - those rules and functionalities are instead written in the Pilot skill, which TAGs with Operators are missing)
Is that true in N4, though? It's not clear at all from the profiles (Gecko w/ Pilot vs. Iguana w/ Operator)
Yeah as somebody who just came on in N4 it is very confusing - had to look back at the N3 rules to even understand what was going on, but it's certainly not intuitive just from reading the N4 rules since all mentions of TAG 'operator' are scrubbed from the rulebook. Does the lack of Pilot skill for the Iguana operator also mean that they essentially cannot voluntarily dismount their TAG (e.g. the reason why the only way out is getting violently ejected)?
What makes the pilot of the Gecko not count towards victory points? Can you find a rule that says it doesn't count towards victory points? Is it perhaps the Pilot Special Skill that the Iguana Operator doesn't have? Correct. Unfortunately, the General Movement Rules alludes that it's enough that it is a TAG to dismount instead of letting Pilot allow dismounting by use of the first bullet point.
@Mahtamori mmm, but the operator's worth 0 points, so it's functionally the same. It adds zero to your surviving army points and counts as zero for holding a zone.
It's still the same trooper, though, and it seems odd that Pilot need to specify that pilot doesn't count for Victory Points. Maybe @ijw could shed light on whether it's Army giving confusing information or whether the TAG and Operator are meant to contribute 0 VP if the TAG is Dead?
This. Pilots are worth 0 because the Pilot rule says so. Iguana and Anaconda Operator profiles shouldn't have a points cost value, as they're worth whatever the TAG profile cost.
Unfortunately it's not super clear that it is; what differentiates it from, say, an Uberfallkommando group, which is made up of multiple different troopers? Aight, I'll report it to the Army bugs thread then.
Hmmm, shouldn't operator profiles count as zero because that's "rules as written" until it's changed?
Its a bug and you said you will report it, the second post was totally unnecessary, except if it was a humorous post, if it is then I am sorry I did not perceive it as such.
The point was it was handled entirely differently than the topic in the other thread. Here, it was "This is obviously a mistake. Play it this way." In the other thread it's "We're going to follow a twisted interpretation of RAW that results in the least pleasant play experience possible."
Except the one where one is a massive data entry hassle that they are actively soliciting player help in finding errors and the other is a rulebook and the foundation of the game system that by its nature isn't incorrect and therefore requires more process to alter?
