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| I've been patient, but was it worth the wait? |
Typhoon
Yay! More flying gunships of doom, the Typhoon/Cyclone (Tycloone) is such a nice cool model. At first I didn't like these one bit. They were too similar to the Cyclone for my liking. Compared to the Cyclone, you lose the barrage and gain another short range energy 10. Barrage is a big asset when dealing with multiple units that are currently in the meta. I still think the number of shots it dishes out is weird (3 shots out of 2 barrels?). I feel it needs just a bit more or just something different still, I would have liked them to maybe have the focus fire rule or combined fire 5/6 shots each with 3 hits making an E10/11. Hindsight that would leave it hard to target buildings. The range is something I like, you can drop any amount of its 3 E10 shots to increase the gun range by 6". Giving you a whopping effective range of 36"!
Another great option for them is turn 1 building demo, now that is something the Resistance have been lacking. Resistance have great turn 2 demo and this is only going to strengthen that game. One of the best things for me is that unlike their Cyclone counterpart they don't need a squad of 3 to make one of the weapons (barrage) a viable option. You get an extra 40pts to spend on other shiny things!
Mikes mutterings: When us Talons saw the Alpha rules, these things were ridonkulous. 4 E10 shots a turn! They have been toned down a bit but I still have one thing niggling away at me. The Mf of 12" is just too fast, it is the same as the Falcon and the Reaver which are much sleeker. I think it should be 8" or 9" (and the same goes for the Cyclone). I just feel that 12" is too fast for a bit of a lumbering beast, especially as it's a chopper too.
I understand the need for it to be the same as the Cyclone, but not a great precedent.
On to the weapons, I think I would have liked to see something a little different from the guns. Maybe each gun having 3 E6 focus 2 shots (making 6 E6 focus 2 shots on a Typhoon. Split over 2 profiles.
I think that would be really interesting.
Dan's Brain Visions: To repeat Mike slightly, the alpha rules for the Typhoon were pretty awful, and frankly they haven't changed that much. I'm going to reserve full judgement until I see these bad boys in action on the table, but my knee jerk reaction is that they are too damned good at what they do. They are quick, hardy, and great at demo and AT. You can't make them any more expensive, so what can you do? Not much now, and if they do turn out to be as good as I think they are there is little Hawk can do to reverse their potency.
Another criticism I have of the Typhoons I have is just how lazy the rules are. After seeing the alpha rules we suggested (as Joe mentioned) and far more fluffy, and still functional, rules set using combined arms. Four E7 shots each, three hits make one E11 hit. It makes sense with the guns, and it allows for use on Infantry, tanks and demo. I'm not saying that specifically these rules should have been used of course, I would have just liked to have seen something altogether more creative.
Mehmed
Probably one of my favourite releases in Phase 2, yes it is because I have access to more energy 11's!!! Hawks beta rules had this as E12, could you imagine? "bullshit". Very short range though, but with the Demolisher-4 they will have plenty of buildings to shoot at. They went up by 3pts from the experimental's, which is fair and makes them even handier for Focal Points. They also have the traditional hull mounted 90mm cannon, that you can find on the Hannibals and Krakens. These 2 cannons combined with the Mehmed's demolishers, can do 20 DP to a building!!!! Easy as-well, 2s and 4s. Great combined with typhoons right....??
Dan's Brain Visions: I like the Mehmeds. I think they're potent and fairly priced for what they bring to the table. They do have an issue though; I think they're in the wrong army. I would have loved to have seen these bulldozers appear in the UCM roster, as they are the unit the colonies are crying out for! It wasn't to be though, and they are of course sadly Resistance. The introduction of the Mehmed pours onto our abandoned children even more E12 guns and demolition. With the Mehmed, Thunderstorm and Typhoons, Resistance are the Queens and Kings of the demolition game. Couple this with the sheer amount of Infantry available, most army builds can efficiently deny objectives and focal points to their opponent, and overwhelm their chosen areas. Efficient, but dull. Even Joe's going off playing Resistance, and he is Mister Resistor.
Oh, almost forgot, the Mehmed signifies the end of the Hannibal. Why would I bother with one now? They do everything the Hannibal does better!
Thunder Wagons
Look at at the size of these things!! I know we have seen the models already, but I seriously think Dave has a thing for large rockets. I would like to see what contraption the Resi use to mount one of these on to the wagon.
I like the stats for this unit, apart from the special rule. The wagons weapons are limited-1 and you can only fire 1 unit a turn. Let me shoot all my toys in one go goddammit! They are very cheap and will make the Storm Wagons completely redundant. Great for home bound Focal points. They have the RARE special rule to stop you spamming squads and bombarding the hell out of the battlefield. You are going to want to target skimmers that have just deployed, but with the MF 0" you will have to get lucky on turn 2 for that first activation. Oh, and talking about turn, here is more building demo with that demo 2. Okay, it's not huge damage but I'm starting to feel a theme with these current releases; Hawk are trying to make me destroy buildings. One downside I see is the squad size of 3, as you wont really see them mounted in a Leviathan hovercraft. What other unit are you going to want to take 9 of? Making them squad size 3-6 would mean you might see them in a hovercraft, but without much play testing I'm not sure if that would be broken or not. I believe the problem lies with the transport, as you should be allowed 3 squads inside, but that's a whole other story altogether. If you are cheeky like me, you can magnetize the rockets and use them to upgrade an unwanted Lifthawk to a Barrel Bomber. I think you will see a lot of these on the table in the future. They are... cheaper than free-riders!!!!
Dan's Brain Visions: I'll be honest, I was completely wrong about Dave's fetish (big fatty missile) engines. I thought they would be terrible, and never get used. I'm happy to be wrong! They have appeared in the last 3 or 4 games versus Resistance, and although I don't fear them as demolition tools they really make you think about where and how to deploy. They are worth the few points spent, if only to influence the battlefield in that way, but seem to be balanced enough to not appear in every Resistance build. These are the dark horses of R:P2.
Mikes mutterings: When us Talons saw the Alpha rules, these things were ridonkulous. 4 E10 shots a turn! They have been toned down a bit but I still have one thing niggling away at me. The Mf of 12" is just too fast, it is the same as the Falcon and the Reaver which are much sleeker. I think it should be 8" or 9" (and the same goes for the Cyclone). I just feel that 12" is too fast for a bit of a lumbering beast, especially as it's a chopper too.
I understand the need for it to be the same as the Cyclone, but not a great precedent.
On to the weapons, I think I would have liked to see something a little different from the guns. Maybe each gun having 3 E6 focus 2 shots (making 6 E6 focus 2 shots on a Typhoon. Split over 2 profiles.
I think that would be really interesting.
Dan's Brain Visions: To repeat Mike slightly, the alpha rules for the Typhoon were pretty awful, and frankly they haven't changed that much. I'm going to reserve full judgement until I see these bad boys in action on the table, but my knee jerk reaction is that they are too damned good at what they do. They are quick, hardy, and great at demo and AT. You can't make them any more expensive, so what can you do? Not much now, and if they do turn out to be as good as I think they are there is little Hawk can do to reverse their potency.
Another criticism I have of the Typhoons I have is just how lazy the rules are. After seeing the alpha rules we suggested (as Joe mentioned) and far more fluffy, and still functional, rules set using combined arms. Four E7 shots each, three hits make one E11 hit. It makes sense with the guns, and it allows for use on Infantry, tanks and demo. I'm not saying that specifically these rules should have been used of course, I would have just liked to have seen something altogether more creative.
Mehmed
Probably one of my favourite releases in Phase 2, yes it is because I have access to more energy 11's!!! Hawks beta rules had this as E12, could you imagine? "bullshit". Very short range though, but with the Demolisher-4 they will have plenty of buildings to shoot at. They went up by 3pts from the experimental's, which is fair and makes them even handier for Focal Points. They also have the traditional hull mounted 90mm cannon, that you can find on the Hannibals and Krakens. These 2 cannons combined with the Mehmed's demolishers, can do 20 DP to a building!!!! Easy as-well, 2s and 4s. Great combined with typhoons right....??
Dan's Brain Visions: I like the Mehmeds. I think they're potent and fairly priced for what they bring to the table. They do have an issue though; I think they're in the wrong army. I would have loved to have seen these bulldozers appear in the UCM roster, as they are the unit the colonies are crying out for! It wasn't to be though, and they are of course sadly Resistance. The introduction of the Mehmed pours onto our abandoned children even more E12 guns and demolition. With the Mehmed, Thunderstorm and Typhoons, Resistance are the Queens and Kings of the demolition game. Couple this with the sheer amount of Infantry available, most army builds can efficiently deny objectives and focal points to their opponent, and overwhelm their chosen areas. Efficient, but dull. Even Joe's going off playing Resistance, and he is Mister Resistor.
Oh, almost forgot, the Mehmed signifies the end of the Hannibal. Why would I bother with one now? They do everything the Hannibal does better!
Thunder Wagons
Look at at the size of these things!! I know we have seen the models already, but I seriously think Dave has a thing for large rockets. I would like to see what contraption the Resi use to mount one of these on to the wagon.
Dan's Brain Visions: I'll be honest, I was completely wrong about Dave's fetish (big fatty missile) engines. I thought they would be terrible, and never get used. I'm happy to be wrong! They have appeared in the last 3 or 4 games versus Resistance, and although I don't fear them as demolition tools they really make you think about where and how to deploy. They are worth the few points spent, if only to influence the battlefield in that way, but seem to be balanced enough to not appear in every Resistance build. These are the dark horses of R:P2.
Skulltaker
Yes!!!!!! We get to use the even more cooler Lifthawk. You get double the amount of machine guns and rocket battery shots. Mwah ha ha ha, 2 E8 shaped charged missiles, machine guns and a flamer..... bring it! The special rule Horrific Cargo (great name by the way) makes you have to take 1-2 squads of Berserkers with a maxium of 4 bases. What this does mean is that if you coukd combine the squads into 1 exotic choice. Great to bolt onto that Resistance band. This does mean a Feral list though, which is good although you don't see many Beserkers on the table. Their aggressive play-style fits right in with the Skulltaker. Great unit, Hawk did good, more fluffy units like this.... wait, can feral ever be fluffy?Dan's Brain Visions: I've got a horrific cargo... in my pants. It's fine? I guess. I feel it was converted from being a Fabulous Commander transport as it would be easy to do, which is no bad thing, but it does suffer in the same way as units like the Crocodile does; it's fine, but probably won't see much play time. Flame on a transport is great, but the Skulltaker doesn't make me want to take a Feral build over an Allied one.
Other Reconquest: Phase 2 Units
Sappers - No change from the experimentals. Still a good versatile unit, but it's hard not to fill the exotic slot with other stuff though.
Dan's Brain Visions: These chaps are beginning to show up in every single Resistance list. Cheap, easy to deploy and surprisingly dangerous, if you haven't played with them they are worth a test.
Scout & Attack ATV - Scout ATV's can now be mounted 2-4 in kraken. Attack doesn't have it so maybe a typo??. Apart from that no change. These chaps are not as survivable as they once were, as with all the new blasts and multi gun models about they die a fair bit too easily. I feel like they need E+2 or some extra armour. Attack ATV's in particular, do a lot of damage and you have to take a huge amount to make them a viable choice (4 in a kraken). Any ATV squad on there own is just meh and will die. It makes you want to take another squad but now you are talking a lot points invested in a situational unit. They need a little something, just a gentle nudge and everything will be okay. Hawk have tidied up the chem-grenade rules and spelled out exactly what should happen.
Overview
I feel the resistance did okay in Phase 2. Nothing outstandingly brilliant, but definitely a plus. Nothing horrifically wrong either. Lets say not boring, but edging vanilla maybe????.
Feel free to tell me what you think.
Until next time, Joe out
Ok on the speed thing on the Typhoons you do realise that even some of todays attack helicopters can go upto 250mph. Which aint exactly slow at several years of development and you have improved weapons.
ReplyDeleteThat's a fair point, I think reality has to take a back seat for balance sometimes though. Possibly a 12"MV and a reduced MF instead.
DeleteThe counterpoint to that would be that dedicated V/STOL type craft- like most-to-all of the other gunships (and indeed, almost every other aircraft in the game) are capable of much higher airspeeds.
DeleteAs an example, the British-American Harrier family is typically capable of speeds around 600-700 mph, while the Russian Yak-38 could reach speeds of nearly 800 mph. Obviously neither is likely to conduct attack runs at these speeds, but I think it's fairly conservative to say that they'd attack at speeds of ~350-500 mph.
Even the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor is capable of more capable speeds, being able to attain a maximum speed of 316 mph at sea level (351 mph at altitude) with a cruise speed of 277 mph.
Compare most modern attack helicopters, which tend to sit around 170-200 mph; the only one I could find the quoted 250 mph number for is the American AH-1Z Viper... which also notes that it should never exceed 255 mph in a dive, so I'm somewhat skeptical of whether or not that's a usable combat airspeed. Cruise- and thus more likely to be closer to 'combat'- speeds are typically around 160-190 mph.
There's very few aircraft that can reasonably carry out effective attacks at their maximum or near-maximum attainable airspeeds. Most of these are likely to be supersonic bombers carrying cruise missiles.
Just one thing about the Scout ATVs. You can have a Kraken for only two bases of them now. Making a small squad of them a little more survivable. (If it's not a typo from Hawk again...)
ReplyDeleteThey should do this with attack ATVs and let them share. Scout ATVs are a bit rubbish with there 24 and attack ATVs too expensive - do I need four?
DeleteScout and attack ATVs sharing would be awesome, it makes a lot of sense
DeleteThat would be so cool!
DeleteAgreed!
DeleteUmm, you can only drop the Typhoon shots twice which means a maximum countered range of 24". I like the Typhoon. I think it's a powerful and versatile unit. It in no way needs anything extra or it would dominate the game.
ReplyDelete'effective' range includes movement
DeleteThe thing to remember on the Thunder Wagons - Since it is an area weapon, the demo 2 doubles to demo 4, because all area weapons double demo when fired directly at a structure.
ReplyDeleteNice one, Joe.
ReplyDeleteNow, are you done with R:P2, guys, or are you going to review the scenarios, too?
Thanks! 8^D
There's still some milk left in the cow! Mike will be making a post on the scenarios soon.
DeleteAwesome! Thanks!
DeleteAnd, sorry, no witty quips this time, Joe. I'm ill equipped for witty quips tonight, too much stressing out over upcoming job interviews... :-S I find out tomorrow "by end of day" when the last one, a technical interview, will be for this particular job, and that interview will be "sometime this week", so either Thursday or Friday... "The waiting, The Waiting, THE WAITING!!!..." I've dropped 15 lbs in the last 32 days, and it hasn't been the good way... Can't eat, can't sleep... But I've made it this far, just one more hurdle to go... 8^D
ReplyDeleteGreat news, chaps! Since I brought it up here I thought I'd let y'all know here -- I got the job!!!
DeleteThe recruiter went to the hiring manager's office today, and based on the strength of my references from my old job at Intel, and the Thank You letter I wrote him after our face-to-face interview Monday morning, he decided to skip the technical interview altogether and just offer me the job! How awesome is that?!?!
Here's the catch, though. It is a contract-to-hire position, 18 month contract. But the recruiter said that this is standard operating procedure for this company, and almost all people they place there get converted to FTEs in the 6-8 month timeframe; they've been doing this for over four years now. So this is how they screen and vet people, and then have a "probationary" period to be sure the person is working out before they bring them on permanently.
So for the time being I will be an hourly employee of TEKsystems, the recruiting firm, and the client I will be working for (and hopefully joining permanently in a few months) is Wells Fargo Corporation.
I start September 12th. It will take from now until then to get me "processed" and all set up.
I AM SO STOKED!!!!
Thank you all for your patience in listening to my insane ramblings here and on the Hawk forum and on Facebook. It's been a great outlet for my stress and anxiety. (That's not to say that the insane ramblings will stop, mind you... 8^P )
8^D
Congrats J.D!
ReplyDeleteThank you, sir!
DeleteGuys? What's up? Friday came and went, and no post... Everything OK over there? Looking for some milk...
ReplyDelete(If it makes you feel any better, I bugged the Swedes, too...)
Need my fix, bro... C'mon, man, don't hold back!... I got nothin' to read...
8^ P
(Guess I'll have to re-read the new scenarios in Reconquest: Phase 2 and decide which ones to run on September 24th all by myself... I know, I know, life happens... )
It's up! It's up! I finally got my blog post up! Less than a year between the last one and this one! And this one was only 3 weeks late!
DeleteI would've gotten it published just before midnight my time, but my wife had to come down and nag at me about spending too much time on my hobby stuff. Seriously, can some of you guys with wives who "get it" about our hobby have a chat with mine? She's a freaking broken record, blames my getting laid off from Intel over a year ago on the time I spent on the hobby, which is totally incorrect (not joking here, but she's obsessed in thinking that I'm obsessed...). :-(
Anyway, thought I'd let you know... 8^D